Our suet feeder and feeder with a 50/50 mix of sunflower chips and nyjer attract a wide variety of birds both on the feeders and on the ground.? Recent species:? Black-capped Chickadees, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, European Starlings, Hairy Woodpecker, Mourning Doves, Northern Flickers, Pine Siskins, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhees, Steller's Jays, Varied Thrush.?? Incidentally, we have never found any dead birds on the ground in our yard.? I regularly?agitate the seed feeder in the lake until it is free of all seed?followed by a 24 period of hanging to dry in the garage.? The Mallards have discovered where at the shore of the lake that?I do?this and go there looking for seed that was rinsed out of the feeder.? Here is a link to a video with three of these species feeding on the ground under the feeders.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/8245322662/
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The Mourning Doves, even when there is only one, don't bother other birds, but don't back down either.? Recently a starling pecked at a Mourning Dove and got its comeuppance.? Steller's Jays squawk a good game, but seem rather skittish in comparison to the other more aggressive birds.? I have never seen a Northern Flicker back down.? When a Northern Flicker is on the ground, it and the Mourning Dove seem to co-exist without confronting each other.
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Hank Heiberg
Lake Joy
Carnation, WA
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