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 decade, decorating the increasingly crowded landscape of potted cacti, aloes, and agaves. While eight rimmed bases usually hold glass votives in a wide circular arrangement, I've not employed them for a long time. Instead the metal frame slowly rusts, its patina and undulating circles embellishing the patio in a shabby chic kind of way.
I recently noticed birds - mostly house finches - inspecting the individual candle bases throughout the course of a day. Apparently seeds or casings land in the tiny platforms after feeding frenzies on the wall above, where I frequently place seeds. But what I especially understood was that the plumper less agile mourning doves can't touch down on these skinny perches.
Not long afterwards, when a hungry cardinal - usually the female - appeared in my backyard, I would not only leave a few seeds in the usual places like high on the wall or in an adjacent raised planter but also in the empty votive holders. And soon thereafter the more aggressive male cardinal started visiting the eight plates of food.
Round he went clockwise, starting at the top, pecking, husking, and swallowing during up to four stops (and counting!) along the circle. A vision entered my mind, the sconce rotating like a Ferris wheel and dazzling lights illuminating the scene. "Step right up, step right up, right before your own eyes, see Mike the amazing bird trainer and his troupe of performing cardinals!"
Meet me under the big top in 2021.
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| Male northern cardinal eating sunflower seeds on my Phoenix backyard wall's votive sconce. |
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| Male backyard cardinal on my Phoenix backyard wall's votive sconce. |
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| Male northern cardinal on my Phoenix backyard wall's votive sconce. |
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| My backyard wall's empty votive sconce with a northern cardinal. |
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