Category Archives: Indigo Bunting

Backyard Birdwatching Is the Best!

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As you may have extrapolated from many of my posts, Yang and I are great bird watchers.  We’ve traveled all over the Northeast (and to Canada, China, England, and France in the past) to sight all kinds of befeathered critters.  My count for species this year is now a whopping 93!  However, I can’t help agreeing with him that we often see a greater numbers of birds and species on our bird feeders thnt we do on our trips to woods, fields, rivers, and oceans!  Maybe this blog will lead you to agree.

Many of our regular spring and summer visitors have made their appearances here.  I can report that I’ve seen one Hummingbird, lots of Goldfinches and House Finches, Red-winged Blackbirds (male and female), and Cardinals by the score.  Our Chickadees and Titmice have briefly been on haiatus, brooding their babes, but they are now back at work snagging black-oil sunflower seeds.  It’s also so much fun to see Mommy and Daddy (mostly Daddy) Cardinals bringing their kids to the feeders now that the little tykes can fly.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of these guys, but I do have quite a few of some of my other feathered favorites.

One of my favorite species are the Rosebreasted Grosbeaks.  Usually, we get the females first, then the males; however, it was the opposite this year.  We had at least one male, finally, on a feeder.  Then, tragedy struck:  we found him dead on the ground under a tree.  Yang and I were heartbroken.  These guys were like our pals.  Still, our hearts mended a bit two week later when we found another male chomping on sunflower seeds.  Then we saw a female.  Then we saw two males at the same time!  There could be up to thirty males on that feeder as long as they didn’t all show up together!  By the way, the males are quite aggressive.  They don’t take guff from each other and not from Grackles, Blue Jays, or Mourning Doves.  The females can be tough cookies as well.  Anyway, I’m glad they are back.  Below is a shot of the males in a more pacific mod. I guess they can stand each other when multiple  tubes of seeds separate them.

 

Another of our beloved colorful visitors is the Baltimore Oriole.  After long waiting, we saw one toward the end of May, then nothing!  Many an orange might have withered away if not for other birds. So, we almost gave up hope of seeing another Oriole – until in the middle of June Orioles reappeared!  We saw a male several days in a row, then a female for a couple of days, then a week later:  a juvenile.  It’s been a couple of weeks and – nothing!  Of course, who knows what shows up when Yang and I are away, but we haven’t seen any Orioles since.  I guess this was just a stopover on their way to their real summer grounds.  Well, at least we saw a few of them!  And the oranges did not go to waste.

We have discovered that Catbirds adore orange pulp!  When there’s no suet to be had (and even when there is!) our catbird couple come by to snack on the orange halves we have set out.  They must keep up their strength, since they have a nest with babies on our property.

Mr. Redbellied Woodpecker thinks the oranges are pretty cool stuff, too.  You can see him having a grand time chowing down on pulp.  Maybe the Orioles are afraid to go for the oranges with these guys around!

One idea that Yang came up with to thwart the squirrels from stealing food from the birds (and breaking our feeders) was to buy a tube feeder inside a globed cage.  It also had the advantage of preventing the big bully birds like Grackles, Doves, and Jays from keeping the little birds from food.  it works. Of course, medium size birds like the Rosebreasted Grosbeak and the female Redwinged Blackbirds can get in, without being bullies.  Tough luck male Red Wings!  Birds with long beaks also have a shot – like the Redbellied Woodpecker.  The House finches try to out-aggress the Goldfinches, but the latter either hold their own or just wait and dive in when the coast is clear.  Titmice and Chickadees are too fast for anyone to harass them!

 

 

 

So, you can see, we’ve seen a healthy variety of avian visitors right outside out windows.  Bring on the Scarlet Tanagers, the Pileated Woodpeckers, and the Indigo Buntings!  It wouldn’t be the first time one of them has shown up at chez Yang.

 

 

Backyard Birds 2

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Right after I did my last backyard bird posting, wouldn’t you know that Mr. and Mrs. Grosbeak made their return.  And they were ultimately joined by some exciting friends.  But enough about the friends later – first, let’s get to the Grosbeaks.
First, I saw the female and managed to get some nice shots of her.  I never noticed this on females before, so I’m not sure if this gal is unique, but you can see from these pictures that this gal has some lovely orange coloring, analogous to where her hubby has his rose breast – a broad splash, with a narrow taper. There may be another couple, because I believe that I have also seen a female this year without the orangey coloring. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled.  We’ve been having Rosebreasted couples visit us for more than five years.  At first, we had only females, then one year males joined in.  One year we had two males.  We may have more than one couple as it is, but I just haven’t seen all four at the same time.
Anyway, is it me or is this girl giving Yang a smile?

It’s fun to watch the male and female come and feed together.  They seem to prefer the single copper-topped feeder.  I usually hear one of them singing, then, there they are, having a meal out!  I love to hear them sing in the trees as well.  I can’t help wondering if they have any nests nearby.  I do know that the pair with the gal in the peach-colored breast feathers makes the round with some of my neighbors, as well.  According to the Cornell Ornithology site, both parents brood the children, with the Daddy often singing away in the nest.  Here’s a link for more information on these wonderful birds.  I also love to watch the males fly away, with the flash of black and white on their wings like a special optical effect.
I have also noted that these birds can be pretty aggressive.  No Grackles, Starlings, Mourning Doves, or Blue Jays better mess with them when they want to feed.   Who you Lookin’ at?
Another fairly aggressive beauty that I found on my feeder this year was the Baltimore Oriole.

Yes!  We do have Orioles this year! Usually, one or so will cruise through in May, take a look at our suet and seeds, then turn up his beak and take it on the wing.  This year, I got wise and noted how people placed their orange halves for Oriole delectation.  It worked!  I cut the oranges  across the equator, then impaled them on the trellis for our Morning Glories.  Now I can’t keep the Orioles away.  We have two adult males, one juvenile male (below), and two females, one orange and one yellow (yellow to the right).  And woe betide the Oriole who wants to join another Oriole at the juice bar, even if it’s a female with a male  or they can sip from different halves.  Orioles may have lovely calls to announce their coming, but their aggression chatter is NOT soothing.  We even had an Oriole/Grosbeak confrontation – Mr. Grosbeak won.  Still, if two Orioles can rarely feed together, the disappointed party will usually go to town on the suet. One time, Yang looked up to see a male Oriole perched on the window ledge and staring in  at him!
If all this weren’t exciting enough, on three separate days we had a hummingbird on the hummingbird feeder.  I couldn’t tell you if it’s the same one or not, but there have been repeat appearances.  Yang was even able to snap some photos, as you can see – well, you can see better if you click on the photo.  I normally don’t see these guys until July, but I’d been hearing on FB about all kinds of sightings. So I thought, maybe if there are no flowers around, the hummers would be more interested in my feeder.  Bingo!  It worked.
Now, for my final extraordinary sighting.  I’ve never had a clear look at one of these guys before.  I’ve always wanted to see one in all his glory.  It seemed as if everyone in Massachusetts was sighting these guys but me!  Then, yesterday, while we were watching the episode of Father Brown that I’d dvr’d, Yang said, “Wow!  What is this strange bird.  I’ve never seen this before.”  I hopped up, took a careful peek around the window curtain, and there it was in all his indigo  glory!  Yes!  My first full-color Indigo Bunting!  Well, I guess he hasn’t completely changed from his winter to his summer duds, but he is still something!
I don’t know if he’ll be back.  He wasn’t crazy about the oranges, he was skeptical of the suet, but the sunflower hearts did seem to grab his attention – though the Grackles kept getting in the way.  Let’s hope we see more of him!  Wow!  What a bird- watching season!