The mourning doves gather like vultures on the highest eaves of my house. They're waiting for an opportunity to swoop down and vacuum up the few seeds I put out for several of my favorite backyard birds. Puffed out and clamoring, the larger doves bulldoze the lankier cardinals and scrawnier house finches that get in their way. A northern cardinal pair are indeed two of the birds I'm eager to feed. They are the only members of the species I ever see in my Phoenix neighborhood and are probably surpassed in their eye-catching color by only the herons and mallards that ply the area's waterways. Outside of chasing them away with my imposingly human size and thunderous hand claps, there's not a lot I can do to keep the mourning doves away from the meager sunflower seeds I leave out. At least that was the case until I realized I had a specialized bird feeder hanging in front of me: a wall sconce for votive candles. It's been on my backyard's block wall for a dec
I'm an Arizonan that enjoys the outdoors through traveling, hiking, mountain biking, snorkeling, photography and just looking out my window.