This is my entry for the Feathered Friends - Show Me A Photo Contest Round 52! The theme for this round is "Seed In Beak". You can learn more about the contest and how to enter HERE!
I couldn't help posting the male Northern Cardinal as my first photo! I really do think he may like his photo being taken! The female Northern Cardinal doesn't seem to show up as often as the male but perhaps the male stays closer to the feeders to try to ward of some of the other birds from their bounty of seeds!
They probably don't mind the Black-capped Chickdees so much. They are tiny and will normally take one seed out and then fly off to a branch in a tree to crack it open to get to the meat inside.
It is really funny to watch sometimes too! This little Chickadee didn't fly far off so I was able to catch him (or her) after he flew up to a branch above the feeders. The Chickadee holds the seed between their feet (or claws) and start pecking away at the outer shell. My collage below shows him after he took one seed then went back for another. I thought it was interesting that he flew back up to almost the same spot on the branch.
The Tufted Titmouse does the same thing which makes sense as they are in the same family as the Black-capped Chickadee. The Paridae family of birds consists of approximately 51 species of birds which these two birds are in.
Source
The Tufted Titmouse usually takes a seed and flies off but this one took to cracking the seed on the pole that holds the bird feeders. I was surprised as it was the first time that one stayed so close to the feeders to eat the seed. Sometimes they will fly up to a branch but usually they just fly off and I can't spot them till they come back for another seed. Bird watching can be quite entertaining sometimes. This one made me laugh as well.
The Cardinals will go after the smaller birds sometimes but the tiny Chickadees and Titmouse are very fast in getting away and rarely linger at the feeders. Unlike, the House Sparrows who almost seem to take up residence at them. The Cardinals will try to chase them off but they don't fly far off and fly right back in. The Sparrows don't just take a seed and eat it but they will knock a lot out on the ground. I don't like that too much since the Cardinals will fly down to the ground to eat the seeds and one of the cats could get the bird. I can't really be mad at the cats since that is what they do but I also don't like to encourage it as I would be sad if a Cardinal (or any bird) met its demise in that way. There is one bird that does benefit from the seeds on the ground though and that is the White-throated Sparrow. They are ground feeders so they rummage around on the ground looking for food. I've seen them mostly in the Spring but so far I've seen a couple lately. One here and another at a nearby park. Which leads me to believe that there are a lot more and that they are here year round. I just hope the cats don't get one of them either! 💖
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All photos and text by me 
