What the Junco can learn from the Finch
A small gang of Dark-eyed Juncos seem to be visiting our yard every day. They prefer to feed on the ground. The other day I observed one perched on the fence at the back of our yard, and he seemed to be looking at our hanging feeders. He made two sorties around them, appearing to pause by two of the feeders as if to land, but he continued flying and returned to his spot on the fence. I don’t know what was really going on, but when I told Arthur about this behavior I joked that our Juncos don’t know how to ‘use’ bird feeders and that’s why they are always eating on the ground. Yesterday when we were looking at the House Finches we saw this Junco perched on the fence behind them:
My first thought was that the Junco was amazed to see how other birds actually eat right there on the feeder. What a concept! Check out how he’s straddling two fence posts just to keep upright in what must be an extreme state of shock – too cute!
