2:53 AM – These Purple Finches, and the Cardinal, try to claim their spot at the feeder. Actually, not the Cardinal, who doesn’t pay much attention to the smaller birds.
Red-bellied Woodpecker snacking on suet. At the end of the clip the back door opens and he takes off, with a piece of suet in his beak. That part is in slow-motion with a freeze frame.
3:52 AM – They’re not called Purple Finches for nothing. The ‘under-feathers’ on this Finch are really vivid.
Cardinal on the suet feeder. They usually prefer other feeders, but they will really eat at any of them.
3:17 AM – White Breasted Nuthatch adventures. In the first one he’s avoiding an unpleasant looking Cardinal on the Squirrel Buster. In the second part a Cardinal attacks him on the suet feeder. But the Nuthatch perseveres.
Another video of questionable Cardinal behavior, this time against a Purple Finch.
3:43 AM – The Mourning Doves aren’t around as much as when the platform feeder was up, but they’re still here. This one wades right into the water for a bath.
Here’s a fat brown Cardinal having lunch. Maybe not fat, just puffed up. I’m assuming this is a young bird who hasn’t got his adult colors yet.
2:49 AM – We moved the big birdbath in front of the camera, and we’re getting a nice variety of visitors. Here we have (in order of appearance) another line-up of visitors: a Bluebird, Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, Carolina Wren, squirrel (two eared variety) and a midnight cat.
Cardinal and Chickadee sharing the Squirrel Buster feeder. As usual, the Cardinal stays put and feeds, while the Chickadee darts in and out.
2:34 AM – As planned we took down the platform feeder on the deck and focused the camera on the birdbath. The number of doves decreased dramatically, once they were convinced the food was gone. Here’s a couple looking for the feeder.
In this video, a couple of our first customers at the new setup – a Cardinal and Bluebird. At the beginning, one Bluebird chases another away, before settling down for a drink.
3:24 AM – The title of this video is “Dove Bathing”, but it ought to be “These Mourning Doves are Getting Out of Hand.” There are six or seven on the clip, and more out of camera range. We’re going to pull the platform feeder for a day or so, and aim the camera at the birdbath. All the other birds use the Squirrel Buster or mealworm feeder. Only the doves stick to the platform. Maybe this will encourage them to find another back yard to pollute.
Here’s a Cardinal flapping/quivering and eating at the same time. We don’t know what that means.
2:57 AM – Assorted birds on the Squirrel Buster feeder. We have a Cardinal, a female House Finch and a White Breasted Nuthatch. The Finch and Nuthatch come and go, but nothing keeps the Cardinal from his meal.
It’s sometimes hard to tell the Purple Finch from the House Finch. The mediocre quality of our cameras doesn’t help (though they do pretty well for budget security cams). In this case, the color of the bird looks purple, not red. But he’s got stripes on his belly, which Cornell Labs tells me is the mark of the House Finch. On the other hand, I’ve found images of the Purple with stripes too. I’ll call it a Purple Finch. It’s a pretty bird, either way.
2:00 AM – Cardinal and Chickadee at the feeder, an odd couple. The Cardinal sits and eats. The Chickadee grabs a few bits, flies off, comes back and does it again. And then there’s the size difference.
Looks like the Mourning Doves got all the seed, and Mr. Cardinal doesn’t look happy about it. I read somewhere that birds only get about 25% of their food from feeders – the rest they get from natural sources. So, get back to nature, Mr. Cardinal, and find a bug to eat.
12:19 AM – Another feather-shaking video, this time a Cardinal. We’ve see Cards do this before.
Male and female Purple Finches. They’re both attractive, but the male sure is purple.