Any other small birds that have a really fast wing flap speed other than hummingbirds? Saw something the size if maybe a finch just a minute ago really beating the hell out of its wings to go from a bush to a tree. Straight line, didn't move like a hummingbird, so wonder if it could be and injury or just some other bird.
Every Saturday I buy a big bag of bird food and now a big bag of corn, the corn feeds the deer and keeps them away from my flowers and garden Nancy hangs out in the woods and waits for me to fill them up and comes right out to eat she is so used to me that she will let me sit about 10 feet from her, although sometimes she snorts at me
Here's one of the wild Red-Crowned Parrots that we have around here. They're declining in their native range in Mexico, but the ones that escaped captivity years ago have started a pretty healthy population in L.A. They are so god damn loud. This poor bastard has hundreds of them roosting outside of his home. I would lose my mind.
Got a pic of a California Thrasher drinking water, don't see that too often. They're one of my favorite birds.
Some stuff I saw on my hike yesterday. Black Phoebe One of the Dark Eyed Junco's that stays all year. Nuttal's Woodpecker Northern Rough-Winged Swallow I think.
saw a peacock on the side of the road yesterday. guessing it was escaped pet, but idk. I remember an old lady that used to live out by our land used to have some back when I was a kid.
Might just be free range. I used to see guineas and the occasional peacock all the time in bumfuck, AL.
Went for a hike up in the mountains; I saw and got pictures of a lot of stuff. Somebody up on the trail set this spigot to leak a little bit, and then put rocks all around where the water was pouring out. The birds were mobbing it since there isn't any water up there right now. There were a lot of birds I couldn't ID. An Acorn Woodpecker landed 8 feet from me. Stelller's Jay This White-Headed Woodpecker was drinking a lot of water. A White Breasted Nut-Hatch, Mountain Chickadee, and Western Bluebird. Hummingbird was catching drops as they fell.
Here's another Acorn Woodpecker pic. They really are the strung out crackheads of the bird world. A Western Bluebird. Also saw a Pygmy Nuthatch, didn't realize 'til I looked at the photos.
Saw something fluttering in the window and looked outside. This little fella was trying to fly up the side of the house and couldn't make it and fell. I watched him get to the fence then the side yard and have watched him try and fly to the roof of my house and neighbors house and he doesn't make it and falls to the ground. Anything I could try and do? He's pretty obviously hurt or disoriented from the big storm we just had come out of nowhere. Owsley
Id throw some birdseed by him but I feel like that would just bring the big healthy birds and they'd harass the injured one.
Had male and female Allen's and Anna's fighting around the feeder yesterday. The male Anna's is a psycho, I could actually hear him crashing into the other Allen's Hummingbirds when they got too close to the feeder. I went out and sat outside with a beer and my camera. They were about 6 feet from me, they did not give a shit that I was sitting out there. Male Allen's. Female Allen's Male Anna's Female Anna's
Hooded Oriole hanging on the hummingbird feeder, had 3 of them vying for it. I thought this Lesser-Goldfinch was something else, I guess this is breeding color?
Saw something today that was both awesome and depressing at once, having witnessed nature takes its course. At the beach with my kids and a few baby sea turtle hatchlings seem to have staggered out either late or early from their nest. They usually hatch and make for the ocean when it’s dark, not broad daylight. Beautiful little guys. Then a seagulls swooped down and grabbed one. My kids tried to chase the seagull because they were horrified but when they got close the gull just cocked it’s head back and swallowed the hatchling whole. Crazy. It happened too quickly for me to try and grab pics.
It is so fucking hot, I'm surprised I haven't seen any dead birds. Two straight days of 112, it's currently 90 at 6 a.m. I've been refilling the bird fountain multiple times a day with cool water, and changed the hummingbird feeder twice in the same day. This Allen's was straight up panting, mouth hanging completely open.
Are hummingbirds territorial over a food source? Got about 3 females and a male zooming all around my feeder and chasing each other off. It would be great if I had another reason to get another feeder or two.
my buddy in CA (also a novice birder like myself) told me his hummingbird feeder action is like the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan.
Accurate. I have a male Anna's that rams full speed into the Allen's. It's basically a free for all, no wonder they need so much damn sugar.
Good deal. I think they are only around in this area for a few more weeks so I’ll have to add humming bird feeders to my Christmas wish list. Anything you guys like or recommend? I have this one and am not a huge fan of it. It seems like a lot of my sugar mix goes to waste, because at one point their tongues aren’t long enough to get the sugar water and I’d like to change their food more regularly and something smaller would cut down on my waste. Spoiler
Also in the same boat as Lucky24Seven ...looking for a reason to get a feeder, but I don't want to deal with ants. piggybacking on his above question: are ant moats necessary?
Yup - multiple feeders can help but honestly if the male can see them all he'll chase them around. I'd definitely buy another one or two to space them out some.
I walked out to the feeder on Monday, and there was a black mass of moving stuff all over it. Damn ants found this 7 foot wire hanging from the roof and climbed down all the way to the feeder. Nice. I saw an Orange-Crowned a couple days ago. Warblers are so hard to get a picture of. Spoiler
From my limited experience watching my Grandma fill hummingbird feeders during the summer for a decade or more, there's one thing to remember: If you build it, they will come. By the time she gave it up 6 or 7 years ago, she had 3 full sized feeders with the 40oz + bottles and she was filling them twice a day. Have no idea how much sugar she was running through, but it was a lot. You'd walk out the back porch and there'd be no less that 30-40 hummingbirds swarming, and they'd only briefly disperse as you walked by. It's cool, but probably overkill.
Fat hummingbird at my house checking in. She was chilling on the cup feeders next to the hummingbird feeder for about 10 min yesterday so I was watching her. Crazy how much they shit. She was going every 45 seconds or so. I had to start counting. Edit: And just now spotted her. Landed and took a shit immediately. Haha. I’ll grab my camera and get some shots.
Just heard the distinctive calls of a pair of killdeer flying overhead while reading on my porch. Not something I ever would have expected, and certainly not a rarity, but pretty cool nonetheless. I’m guessing they’re heading to a nearby golf course, but who knows.
It's nice that someone likes them. I can't stand those birds. So fucking loud and absolutely everywhere screaming about nothing. Their broken wing display to distract from their young or eggs is cool though.