I’ve been well pleased with the birds we’ve had stopping at our peanut feeder this fall so far, especially the regular visits from both Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches. Both species were rare back yard sightings in the past. I set our Wingscapes Birdcam out to capture some images over the last few days.
There were a few surprises – birds that normally aren’t considered nut feeders. These guys didn’t stay at the feeder too long.
Juncos prefer to forage on the ground – usually not on feeders
House Finches don’t seem to be big peanut fans
These guys looked lost (European Starling | Red-winged Blackbird)
OMG a Pine Siskin! Haven’t seen these in the yard for ourselves yet – thanks Birdcam!
Then there were the expected birds. I’d like to see Red-bellied Woodpeckers more often, and these nuts seem to bring them in more than the suet & nuts in the shell (yay!).
Black-capped Chickadees snatch nuts throughout the day
Female Downy Woodpeckers seem to visit more than…
… male Downy Woodpeckers
Red-bellied Woodpecker seems to prefer our suet feeder – nice to see a peanut visit
At least two individual Red-breasted Nuthatches visit regularly
I’m really happy to have both of our regular nuthatches visiting on a daily basis. Last year we had one Red-breasted stop by for one or two days, and that was it! Now several individuals of both species are visiting daily. The White-breasted is a new yard bird this year! And boy, do they love the nuts. They also like to pose for the camera. I found a lot of photos like these:
Hopefully they’ll all continue visiting during the winter. Tomorrow, though, I’m putting the camera on a finch sock or something. I mean, really, a Pine Siskin!?!?
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