Bird Feeder Visitors

One morning we woke to find both our feeders knocked to the ground and empty. Squirrels couldn't have done it. A bob cat has been seen at times in the neighborhood, but, we didn't think he would bother bird seed.

So, at dusk I set up a post by the front window and waited with camera in hand. This is the culprit. My husband chased him away with the garden hose, but he came back twice more. This raccoon was really determined to get at the bird seed. We had to take the seed containers off the poles each night for a week to stop the raccoon. That seemed to do the trick because we have not seen him in over two months.

It is now July 2011 and we still have not been visited again by the raccoon.

It's funny to watch the woodpeckers feed from the bird feeders. They hang upside down. They seem to search for a peanut and then fly up to a nearby tree and fit the nut into the bark. We had never seen a bird hide food before.
When the feeder is empty, the woodpecker flies to a drain pipe and pecks on it to make noise and tell us the feeder needs seeds.

Northern Cardinals mate for life and stay together all year. The male Cardinal often feeds the female as part of their mating behavior. They eat seeds, fruits, blossoms, and buds, insects, worms, spiders and slugs. We always have Sunflower seeds that are among their favorites in our bird feeders.

Doves usually are content to search for seeds that have dropped on the ground under our bird feeders. But the smaller doves can sit on the bar and eat directly from the feeder. When small birds like these purple finches land on the bar, the doves often fly on to the top of the feeder and annoy them until they leave.