The sparrow beats a hasty retreat.
When a Harris's Sparrow tries to move in on the suet feeder the woodpeckers crown flashes and the sparrow yields quickly.
Both the male and female Downy Woodpeckers are regulars at the suet feeder. They never seem to visit at once but take turns. It is the male that has the red crown. I had a picture of the female a few days ago.
As I am writing this the rain is pounding down and making such a racket on the roof of the garden room that Sue and I are shouting to make ourselves heard. This is the third day of heavy rain. It stops for an hour or so then starts back up again. We had a dry winter so this is not unwelcome.
2 comments:
Is that a home-made suet pudding for the birds in the feeder? When I had a garden I used to make cakes for the birds out of old rendered down fat and then added seeds etc. and, once they solidified, put them out as Michelin-starred food for the birds and squirrels.
That's a beautiful Woodpecker - trust the male species to be such a smart bird.
Anne
These little cakes of suet are 88 cents at the Walmart. We don't eat anything that renders that much fat. When I started putting out suet for the woodpeckers I was surprised to see what other birds are attracted to it, like wrens, and mockingbirds.
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