Monday, April 6, 2015

Wild Birds: Picky Eater

This Red-winged Blackbird landed on the feeder. Between him moving and shaking the feeder I wondered if I'd get any photos. Here he is scattering the seed to the ground. 
 
This is a fairly still shot showing he has a small bite in his mouth.
 
Scattering/wasting more seed.
(the mourning doves and the squirrels will clean up quickly)

Searching Intently
 
 Finally, he finds what he's after - the sunflower seeds!
 
Linking to Wild Birds with Stewart

21 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Fussy eaters!

Debby Ray said...

Wonderful captures! We have so many birds and so much seed that they knock on the ground but never have I seen a red-winged black bird around here...so very lovely...great photos!

TexWisGirl said...

those monsters do that here, too. so do the red-bellied woodpeckers! but as you said, the doves (and thankfully, whistlers) will do clean-up. :)

Red said...

Black birds are big and hungry. I don't use this mix as very little of it is actually eaten. I know my black oilseeds are limiting the species I get at my feeders.

darlin said...

Cute photos! It's cute how there's no waste, sure the bird makes a mess but the squirrels don't mind without a doubt.

Cheers.

kayerj said...

fun narrative with you pictures today. We do have red-winged black birds here. They love the tall pampas grass and wet areas it seems.

George said...

Thank you for sharing this beautiful photo sequence with us.

Adam Jones said...

Great pictures. Love the colouring on the wings.

eileeninmd said...

Great series, Carletta! I am glad the ground Doves will happily eat the seed knock out..have a happy day!

EG CameraGirl said...

Sadly, the Red-winged Blackbirds do the same thing here too! Good thing the Mourning Doves clean up the ground after them. :)

theconstantwalker said...

Fantastic to see Carletta... I only use seed that won't germinate because of my messy eaters lol xx

A Colorful World said...

Picky, picky! But so cute!

Anonymous said...

Isn't he handsome?

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Neat bird. We don't seem to have them around here ---or at least, they have never come to my feeders... Gorgeous bird --even though he's MESSY.

When our millions (it seems) of Pine Siskins come to the feeders, they can also make a HUGE mess....

Hugs,
Betsy

Rohrerbot said...

Interesting! I didn't know they were after the sunflowers. That's why they scatter everything else to the ground. Thanks for the info.

Bill S. said...

I love to see the Red-wings early in the spring, but then they become a problem at the feeders. They do waste a lot of feed.

DeniseinVA said...

Good morning Carletta, very pretty shots of the Red-wing Blackbird, and I love to hear their distinctive trill. That is also a real pretty feeder. Have a great day :)

Rose said...

He is a picky eater! You got some good captures of him, though!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Picky eater, messy seed scatterer, but a beautiful bird, so we don't care! (They love our feeders in Oregon.)

Someone sent us that exact bird feeder for Christmas a couple of years ago, but we really can't hang one here in Florida (no yard). I felt sad about that, but then I filled it with shells I've collected and it occupies a special place in the house.

Ida said...

It's funny to watch birds and see that they too can be "picky" about what they enjoy eating.

Stewart M said...

Well, when you know what you want, nothing else will do!

Nice post.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne