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    #51
    Great Tits

    Magpies attack cyclists in Brisbane. There are loads of cyclists there (well not at the moment obviously, they';re probably kayaking at the moment), and you see lots of them with sort of spikes coming out of the helmets - sort of as if they're wearing brightly covered porcupines on their heads. I asked why this was and was told it was to protect them from magpies. Then, as if specifically to puncture my scepticism, the next time I went out on a bike I got dive bombed by one. It was quite an upsetting experience - sort of like being attacked by a dog only much more 3D

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      #52
      Great Tits

      Renart wrote:
      I can't find anything about Pileated Woodpeckers flocking in groups. My book says they form long-term monogamous pairs, but that sometimes the young stay with them for a few months after they're out of the nest to learn to forage, so I'm guessing that's what you saw, AdC.

      As for bird-on-human harassment, the Mockingbirds around here sometimes divebomb/buzz people that come (or have come) near their nests. They hit cats, too. They're pretty fearless. I read an article last year about an experiment some ornithologists did that proved Mockingbirds could recognize individual human faces. So don't mess with their nests. They won't forget who you are.
      I'm sure you're right about the woodpeckers, it seems odd otherwise.

      Owl "attacks" are fairly common here, frequent enough for warnings to be posted. They're pretty intimidating as Owls tend to fly right at you rather than diving from above and some have five or six foot wing spans. I've never heard of anybody being actually hit but I have met people who claim to have had their hats knocked off.

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        #53
        Great Tits

        I, for one, welcome our new avian overlords, etc.

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          #54
          Great Tits

          Had been trying without success to attract goldfinches to the garden, but hung up a peanut feeder at the weekend, and they seem to love it.

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            #55
            Great Tits

            It took six months before they came to my feeders with the Niger seeds, just keep the feeders out and they will eventually find thier way.

            I also had my first Siskin's last weekend.

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              #56
              Great Tits

              I've been spotting groups of Cedar Waxwings in various berry bushes and trees near my house lately.

              None of them have been slain in the false azure of my window pane, thankfully.

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                #57
                Great Tits

                Sadly we won't see them, or their Bohemian cousins, until the spring, if then.

                There's a pair of Kray twin-like Pine Siskins at our feeders. They showed up during the last snowfall a week or so ago. When they're not eating they just hang around to see off the other birds for fun. I'd estimate overall food consumption has gone down by 50% as a result.

                What's the general opinion on feeding birds during the summer? In the past I've substituted the suet for the hummingbird bird feeder and taken down the seed, but I'm not sure that particularly makes sense.

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                  #58
                  Great Tits

                  I still feed all my usual seeds throughout the summer months but I do away with the fat balls etc.

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                    #59
                    Great Tits

                    Yeah, Waxwings head south in the winter. The Bohemians never make it this far south, but some Cedars go all the way to Colombia. They tend to pass through here for a while, and then I don't see them again until March when they're headed back to Canada. This year they came south later than usual. I think I read somewhere that their range is gradually moving north, probably due to global warming.

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                      #60
                      Great Tits

                      While we are on the subject, some tips for bird lovers who own cats to help reduce the number of feline bird kills (estimated at over a billion annually in the US alone):

                      Keep your cat indoors and encourage cat-owning neighbors to do the same

                      Spay or neuter your cat. In this country, 35,000 kittens are born each day, and one female and her kittens can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.

                      Never abandon cats outside. This is cruel and inhumane to both the cat and local wildlife. Take the cat to an animal shelter where it has a much better chance of being adopted into a loving home and living a long and healthy life.

                      Support cat licensing laws, leash laws, and higher licensing fees for cats that aren't spayed or neutered.

                      Don't feed stray cats.


                      http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/rouge_river/cats.html

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                        #61
                        Great Tits

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                          #62
                          Great Tits

                          I just witnessed an altercation between my cat and a couple of magpies, and a crow flew in from two gardens away and seemed to wade in on the magpies' side.

                          Cat runs up elder tree where magpie is sitting. Only a foot away, but can't lunge without falling, so feigns nonchalance and tries to wash his paw whilst wobbling on branch. Second magpie flies in on other side of cat. Both start rat tat tatting at him. Cat gets cross and swipes at magpies. Misses. Crow meanwhile has been flying in closer to get a better look, hops onto elder tree and starts cawing loudly at cat and shrugging wings. Cat gives "bovvered" look and saunters down tree.

                          Magpies and crows fly off, to be replaced by blue tits chattering excitedly.

                          Who needs to go out, with entertainment like this just outside their window?

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                            #63
                            Great Tits

                            Btw: my cat has killed four birds in 14 years, despite always having had a garden and spending many hours trying. He proudly brought a blue tit into a neighbour's house where we were sitting down to dinner, and was hurt and puzzled by my reaction; hasn't caught once since. Sticks to mice now.

                            I know attitudes in tne US are different, but I wouldn't want to keep a cat inside. I totally agree with the advice about spaying etc.

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                              #64
                              Great Tits

                              One of our cat owning neighbours is obviously a bird lover, as they've tied a bell to their moggy. I let this one be as it strolls across the lawn, but the two other local cats which remain un-belled are apt to be chased if I spot them.

                              I stick a fair selection of fodder out for the wild birds that come into our garden. Regrettably, the fucking magpies had a bumper shagging season last summer, and there are now 8 of the hooers acting as if they own the gaff. They are lovely birds, and incredibly clever at finding ways to access and scoff the food that I thought I'd made magpie-proof, so that their smaller cousins could get a fair share. They drive me fucking mental.

                              I get flocks of long-tailed tits; blue, great and occasionally coal tits; a great-spotted woodpecker and other commoner species. Only the wood pigeons have the size to sit and stare out the magpies, so I find I have to loiter by a window, as that keeps the shithouse magpies off the feeders, without disturbing any of the other species.

                              Oh, we get a sparrowhawk too - in addition to the collared doves, blackbirds and robins that make up its usual kills, it got a mistle thrush last spring, judging by the mound of feathers left behind.

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                                #65
                                Great Tits

                                The food I put out mostly attracts sparrows and blackbirds, with the odd tit, finch and thrush. They have to be quick, though, as not long after they are joined by fat bastard pigeon and finally a delinquent hoodie gang of starlings that hoover up all the floor food and take it in turns to devour the fat balls.
                                Jingle cat sometimes goes out in the garden, but doesn't seem to faze the birds, who are quite aware that he is old, fat, slow and toothless. Usually they just line up on the fence and laugh at him, just like it's an episode of Rhubarb and Custard.

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                                  #66
                                  Great Tits

                                  bewaldeth wrote:
                                  the two other local cats which remain un-belled are apt to be chased if I spot them.
                                  You don't need to chase cats. Just walk slowly towards them, staring at them. They quickly decide that they'd rather be somewhere else...

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                                    #67
                                    Great Tits

                                    It appears that neither cats nor magpies that are causing the songbirds to decline but us typically

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                                      #68
                                      Great Tits

                                      MsD wrote:
                                      Who needs to go out, with entertainment like this just outside their window?
                                      I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way!

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                                        #69
                                        Great Tits

                                        Sean of the Shed wrote:
                                        The food I put out mostly attracts sparrows and blackbirds, with the odd tit, finch and thrush. They have to be quick, though, as not long after they are joined by fat bastard pigeon and finally a delinquent hoodie gang of starlings that hoover up all the floor food and take it in turns to devour the fat balls.
                                        Ha .. My gentleman friend likens squirrels nicking the birds' food to guests at a wedding shoving the entire buffet into black bin liners then pissing off with it.

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                                          #70
                                          Great Tits

                                          Gangster Octopus wrote:
                                          bewaldeth wrote:
                                          the two other local cats which remain un-belled are apt to be chased if I spot them.
                                          You don't need to chase cats. Just walk slowly towards them, staring at them. They quickly decide that they'd rather be somewhere else...
                                          This works with children, too.

                                          And grown-ups, now I come to think of it.

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                                            #71
                                            Great Tits

                                            MsD wrote:
                                            Gangster Octopus wrote:
                                            bewaldeth wrote:
                                            the two other local cats which remain un-belled are apt to be chased if I spot them.
                                            You don't need to chase cats. Just walk slowly towards them, staring at them. They quickly decide that they'd rather be somewhere else...
                                            This works with children, too.
                                            Hmm. I possibly won't be trying that one when I'm in Tesco later.

                                            It's the RSPB garden birdwatch census thingy this weekend, isn't it? I'll have to throw some seed on the lawn and see what shows up.

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                                              #72
                                              Great Tits

                                              Saw a slightly unusual bird this morning - looked like your standard blue or great tit shape-wise, but this had a grey cap and breast, while its back was brown like a sparrow's. Any ideas?

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                                                #73
                                                Great Tits

                                                That's a Dunnock, otherwise known as a Hedge Sparrow.

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                                                  #74
                                                  Great Tits

                                                  bewaldeth wrote:

                                                  It's the RSPB garden birdwatch census thingy this weekend, isn't it? I'll have to throw some seed on the lawn and see what shows up.[/quote]
                                                  My children were very excited about this event. So 1 hour on Saturday at lunchtime saw 1 blackbird, 2 blue tits, 1 crow, 1 long tailed tit (we hadn't seen one of them before), 2 magpies, 1 robin (we hoped he would show up), 18 starlings and a wood pigeon. We had no sparrows which surprised us.
                                                  According to the RSPB we have a small urban garden.

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                                                    #75
                                                    Great Tits

                                                    I never see sparrows in my garden, but at the riding stables less than a mile away there are loads hanging around the horses' stalls. Maybe they like something in the feed.

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