Trileigh,

I have had Townsend's Warblers feeding at a hummingbird feeder a number of times. It seems that a particular bird will get the idea to do this and then become a regular visitor. Any warbler that hangs around during the winter has to be adaptable. I've also seen them taking sunflower chips from a seed feeder, and of course they're primarily at the suet feeders. Birds are very good at observational learning, and it may be that the warblers see the hummingbirds feeding and just check their food source out to see what's available.

Dennis


On Jan 8, 2012, at 10:38 AM, Tucker, Trileigh wrote:

> Hello, Tweets,
>
> The balcony off my study has a suet feeder, a sunflower-seed feeder, a hummingbird feeder, and a birdbath, so I'm used to a steady stream of customers. But just now I had a surprise visitor: a Townsend's Warbler. That was exciting enough! I know others have seen them around this winter, but this is my first that I ever remember seeing this time of year.
>
> But then I was particularly startled when it began drinking from the feeder. It hopped onto the adjacent suet, so I thought perhaps it was just checking out this strange device, but then it went back to the feeder and clearly drank from the tube, swallowed, drank again.
>
> The birdbath 18" away has fresh, clean, unsugared water in it. I guess the warbler has simply discovered a new and tasty source of extra calories? Has anyone else seen this? I had recently noted that the Chestnut-Backed Chickadees were occasionally hopping to the tube; maybe the warbler had witnessed them and decided to try for itself?
>
> Photos starting at http://www.flickr.com/photos/trileigh/6660948843/in/photostream. Two photos later you can see the warbler actually drinking.
>
> (By the way, my latest blog entry includes photos of the magnificent Griffon Vultures I encountered in my recent trip to Andaluc?a. I'm in the process of ID'ing and posting more bird photos from that trip; will let you know when they're up on Flickr.)
>
> Happy New Birding Year to all!
> Trileigh
> Lincoln Park, West Seattle
>
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
> Trileigh Tucker
> Natural history blog: Naturalpresence.wordpress.com
> Photos: Flickr.com/photos/trileigh
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-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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