Birding: Who is at the feeder now?

Nestlings abound and our feathered friends are feeding their youngsters. Soon they will leave the nest, beg for food from their parents and begin to forage for themselves. Parents tend to feed their fledglings protein to give them strength and help them grow. Insects are the favorite protein to offer fledglings. Many birds eat seeds so who is frequenting feeders now? Seed eating parents of course but some are too busy to stop by for a seed or two. My question to the readers of this article is who is at your feeders? What is their favorite type(s) of feeder? Please let me know by writing in care of [email protected].

The feeder birds I have now are mainly seed eaters. Most like tray feeders, square silo feeders, round silo feeders, and suet holders. The latter is still possible in summer if we use non-melting suet. I buy a mixture called "nutty delight" and it is "delightful," as well as being very nourishing. It is made up of a variety of nuts and tiny, round, balls of suet. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees love it. I am sure they will bring their fledglings around to try it out, and then another generation will love "nutty delight" too. Birds that enjoy peanuts in the shell, such as California and Steller's jays like tray feeders best. However, they will also come to a picnic table, a bench or even decking to pick up peanuts until they fill their gullet with many tasty morsels. Sometimes, of course, they will take only one peanut in the shell and fly off to a nearby conifer branch to crack it open and eat the tasty peanut hidden inside.

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"Common Birds of the Long Beach Peninsula," by Kalbach and Stauffer, is available from Bay Avenue Gallery in Ocean Park and Time Enough Books in Ilwaco.

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