Michigan is home to a diverse array of sparrow species, including the Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Chipping Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Eastern Sparrow. House Sparrows are the second most common sparrow in the United States and the second most reported in Michigan. These small, plump birds are known for their cheerful chirping and adaptability.
House Wrens are small brown birds with darker barred wings and tails and a paler throat. They spend their summer breeding in the US and southern Canada before migrating to the southern US. House Sparrows are found throughout Michigan, though not as common in the upper peninsula. Like the European Starling, House Sparrows pose a threat to native species.
The Mourning Dove is one of the most common birds in North America, especially around farms and suburban areas. House Sparrows are fat-bodied birds with cone-shaped bills, with gray heads, black patches on their throats, and brown napes and wings. The White-throated Sparrow is a small bird with many colors and markings.
There are over 80 species of birds in Michigan, including the House Sparrow, House Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finches, and House Finch. House Sparrows are an invasive species that originated from the Middle East but are now one of the most widespread small birds in Michigan and the world. House Finches have a short, thick cone-shaped beak and are slightly smaller than sparrows.
In summary, Michigan is home to a diverse array of sparrow species, including the House Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, and House Wrens. These birds play diverse roles in Michigan’s ecosystems and contribute to the state’s biodiversity.
📹 5 Common Backyard Birds You DON’T WANT at Your Bird Feeder
Backyard bird feeding is an extremely popular hobby in the United States. There truly are many beautiful and entertaining species …
What looks like a sparrow but smaller?
Dunnock. Dunnocks are small brown birds with streaked plumage. They often forage on the ground beneath bushes and hedges, searching for insects and seeds. Dunnocks have a quiet song, often heard during the breeding season.
What does a finch look like?
Adult males are red around the face and upper breast, with brown back, belly, and tail. In flight, the red rump is visible. Adult females are grayish-brown with thick, blurry streaks and an indistinctly marked face. Need help identifying this animal? Our free app offers global ID help. House finches are small birds with big beaks and flat heads. The wings are short, so the tail looks long. Many finches have a deep notch in their tails, but the house finch has a shallow one.
Size. The same size as a house sparrow, but slimmer.
What does a junco bird look like?
Juncos are dark gray or brown birds with pink bills and white outer tail feathers that flash open in flight. Dark-eyed Juncos live on the ground. Need help IDing? Our free app helps you identify birds worldwide. The dark-eyed junco is a medium-sized sparrow with a rounded head, a short, stout bill, and a long, conspicuous tail.
Size. Slightly larger than a chipping sparrow.
What looks like a chipping sparrow?
American Tree Sparrow: has a stripe through the eye; Chipping Sparrow: has a black stripe. Tree sparrows have a spot on their breast and a bicolored bill. Chipping Sparrows don’t.
Adult bird that is breeding. The bright red crown, black eye line, and unstreaked gray belly are distinctive. Gray rump visible in flight. © Evan Lipton / Macaulay Library, Massachusetts, May 4, 2015. Nonbreeding birds are paler than breeding birds, but have a brownish crown, dark eyeline, and unstreaked neck and belly.
What bird is smaller than a wren?
One of the most fascinating spring garden birds is the goldcrest. This bird is the smallest in the British Isles, along with its relative, the firecrest. A goldcrest is even smaller than a wren. It weighs about the same as a 5 pence coin! It’s hard to spot. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a leaf! Its back is green for camouflage and it has a golden stripe on its head.
What bird looks like a swallow?
How to identify sand martins. The sand martin is a brown bird with a white belly and a brown band across its breast. House martins and swallows are both blue-black above and don’t have a chest band. Sand martins nest in burrows in sandy banks. They nest in colonies. Many pairs nest close together at suitable sites. They often fly over water, and many nature reserves have built special nesting banks for them. Look for the brown upperparts and the dark band across the breast.
How you can help. We rely on memberships. They help us look after nature reserves and protect animals.
What looks like a white throated sparrow?
Song Sparrows look like tan-striped White-throated Sparrows, but they’re more heavily streaked below and have no yellow on the face. Adult. A big, plump sparrow with a long tail and a small bill. Bold face pattern with black and white stripes, yellow spot between eye and bill, and white throat patch on gray face and breast. © Keenan Yakola / Macaulay Library, Maine, May 4, 2015 Large, plump sparrow with a long tail and a small bill. Tan-striped individuals have a darker head pattern with brown stripes instead of white. Found with white-striped individuals.
What bird is a small brown bird?
The wren has one of the loudest songs of any British bird. Male blackbirds are easy to spot with their black bodies and yellow beaks. Female and young blackbirds are brown with spots and streaks. Blackbirds often have two or three broods during breeding season.
What is the tiniest sparrow?
The Chipping Sparrow: The Chipping Sparrow is one of the smallest sparrows. It is easy to identify during the breeding season by its reddish-brown cap, white line over the eye, black line through the eye, and pale gray chest. Chipping Sparrows are easy to see because they are tame and often feed on the ground. They are common in Tennessee in the summer and rarely spend the winter there. Chipping Sparrows are among the first spring migrants. You can hear their trill-song from trees or shrubs in wooded suburbs or along rural roadsides. The sharp chip-note is the origin of their name. This sparrow breeds from Alaska to Mexico. It is absent from Florida. The sparrows winter in the southern United States and Central America. Chipping Sparrows are found in Tennessee from March to October, with a few staying the winter.
What is the second smallest bird in the world?
The vervain hummingbird is the second-smallest bird in the world, after the bee hummingbird. Some other tiny birds are close to it in size. It is about 6 cm (2.4 in) long and weighs about 2 to 2.4 g (0.071 to 0.085 oz). The vervain hummingbird is a bee hummingbird. It is found on Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Jamaica.
Taxonomy and systematics The vervain hummingbird was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. He named it Trochilus minimus. Linnaeus based his description on a bird that had been described and illustrated by George Edwards in 1747. The type locality is Jamaica. The vervain hummingbird is now in the genus Mellisuga with the tiny Cuban bee hummingbird. This was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. There are two subspecies: the nominate M. m. minima (Linnaeus, 1758) and M. m. vielloti (Shaw, 1812).
What is the bird that looks like a sparrow?
The dunnock is also called the hedge sparrow. People often mistake it for a female house sparrow. Learn more about this interesting garden bird in our guide by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). The dunnock is called that because it looks like a brown bird. They look drab from a distance. But up close, it’s pretty. They can be confused with sparrows, particularly female house sparrows. They are also called hedge sparrows. This guide will tell you how to tell them apart.
Learn more about the species in our guide by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). What is the dunnock’s scientific name? The dunnock is called Prunella modularis. The Latin word ‘prunus’ means ‘plum-colored’. ‘Modularis’ comes from the Latin word ‘modulari’, which means to sing.
What’s the difference between a sparrow and a dunnock?
The difference between a dunnock and a sparrow. Dunnocks and sparrows look similar, so it can be hard to tell them apart. Look at the head and beak. A house sparrow has a brown head with a gray or brown crown. A dunnock has a blue-gray head. Sparrows have thick beaks, but dunnocks have thin, pointy beaks.
The difference between a dunnock and a wren. Dunnocks have similar songs to wrens but look more like female sparrows. A dunnock will land on your lawn, unlike a wren, which won’t cock its tail upwards when it does so. When do dunnocks nest? Dunnocks start breeding in early April. The nest is made by both sexes from twigs, moss, dry leaves, and other plant material. It is usually between half to three meters above the ground in a tree or among shrubs and bushes. It is lined with moss and hair. The dunnock lays four or five blue eggs. The female incubates the eggs for about twelve days. Both sexes tend the young.
📹 1,500 Birds Invade House Through Chimney
It was a scene straight out of Hitchcock’s 1963 horror flick “The Birds” for one Torrance, California, homeowner, who says …
A couple of years ago, I went through a horrible depression, but the house sparrows saved my life. They visited my bedroom window everyday for about 2 months. They were funny little characters and lifted my spirit. My dad was against me feeding the birds. He said they would just make a mess. I think they visited me because they knew I needed them. They seemed more like angels than birds. Once I moved back to my own home after my recovery, I began to feed my backyard birds and received visits from many different species. They are such a blessing. All birds are welcome at my home.❤️🙏
My backyard grackles used to be annoying bullies, but recently they’ve learned to coexist with my robins and will even take turns at the bird bath. They also tend to chase nearby crows away, which helps keep the area safe for any other birds that are nesting in the area. So I hated them at first, but they’ve slowly worked their way into my good graces. We’ve even been giving them little bits of string from the garden to help build their nests.
About 35 years ago I owned a home that had a large crabapple tree in the back yard. Since my children and I were not big lovers of crabapples, we seldom tried to harvest them and jus left them on the tree through winter. One February day we were experiencing a warm spell. My children came in and told me that we had a whole bunch of birds in the yard. I checked it out and what we had was a couple hundred Cedar Waxwings primarily on the Crabapple tree and they appeared to be having a feed. I told my kids not to bother them and just leave them alone and went back to what I was doing. Around 20 minutes later the kids came and told me something was wrong with the birds. Some of them had fallen out of the tree and some were hanging upside down. I went to see what they were talking about and they were right. Probably 75 to 100 birds on the ground and another 150 or so still in the tree with many of them inverted. It took about 2 seconds to figure out that the crabapples left on the tree had fermented and those damn birds were drunk. I saw a couple of neighbouring cats sitting on the fence and knew we had a problem. I threw on my coat and went outside with the kids. I gave each one of them a dish towel and we began to pick birds of the ground and put them in the dishtowels before taking them into the garage. More birds were falling but we kept picking the up and depositing them in the garage. Nightfall was not far away so I decided to leave them in the garage overnight. The next morning I went out with the young’uns and we opened the garage door.
I personally believe that rather than deterring certain species from the feeders, we should consider creating different feeding areas in our garden. I have 2x areas with hanging feeders and 2x areas with ground feeding trays. One hanging feeder has a big tray, to allow bigger birds like pigeons, magpies or jackdaws to sit and eat comfortably. The other hanging feeders are for small birds only, like finches, tits or sparrows. One of the ground feeding tray is in cage, letting only small ground feeding birds come in and eat. The other ground feeder is open and everybody is welcome to use it. While I appreciate that some people do not want huge numbers of big birds visiting their gardens, it is important to remember that they also want to live and need to fight for survival, especially during winter time. Lets be kind to all birds, big or small.
I hated the grackles when I first started feeding. I then started to feel bad as I noticed their behaviour was changing and developing a “birdonality”. Now they have a great game of peanut chase with the blue jays. I have a white headed grackle that stops by. Plus I set up diversion feeding areas, it seems to work. The “No Hawks allowed” sign doesn’t seemed to be obeyed though
As an ecologist, I find this article really interesting for a few reasons! I live in rural New Mexico, but recently visited my hometown in central Colorado, which is a huge city. I found myself fascinated by our backyard bird feeder, hosting a few species from this list. The interactions between these animals are much more fluid than in more wild areas—because there really is food for everyone, in abundance, because most people in suburbia have a bird feeder. Just goes to show how diverse and special urban ecology can be.
I’m really pleasantly surprised to read these comments! I’ve always said that any bird is welcome, even the crows, I always try to leave food out for everyone…but honestly, the little songbirds are the ones who’ve taken over and the big crows and starlings don’t really come. I have chickadees, finches, and song sparrows, and juncos! I bought a special finch/small bird seed mix which was way more expensive than the huge bags they sell, so that attracted the birds and even had a pair of chickadees nesting in the empty bird box that’s been sitting there for years. I helped raise one of their last fledglings, very stressful work but so cute!
Love all birds, put multiple feeders with different size of seed. No competition. Been feeding like this for a decade. Feed birds to help them survive winter and bad weather, have better nesting success, not just for yourself. Always leave out opportunity for bathing and make sure if you leave water out, to change it few times a day. Its a nice reason to get some fresh air also.
I gained a passion for bird perusal after my mother passed away. Her favorite bird was a Red Winged Black Bird. All her bird feeders are still here plus some additions. A few years after she passed a Red Winged Black Bird would come to the feeder ever morning and make the most beautiful calls before eating. Just last week I saw something incredible, there had to of been 3 males and over 15 females doing synchronized dances above my house, high in the sky. Another time just this year I learned about the Common Grackle, I couldn’t count how many there were if I tried. I’d never seen it before, strangely when they move in packs they are known as a “plague” Has only happened here and there so I assume they stop for a snack and migrate elsewhere. Very neat to watch. I have sooo many other cool species that visit daily but I thought this was so interesting to hear everything in this article! As mentioned always leave water for both drinking and bathing! Birds are so fascinating, its beautiful to see so many of us share the same passion
I am honored by any wild thing that chooses to visit me. I raised a cowbird as a child, I guess the tiny bird’s nest that mom picked was not a particularly welcoming home, since the little wren tossed him out 3 times before my Mom let me bring him in. Miraculessly, he survived to adulthood and hung around for a couple of years. So, I have a soft spot for Cow Birds.
i love my grackles – they are so smart. i had one 2 years ago that would follow me around the yard (on foot! just bopping along behind me). i also just leave piles on the ground under the feeders for the larger birds. this frees up the actual feeds for the small birds and the squirrels (i feed the squirrels honestly, the birds just show up because of that). this was the first year we had to deal with cooper’s hawks, but my neighbor also got chickens last year so they decided to build a nest between our houses. that was so much fun to watch them learning to fly and hunt! i had mom fly right over my head carrying a snake. you could always tell when it was the mom hunting vs when the fledglings were learning because the birds didnt sound the alarm as fast. still waiting for an oriole. my mom gets them about 10 miles away, but i have yet to see one at my house in the 13 years i’ve been here. but we get flocks of blue jays and she doesnt so i guess thats a trade off.
The best defense against starlings and sparrows are bluejays I have found. They will defend chickadees and other small birds when the sparrows and starlings become harrasive. One day I noticed that some starlings were picking on the chickadees at the feeder and about six blue jays would attack the starlings, making them keep their distance. The next day, the starlings were more respectable; they had been taught manners by the jays.
In UK we have both the Starling and the House Sparrow (and the Tree or Hedge Sparrow). The sparrows were everywhere in noisy, bickering groups when I was little, but have suffered catastrophic decline in recent years. Many starlings died on their migratory routes a few years ago but have made a comeback. They are like strutting adolescent gangs in the garden! Eating everything and dominating the space. However, they have enormous roosts of hundreds of birds and when they all take off together many people gather to watch their wave-like formation,known as a murmuration.
I’ve used the tips to discourage these interlopers, and it has worked. I’ve gotten feeders specific for the birds I want to attract, and other smaller feeders to discourage bunches of cowbirds or crackles from gorging themselves. I still get the interlopers, but they no longer take over my yard. Thanks for your help!
I had a bird feeder a few feet away from my kitchen window. One morning, while perusal all the wonderful birds eating from the feeder while cleaning up my kitchen, a Coopers Hawk came and sat on the fence next to the feeder. He then grabbed one of the small birds feeding from the feeder. It was awful! That little bird screamed as the hawk took off with the bird in his clutches. That was it for me. I took the feeder down and vowed I would never feed the birds as it became a trap for that Cooper Hawk. Now, I put out hummingbird feeders and have small fountains and bird baths for the birds. I still get to see a lot of really beautiful birds that come for a quick drink or bathe quickly, but no sign of hawks. Thank God!!🙏🏻
Most of the birds on that list are at my feeders! Along with an occasional red tail hawk or a Coopers. We don’t have a great variety of birds out here, so I enjoy the antics of the sparrows, and put 3 or 4 feeders out so everyone gets a chance to eat. One you mentioned, but wasn’t on the list is ring necked doves. They eat like horses! But they have their sweet moments, too. Thanks for the article!
I have some few variations of Cardinals outside my apartment, so I got some bird food with sunflower seeds in them. While the Cardinals are starting to show up to my porch regularly, there’s a lot more House Sparrows that eat up the other bird food and they outnumber the Cardinals 4 to 1 They seem to leave each other alone for the most part, and fight amount themselves more than other birds. I’ve never paid attention to birds like this before or feed them it’s surprisingly relaxing
Just started feeding this spring and we have probably 95% House Sparrows. I thought this was pretty standard as i live real close to DC, but now I’m conflicted. We had some House Sparrows nest and raise some chicks in our back porch roof, and now we can see the youngins flying around. I love these Sparrows, but also we want to put up proper bird houses, and I LOVE Eastern Bluebirds and hope to have a nest of them. Not sure what to do
Oh starlings…..had a flock of about 50 of them raid my feeder when it got really cold a few weeks back. They ate all the food in about 15 minutes. I switched to straight sunflower seeds and filling the feeders later in the day and early in the morning. It helped to make them leave. I actually like my regular flock of sparrows and purple finches they share well with others and don’t drain my feeder.
I had two common grackles visiting my backyard mostly in spring and I find their behavior to be sort of cute, specially when they get the chance to know you. Cooper’s Hawk are usually unpleasant visitors for all the suffering they cause to doves and songbirds, but I guess nature designed them to be that way
I get large groups of Starlings, House Sparrows, Grackles, Cowbirds, Red Wing Black Birds, Cooper Hawks, Mourning Doves, Chipmunks, Squirrels, Gold Finches, Red Tailed Hawks, many woodpeckers, Groundhogs, Turkeys, Blue Jays and every other species of birds and everyone seems to tolerate each other and get along. Well I mean other then the Hawks who eat everyone. I don’t know I feel like I have a good community of birds and critters who get along for the most part.
All the lovely comments from fellow bird lovers on here bring me to tears! I am so glad to hear that all birds are equally loved. Yay!!! We have Mourning Doves, Brewer’s Black bird, Red Winged black bird, lots of lovely sparrows, including a new comer! A White crowned sparrow, red headed finch, Starlings (an absolutely beautiful bird not a bully at all! ) Northern flicker, Robin red breast (American robin) we even have a lovely family of California Quail that visit. Our feeder has been visited by the occasional small rabbit and squirrel, which is always a treat. I will say I have seen the wee rabbit chase away a Magpie or two. Funny! Its a feast! And fills my heart and soul with joy and happiness! No bird should be demonized. We do have an occasional Hawk and I just remove my feeder for a few days until he or she is gone. I love the Hawk too but want our feeder to feel safe for the little gems that visit.
Scattering the seeds widely on the ground as opposed to placing them in one or two feeders helps all birds to access food and get along without getting overly aggressive. Scatter seeds under and between shrubbery and the smaller birds can easily get in, but the larger birds prefer the open spaces on the ground. My Cooper’s Hawk only eats Mourning Doves and as much as I love all of my birds, there is no shortage of Mourning Doves !! LOL
Bird feeding is such a joy! Yes the black birds can be annoying, especially starlings. but it is what it is. The squirrels and chipmunks are invited as well. I always included a squirrel feeder and added a corn cob, peanuts, walnuts, and pecans.. keeping them occupied. Want to attract robins, catbirds and mockingbirds? Try mealworms, blue berries, grapes and raisins….. they’ll come. Enjoy 😊
In Central CA, my mom gets a lot of white-crowned sparrows and mourning doves in her backyard and they are all over her feeders. They get along well with each other(the doves fight amongst themselves though), so she likes to see them. While they were busily feeding, all of them flew off quickly and for a brief moment I saw a hawk in the corner of her yard. It must have been a Cooper’s Hawk although I didn’t get a good look at it.
Interesting list. I recently moved to a semi-rural area and began putting out hummingbird nectar, since there was already an abandoned feeder when I moved in. It’s been entertaining to see (what I think is) a female Gila Woodpecker come in and hang on the feeder as she slurps up some nectar. She’s quite a mouthy broad, always announcing her presence loudly!😄 Soon after, I got a seed feeder and put out seed, not knowing what might show up. Sparrows and white winged doves, mostly. Whenever I saw the doves hogging the feeder, I’d chase them away so the sparrows could feed. There are grackles and crows in town, but even though that’s only 1.5 miles away, they never venture out to where I am.😕 The grackles crack me up. They hang out in the parking lot at the grocery store and check out the underside of the parked cars. As soon as another car pulls in and parks, a couple of grackles hurry over to look for a snack. I’ve seen them up on the grill of cars, picking off the bugs, too. And we get fly overs from vultures from time to time. They look like small planes!😳😄
Grackles, Starlings, Sparrows are the vast majority at my feeders. I also get finches and a couple doves (and squirrels, ofc). I’m partial to starlings, as I raised one from a baby. When he died (a year later), I landscaped my front yard and put out bird feeders and a bath in his honor. Now I have literally hundreds of birds that visit my yard each day.
I have a decent sized flock of house sparrows that visits my feeder. They’ve adjusted to the presence of other birds, and haven’t disturbed any of the nests of birds that are living in my birdhouses. They eat peacefully with the finches, doves, and even quail sometimes. I did see one bother a dove once though. They aren’t horrible like feral/outdoor cats or invasive starlings and I even rescued one of the flock’s fledglings once. As long as they don’t start getting aggressive and invasive, I’ll welcome them at my feeder. Plus, they get outcompeted by blackbirds and crows in bluebird nesting areas. Their numbers only do well by my house.
I actually really like common grackles. They’re pretty, and their behavior is astonishing to watch. The males, in particular the mature males, do patrols in my neighborhood, and will teach the younger males to watch the sky for intruding grackle flocks and hawks. When they do see a hawk, they absolutely mob them and chase them off, which is great since I have pet chickens that have faced hawk problems in the past. They’re a lot like roosters, where they are incredibly attentive to the females of the group, and have a very strong family dynamic you wouldn’t normally see in birds. When this particular group of grackles visit the yard, they always eat first, and when they’re done, they leave to let the doves and other birds have at the feeder. They’re just so incredibly cheeky and fun to watch lol.
I love House sparrows. I never had any problems with them..they live in harmony with all the other species in my yard..I find them entertaining …They remind me of little children bickering at eachother…One species you failed to mention are Crows…they raid bird nests, and Blue Jay’s will sound the alarm when they are around..The barn swallows are especially threatened by them, and these little guys will dive bomb them. It’s funny to watch these big birds run from them..However, at times I had to chase them away from the swallow nest..They are bold.
All birds are welcome! We have big birds on top of the feeders and the smaller ones on the ground because the bigger birds throw pieces on the floor. The big birds fly away when people walk nearby and the smaller birds stay. We have a lot of feeders in the street and a big assortment of food for all.
The Great Tail Grackles and Brown Head Cow birds, and Starlings that visit our yard, actually get along well with the other birds and they haven’t taken over. We have a pair of cardinals, a pair of Blue Jays, and numerous Mourning Doves that visit the feeders. The Titmouse’s come in early Spring, and the goldfinches as well. Yes, the House Sparrow’s are hilarious to watch 😂. We have tons of those, but all of the birds actually get along at our 4 feeders. San Antonio TX here ❤.
I have all these come to my feeders except the cooper hawk & I still have cardinals, wrens, chickedees, several varieties of finches, mourning doves, brown thrashers, dark eye juncos, downie & red bellied woodpeckers, several kinds of sparrows, blue jays, flickers, sometimes grosbeaks . Even had a magpie the other day which is rare in missouri. I have several different kinds of feeders & feed, plus put seed on the ground. I have squirrel feeder too. All of them get along pretty well most of the time. I love perusal them all. So they are all welcome in my yard.
As a life time birder I disagree with a few of these. Starlings and house sparrows of course are an exception as invasive species. But the native species are perfectly fine- as nature lovers we should respect the birds that arent as “pretty” and “convenient” as bluebirds and cardinals. Grackles are PIGS but they’re very goofy and loveable birds
I like being adopted by a crow family (they share peanuts in the shell with the jays) because they do such a great job at chasing away hawks. The crows often post a lookout who warns the songbirds if a hawk is nearby, and I’ve seen the crows actively chase hawks away from my neighborhood. (Crows also get very playful about how they fly in to land on the platform feeder…I’ve seen lots of barrel rolls and acrobatics that have nothing to do with solely getting food and everything to do with showing off and having fun lol) My biggest feeder challenge are probably the squirrels because while I have squirrel proof feeders, I do also feed on the ground since I have many birds that are solely ground feeders. I definitely have fat squirrels 😉
I’ve known about Brown-headed Cowbirds being a brood parasite but have never actually observed a different species raising one of their young until this past summer. I observed a Common Yellowthroat feeding a fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird. The size difference between the two was absurd. I felt so bad because I don’t believe the CY had any fledglings of its own. Just the BHCB..
I live in Danmark (“Denmark”), Europe. The Starling is rarely even seen at bird feeders. Not where I live, anyway. They’re quite common, but they seem to prefer feeding elsewhere. The House Sparrow is very common, but less so than it used to be, because they nest in the eaves of roofs, and modern roofs are often unusable to them. They’ve also got a lot of competition from the more aggressive (and more intelligent) Tree Sparrow which until a few decades ago didn’t live near humans, but that has changed dramatically. The slightly bigger Greenfinch is even more of a bully at the bird feeder – they chase away sparrows and tits, and often each other as well. But since the Greenfinches also want to eat, they can’t really keep other birds away, so usually they all get what they want. The other species mentioned in this article don’t live here (and please don’t send them over!) The European Blackbird is now the most numerous bird in the country, but they only visit the feeders sometimes. Most of the time they’re busy eating worms. A worse bully is the Magpie. It is so much bigger that it scares the smaller birds. But again, it’s not around all the time. Hawks – especially Sparrow Hawks – occasionally take a blackbird, but what do you expect? P.S. You forgot to tell us what to do to keep unwanted birds away. My suggestion is to do nothing at all. Unless there’s a big problem.
Good list. I live (now) in a small city in Ontario, Canada. I’ve been feeding birds for decades in a variety of habitats. I’ve learned to offer only black oil sunflower seeds in a metal mesh feeder with a narrow tray. We get lots of the “goog” native birds. Havnt seen any house sparrows or starling at it. Recently had a grackle, but they have a hard time perching on our feeder. I hear redwing blackbirds but haven’t seen on the feeder. I saw a few cowbirds this spring but haven’t seen them lately. They never got on the feeder but gleaned underneath it. In the past I’ve seen both house sparrows and grackles kill other young birds but rarely. Years ago we had a Cooper’s hawk once in a while but the little birds all took cover very fast (I garden for birds with lots of cover shrubs and trees). We did see once, years ago, a merlin shoot between our house and neighbour’s, under a tree and snatched a mourning dove from a little flock gleaning below one of our feeders. The merlin didn’t even slow down but streaked off over another house. Sorry for the dove but it was a spectacular thing to see. Otherwise in over 4 decades of bird feeding, no predation. Thanks for your list. And for your great articles which I just started perusal.
Heh, almost all of these are at my feeders in southern NH. 1) Grackle – I see these from time to time, but are rare enough that they’ve never been a problem. Their iridescent plumage is very unique. 2) Starling – the only one on the list I don’t think I’ve seen 3) There are hawks all over this region. Saw either a sharp shinned or Cooper’s snatch a Junco off one of my feeders one winter (possibly late fall or early spring), then land in the tree. Just stomped the poor thing into the branch whenever it would start to struggle. Eventually flew off to the top of a tall pine nearby. 4) During lockdown, one particular Cowbird drove me absolutely bananas. I was trying to work from home at my computer, and this thing kept arguing with its reflection in the window. Would do its puffing flare up and ch-CHEEP call. Over and over again. No matter how often I’d yell at it and chase it away. Eventually had to tape paper all over the outside of the window to get it to go away and stay away. Which was tough when it rained and the paper didn’t want to stay taped to the window! 😆 5) Sparrows (and I think some finches) are by FAR the most common bird in my yard. Most are brown with light brown speckles, but there are others with more distinct patterns. They don’t seem to be bullying any of the other birds, so far as I can tell, but I might try that filament trick as seen in the followup article if they do.
The instructions that came with the Bluebird house I bought a few years ago detailed how to kill sparrows that got in the house. I was aghast and thought that was a horrifying suggestion. After finding a dead baby house wren under its birdhouse and 2 of its siblings flopping around on the ground I’m not so fond of sparrows anymore. The wrens had been chasing them away from the house for days before. It seems to me that the sparrows just did it to be mean; they don’t even appear to want the house now. Grrrrr. So I’m off to the store to get new houses with the proper size entrance holes. Jerk birds. I chase the hawks away whenever I see them; they purposely chase smaller birds into my windows, then snatch them up. The sparrows took over my 12 compartment bird condo long ago, but the squirrels have since taken it from them. The crows purposely try to chase the squirrels in front of my car tires when im driving down the road. Also, the blue jays like to make hawk noises and chase everyone else away from the peanut feeder. No one can get along in my yard and my list of bird grievances is long!
Here in Syracuse NY, we’ve never seen issues between grackles, cardinals, blue jays or sparrows. It’s not just about putting seed out. Much has to do with taking an active roll with the birds. All the birds I listed visit us all summer and because of how one treats and… talks to them makes all the difference. We even have a large male woodpecker that each morning knocks only twice just to get a peanut in the shell, unsalted of course.
I live in Arizona, and recently had a bunch of blackbirds start eating all the cat food put out for the stray cats around my neighborhood. They are chatty and love my place. Even gang up on the young red tailed hawks we have in the neighborhood. Not sure if the birds are crows or grackles but they have been a great asset to my yard since they have even started eating insects and the blasted little birds that were crapping all over my gazebo furniture. Between the big blackbirds and the hawks, our little pest birds are finding someone else to pester so I for one am thankful for them. Pigeons are another pest type bird I’m happy to see taking a hike to a different yard also.
Awh, in my area Grackles are actually very shy! It’s strange, they’re like the shy-est and most easily scared of all the birds I watch in my back yard, lol! And sorry, I love Starlings too! I actually saved, raised(3 of them) and kept one, he’s my tough lil man 😂 VERY big personality for such a little guy, haha! He can even talk, he always asks, ‘Can I have a kiss? A kissy kiss? A kissy kisses? Ohhh kisses!’ and much more haha. I wish more people could see how precious they can be. But I do understand that they are invasive species and can cause problems. I’m just really biased by my lil boy. Good informative article, thank you!
I’ve seen those hawks around my neighborhood. I seen them around on roof tops and at the local park. One time I saw one near by eating a pigeon. I didn’t realize how they ate big birds too. I honestly didn’t realize it until I saw it eating it. It made me a little sad since I love perusal the birds but I know that is nature but it also explains why I don’t see many different birds around. I do but they seem to hide a bit. Great article!
We get full families of starlings, grackels, Bluejays, chickadees, cowbirds, sparrows, junko, my “pet” raven, crows, gulls and pigeons even get fed . Everyone shares and is fairly harmonious but we also use scolding chirps if anyone gets too big for their britches. Other than the newly moved in Merlins we’ve been seeing attack some birds around here we haven’t had much trouble ! 😅 we feed all the “bad birds” as well as the others.
In North East Ohio I have had nothing but trouble with house sparrow at my bird feeder. They also disrupt nesting birds like robins, finch and wrens. It got bad enough that I removed my bird feeders. Now even without a feeder I see a greater variety of birds in our garden and flowers. The sparrows are still around but only a few since there isn’t an easy meal for them.
The first starter home 🏠 I bought when I was 33 a duplex with a 2 bedroom in front and one in the rear. It had a semi rough back yard with a medium incline to the next street. My home office (self employed plumber) was in the rear of the house in a beat up old laundry room. Started with a few dollar store bird feeders, then some suet cakes nailed to the tree in metal gear . With in a few weeks I had a very large variety of bird’s coming into the yard daily. Even squirrel’s we’re there regularly destroying the 🐦 bird feeders so I built some larger squirrel feeders giving them Peanut butter and other nuts . My favorite breakfast and coffee place was in my office perusal the bird’s and squirrels go from one feeders to another. The next spring 🌽 Corn plants were popping up under every bird feeder. I actually harvested some corn that year and turned my yard into a small bird sanctuary
Of the list, I am always thrilled to see cooper’s hawks or any other raptors from my windows. Seeing predators taking prey is far more uncommon an experience than perusal birds eat seed, and here they normally take the invasive species because they’re so common, so I really love seeing those raptors
I have a TON of different birds in my backyard! I have Cardnials, crows, ravens, blue jays, mourning doves, once in awhile a hawk, or I might see some robins, and they are getting closer and closer to my house.Last summer up until November, I had a mocking bird who was super friendly, tame enough to land in one of my bushes, as I hung out laundry, singing up a storm!
I have found that with the following strategy, I’ve been able to keep the grackles and starlings down to the occasional (and fruitless) visit to my feeders. I use tube feeders, for one thing, which allow more precise targeting of the birds who can access the food. The mix that is for songbirds generally, I put in a tube with a cage around it that restricts access to birds no larger than a bluebird. This is excludes the numerous cardinals that I am delighted to host, but the red-bellied woodpeckers can take from it with their long beaks and tongues. For the cardinals (and other songbirds) I have another tube feeder (no cage) in which I put safflower-white safflower- which has a hard shell that grackles and starlings do not like. The doves also cannot roost on this feeder, as the perch is too small for them. I have a suet block feeder for the smaller woodpeckers, which is also kept in a cage, which also keeps the starlings and grackles out, and a wire mesh feeder for goldfinches (which holds nijer seed)–another set up the pests cannot access. I love perusal a gang of starlings aggressively descending on my set up licking their chops, and then moving from feeder to feeder finding nothing to eat, only to leave the premises after about 5 or 10 minutes. So long suckers!!! Nothing to be done about the sparrows, though I do throw out their nests whenever they try to build in my birdhouse. One time when they got too numerous, with about 12 juveniles ramming around, I just pulled all the feeders down for a couple of months, and when I put them back up, all the juveniles had decamped to greener pastures.
Im fortunate to have a large garden and have many feeders throughout I normally buy 25 kg of fat/mealworm pellets monthly and therefore supply the most needy no matter their shape or slze . If they’re hungry there’s a constant of winter food . I don’t distinguish . The other seasons I supply only sunflower hearts which I buy in bulk .
Unfortunately I have every single one of these in my yard including the Cooper’s hawk on occasion. The sparrows are insane! I can’t stand the starlings and don’t know how to get rid of them. The sparrows have taken over:( I honestly don’t know what to do. I have a lot of other beautiful birds that visit but I’ve noticed some have disappeared as well. Badger land Birding do you have any suggestions please??
I live in Chambers County, Texas. People come from all over the world to bird watch here. I have all of these birds plus more in my yard at one time of the year or another. And some all year round. I feed them all. I have many bird feeders and squirrel feeders. I’m currently stalking a pair of woodpeckers in my yard taking photos of them. I feed all critters. Opossums, raccoons, bats, birds, deer, etc. They all do just fine here. There was a pink spoon bill in my yard the other day! I usually don’t see them in my yard. I live on the Bay and they are usually closer to the beach or on the little shell islands in the Bay. It was pretty cool to have one in the back yard!!
I treat House Sparrows and European Starlings with much hostility (hint, hint, wink, nod). I have several Blue Bird nest boxes, and once found a dead Blue Bird inside with a House Sparrow crowing loudly on the fence above the box…no doubt the victor in that fight. That House Sparrow did not have the luxury of celebrating his victory for long, if you catch my drift. Keep in mind, there are many species of “sparrow”, many of which are native and perfectly fine. The House Sparrow is specifically different and should be treated as an invasive, non-native species. While I understand the anger many fellow “bird nerds” may have with Cooper’s Hawks and Sharp Shinned Hawks…as the narrator stated, they may be a good sign of a healthy, natural ecosystem. If you are feeding, you may be creating an abundance. Those hawks are just keeping things in check. I marvel at their air-to-air pursuit skills. “Bird feeding” is fun and rewarding, but may not exclusively mean what you think it does!
I live in Chicago and had a feeder specifically to feed an introduced species, I will not call it invasive, the monk parrakeet. I didn’t mind the other birds that also fed, Chicago winters being what they are but then the house sparrows arrived and they completely took over. The only thing I could do to get rid of them was stop feeding completely.
We live in New England. The house sparrow is the main reason my wife and I removed our bird feeders. They monopolized the feeders and made messes. Our feeders were utilized 95% of the time by all of these undesirable species stated here in your article. Once we eliminated the feeders, we started to see more cardinals, woodpeckers, and other more colorful birds in our backyard.
I alway’s loved the house sparrow…im surprised to hear they can get agressive. I only feed the birds in the snowy months here in new england.I try to feed all of them,seems like the bluejays are a bit over-populated here….they love the unsalted peanuts as do the crows.Yesterday i seen a grey squirrel actually push aside a crow that was after it’s shelled pecan, i was glad to see it defend it’s food.yeah iv’e been cheating this year because theres no snow yet, just can’t help myself from bringing some paradise to the back yard.. .
I whole heartedly agree with your unwanted bird list. Being an Eastern Bluebird Landlord for 23 years now, I have seen just about everything the #1 outlaw aka, house sparrow, can and has done to our native cavity nesting birds. I do not allow them at my feeders and I certainly do not allow them to nest in my boxes.
The cowbird is high on my list, when I saw one I’d scare him away like turkeys (my other avian foe) once I learned their nature and I watched my eastern phoebe porch nest. We’ve had that family for 9 years. They built an addition the parents move into when the chicks are almost gone! This year they really built up the sides with moss and last year had 3 broods!
Ah, didn’t expect to see the House Sparrow there. I love these in my bird feeding area in Québec. You see, they love eating on the ground, barely at the feeders – they make an excellent cleaning crew! They remind me of some of the winter birds here, the Junco. For me, it’s much better to have cute Sparrows running around then the pesky – disgusting grey squirrels. Love the list though! If I’d saw a hawk near my feeders, sure I’d be sad he it snatched one of the smaller birds – but at the same time it’s also a bird and will catch the weaker one. It’s also some very impressive and pretty bird.
When supplement feeding birds don’t forget they require water as well. I ground feed, putting seed on bricks about my backyard and elsewhere fairly low – eighteen handfulls of a seed mix a day, I also put out peanuts for the larger birds (and yes I started feeding the squirrels originally before adopting the birds as well so I don’t consider them any problem, nor the odd rabbit). Along with those feed piles I also have five water containers on the ground and a bird bath.
We’re new in Maine, from San Diego, and are delighted with the color and variety of birds here! We’re grateful to you for the detail and warnings, and have picked up more with the literature about swallow/bluebird boxes we’re putting out. What you don’t mention is what to do about the aggressive non-natives?
My bird feeder is dominated by house sparrows. Occasionally, Bluejays, woodpeckers, or black crows show up and the sparrows do not bother them a bit. I also have morning doves that feed off the ground. Since we had a blizzard 2 months ago, the number of morning doves has drastically reduced. One of them was a total bully, but only to the other doves. The resident Coopers Hawk family regularly visits, too, and I shoo them off like the neighbor’s cats who are only there to kill. I know the hawks have to eat, too, just not in my yard.
I’ve watched just today a yellow headed blackbird bully several greckles from a feeder. We get almost all the birds on this list, and many more. Almost always the birds are getting along even if interested in the same food. The greckles throw the food out and on the ground and all the birds feed from what the throw out. Including the ducks, geese, various finches, red wing black birds, juncos. We have barn swallows and Northern Flickers busy with the bugs as well. Having more than one type of feeder and type of feed helps.
Blue Jays can be obnoxious at feeders as well. I had a family group that would come in together frequently and they would sit in a tree a bit of a distance away from the feeder and watch it for a while before one of them would imitate a Red-tailed hawk scream. This would inevitably cause the other birds to scramble and would allow the Blue Jays to monopolize the feeder for a while.
Agree totally with this list, although squirrels and bear are the challenging pests in my backyard. Usually a wise selection of feeder types and suet/ seed will deter the large flocking birds. Avoid platform feeders when winter subsides; for the big birds, these are like the Golden Arches for famished human counterparts.
Very nice article. I try to feed any bird that needs it during winter especially. I just saw an eastern bluebird for the first time at my feeder. It is my state bird but never had seen one in 50 years. The starlings are rude and tend to bother the other birds but I guess they to eat as well as the squirels.
We had a baby European Starling take up residence on my husband’s shoulder and mine and my sister a few years ago. It stayed on our back porch for a week and tried to get into the house when we would go in. What would cause this behavior? A storm came through and we never saw the bird after that, but it was puzzling to see it behave that way.
I agree with all ur comments. I have house sparrows & despise them. One trick I found that works to a degree, is that I spread cracked corn in another open feeder away from my feeder. It helps as the sparrows tend to go there. I also took down all my bird houses….so they have no place to nest except the natural places. Any other suggestions??
A couple months back while I was at work, I decided to feed a sparrow one of the pre-shucked peanuts in my coat pocket. To my surprise, four sparrows burst out from cover and clutched the peanut fragment simultaneously. The struggle over the peanut lasted well over five seconds before one of them emerged victorious. It’s one of those moments I regret not being able to record for Youtube.
Grackles I don’t mind. They are native and move around a lot. Plus I enjoy how they look, and I’ve never had any problems with them. Then again, I don’t use traditional bird feeders, mainly just having native berries, nuts, and cones that birds like growing around, which may make a significant difference. I appreciate the presence of any birds of prey, they feed on more abundant, often invasive species, and keep things like starlings and house sparrows on the move. Brown headed cowbird, I also haven’t had that many issues with. They aren’t very common where I live, and they aren’t really all that threatening, given that most of the time they simply stunt the growth of their hosts rather than killing them. Their population is unnaturally high though, due to habits of many suburban places, which is probably why I don’t see them very often. As for European starlings and house sparrows, they are extremely annoying, sometimes so abundant that they drown out all the other bird noises, tend to be disease magnets, and outcompete everything. I appreciate birds of prey so much because they often target these guys, or at the very least get them to move away.
I get a ton of sparrows, finches, cardinals, occasional bluejays, titmouses, etc….all seem to get along pretty well, and oh my…doves..lol. Even hummingbirds. All are welcome. if I do see a grackle, I’ll just go out and scare it away. Have seen the brown headed blackbird, and scare away. I was actually surprised with the sparrow being #1.
With the exception of the hawk (and we do get the odd hawk on our lawn) all the birds on that list are regulars in our yard– and we like it that way. They’re a delight to watch, especially when teaching their babies how to do all the things. We also get mourning doves, chipping sparrows, crows, chickadees, a lone nuthatch, downy woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, and, in the spring, some very dramatic waterfowl. We do not consider any of them pests. We put out food for hungry creatures; whoever is hungry is welcome to eat. (Yes, that includes squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and the occasional nighttime skunk.) There’s a pair of blue jays who come back, kids in tow, and use a particular sound when they want a peanut, a sort of piping sound. The kids just yell until they learn how to pronounce the peanut sound. They’re generally pretty respectful. Mourning doves, on the other hand, are assholes.
I have accumulated a grouo of pidgeons that appear as soon as birdseed is out. I throw seed on the ground for other birds. The grackles & crow’s takeover my large birdfeeder too. I have a Finch tube birdfeeder & another tube feeder for the smaller bird’s. The Cooper hawks shows up & goes after the doves & pidgeons. I try to keep an eye out for them. Don’t know how to stop the grackles & the crows from taking over the yard. Any suggestions?
Feeding birds is a reward no matter the species. Put food in Different places and plant trees and shrubs that disperse their presence in your small yards. I have been visited by close to 100 robins at one time in my tiny yard bc of a berry filled juniper. What a sight in winter! Once they have eaten the berries they don’t return except for my loyal robins in spring. I have seen The hawks too. They don’t like my yard bc it’s too small and crowded. There are many sparrow species and they gather in groups. So many colors and stripes in them. No need to “get rid of them” join a bird watchjng group and watch A Big Year a great movie about eccentric birders! No I don’t agree with this list. And I find it distasteful.
My house has all of these except grackle since we aren’t near water. I would say we still have a fairly vibrant backyard! Though the house sparrow and the starlings have seemed to actually move into the house (yikes). There’s not much you can do if you put out seed it’s really about the birds in your area already. Some are more inclined to accept food from humans than others.
I’m new to birding so my input may be irrelevant however in terms of the sparrows when I used to just have 1 feeder a couple months ago earlier in the year, I did notice how territorial and bully like they would be to other birds though now that I have 3 feeding stations with multiple feeders at each one the sparrows (it’s currently end of September) have their baby sparrows out and so far they’ve been all co existing with the other birds great compared to when I had only 1 feeder. I have a binocular so I can analyze all the bird’s behavior and the only birds who I consistently have problems with in-terms of bullying are the Doves. I have only 2 but boy are they feisty especially towards chipmunks. I have many Cardinals who are already territorial over one particular bowl of food and recently 1 of the doves found that one bowl and decided to claim it and would sit in the food bowl for many minutes with all of the cardinals surrounding the dove almost trying to intimidate the dove to move which eventually it does. Though because of this I try to make more available options for the dove (as they seem to prefer ground feeding) and I have a tray on the ground for the dove that keeps them away from all the other feeders. The only problem with that is the chipmunks also eat from the same tray and never back down against the doves so they usually go at it for a few rounds until the dove gives up😅 so moral of my story is that: the more feeders and more spread out they may make it easier for these birds to coexist and I have MANY bird species as my house is surrounded by acres of trees.
I live in Ireland and we have house sparrows at our feeder. They tend to all come at once and leave together. 10-20 at a time. Never noticed them taking over exactly. And I’ve never seen a starling at a feeder here. You tend to see them feeding on the ground on short grass in fields that have been grazed or had silage or hay harvested. Or football pitches and golf courses/ parks etc. I’m not saying they don’t eat at feeders. Just that I’ve never seen it happen.
I have all these in my yard and at my feeders. Ahahaha! I love all the birds though. None of these listed seem to be a problem for me. I have many nesting boxes around my property and many feeding stations, so maybe that’s why they haven’t been an issue. I get so many different speices of birds and I love them all! 🙂
For two years in a row the most beautiful thing had happening at my house up on the mountain. A massive flock of migrating birds come to our house and since we have a lot of trees they land all over ours! There has to be 100’s probably thousands maybe and the sounds are beautiful, all of them chirping the chorus is so loud but so amazing and when they all decide to fly the most awe striking sound occurs, all of their wings flapping and then, the sound of a wind that the thousands of birds made with their chorus. Both times it happened it’s been foggy outside which honestly made it even more beautiful the black birds (I mean birds that are black not blackbirds) against the harsh bright encompassing grey. I am very thankful that I experience this and I hope I’ll get to again this year, I’m not sure what birds they are maybe starlings but they don’t make as awful screeching as I remember for starlings. Either way, it’s amazing. I live in Alabama so if any bird experts have an idea of what the species might be that’d be nice to know!
Interesting. I detest the starling, and when they come to visit the feeder, I quit feeding for a few weeks. That seems to help…at least for a while, but I know that they will eventually return. The sparrow? What a shock to see it #1. I enjoy them. They avoid my feeder, but they do go after the seed that falls to the ground. (I throw out seed on the ground in the winter…and they do enjoy … but they don’t seem to be a problem for the other birds. However….I do not seem to have bluebirds, which is something I’d love to have. {So far, so good with the other three …. I haven’t had them in my backyard yet}.
Knowing how and when to feed changes all of this. Hawks are not a problem. They are part of the system. We have red tails, cooper’s hawks, sharp-shinned, merlin and sparrow hawks on our land. They mostly catch blue jays and juncoes – both numerous and bold species. Despite all this, very few birds get caught each year. There are lots of woodpeckers at the suet also, but still no problem. We put out a lot of birdhouses to help keep nesting competition down. And lots of good forage. There ae always some cowbirds with the black birds, but that helps keep their numbers under control. It all works out if you pay attention to careful feeding strategy. The house sparrow is the worst one to manage. There needs to be a lot of nesting space. I have to chase off house sparrows from nest boxes all the time.
You as the feeder, are responsible for what you attract by what you are filling the feeders with! Sometimes your feeders will get blown out! There are literally times when you’ll have to resist feeding for several days in a row to break the pattern and getting the marauders to move on… You have to learn what to put out…
At the present, I am not feeding the smaller birds. I have a really different routine going on. I’m feeding a family of five crows! They come every day. One has a white feather in his right wing! I’ve been feeding them raw chicken!!! There are strange crows that try to muscle in on them, but my crew always wins the prize! Also have a family of Hawks that come every day! Two younger birds and one mother. They appear to enjoy interacting with the crows. The crows also appear to be familiar with them. Today I had my first Turkey Vulture!!! One of the Hawks was trying to run him off !!! It is really exciting to watch everything unfold!
Have fed birds 3 yrs on the ground. Grackles & sparrows are most numerous. A pair each red birds & doves, 1 blue jay. Squirrels too. Sometimes a bunny. Family of crows visit water, feed at empty lot next door. I enjoy them all. I fed unwanted cats at my last apartment. Broke my heart leaving some of them. They weren’t tame. I asked several neighbors to feed, don’t know if anyone did.
I welcome all of these birds and have no issues with them at all. Coopers (or more often Red-tailed Hawks) are welcome to take a Mourning Dove five or six times a year. They gotta eat and I get the doves in here as many as 25 or so at a time hanging at the back of my property within the tangles of a makeshift fence I made out of poison ivy vines as thick as baseball bats). The Starlings, Red-wings and Grackles come to my feeders and property in general but they also eat poison ivy, black raspberry and autumn olive berries) across the entire acre come in separate shifts maybe 10x a year for the Grackles and Starlings and upwards of 25 to 30+ Red-wings which is one of the more dominant birds due to all the wetlands here. I like these guys (and the few females that show up many weeks later). They come a couple times a day and do take over but never stay very long. Cowbirds are welcome! They are a product of Mother Nature. House Sparrows are rare so I enjoy getting a look at them and their habits. I can get up to a dozen or more of each of the various woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays, nuthatches, titmouses; and lesser numbers of finches, tree sparrows, swamp sparrows, creepers, and the rest of the usual suspects. They all seem to get along well.
Here in UK, we have sparrows and starlings… both are cool! We have multiple species at our feeders and have a ‘pecking order’. When one ‘dominant’ lot are finished feeding the next group take their turn. Most though, mix together with no problems at all and they ‘look out’ for each other as well. All birds welcome! The only pest around the feeders are the invasive American Grey Squirrels.
Our grackles are amazing. They squawk at me when I fill the feeders. The Cooper’s hawks are not afraid of anything, they hunt around our feeders all the time. One grabbed a rabbit and flew right over the deck one day scared the crap out of me. And there are no bird feeders without sparrows in the US anymore.
I think grackles are really cool. At the fishing pier the males strut their stuff and are rambunctious. You have to watch your stuff around them. They are extremely smart. I was surf fishing I told my father in law that we have to hide the bait. I put a towel over the shrimp and cut bait on the cutting board. Soon after I turn around and a grackle has already picked the towel up and is eating the bait. That’s very intelligent. The bird can distinguish that we are not swimming or sunbathing. It decided that we were hiding something. A friend of mine was at the pier one day and someone said they would run out and get bbq sandwiches. My buddy was worn out it was hot. He gets ready to take a bite and a grackle swooped in and took it out of his hand.