Birds of a different feather

I've had birdfeeders out since I had my rental house in town. Usually it's one of mixed seed and one of black oilseed, and then a hummingbird feeder in the summer. The hummingbird feeder is a cheap source of evening entertainment, with me sitting on the back porch watching those little suckers fight over feeder space. One time I counted as many as seven ruby-throats dive-bombing each other. Adding the trellis and cages for the pole beans and tomatoes last summer changed the airborne tactics, in that the wires were just the right diameter for a hummer to pause and plan it's next path of attack.

The latest change was switching out one of my winter mixed-seed feeders for thistle (niger) seed. Growing up in the Great Lakes region, goldfinches were a ubiquitous part of the summer flora and fauna. Down here in the Deep South I'm in their winter range, and when a co-worker mentioned how many were spotted around her feeders I took the plunge to try attracting them too. They don't have quite the markings I remember because they are in their winter plumage; they are more of an olivey yellow-green to faded yellow but the personality is all there.

I never thought much about feeder placement other than keeping them out of reach of the cats and horses, and away from the garden should spilled seed go uneaten. I'm just now realizing the retrofitted thistle seed feeder is in a prime viewing location from my living room sofa thanks in great part to the new flurry of activity. I've seen as many as a dozen goldfinches around the feeder as they battle for one of four feeding ports. They aren't as territorial as the hummers, as the finches will somewhat patiently wait their turn in the branches surrounding the feeder compared to the ruby-throats that don't want to see another bright green "friend" while they enjoy their nectar. However the finches are chow-hounds - I've watched the seed level drop an inch in the past hour of their morning feeding frenzy.

The mixed seed is still out there, but I moved it to the other side of the house. Now I can watch that one from my bedroom window as I get ready for work. And so far the horses have not payed much attention to the pinata-of-seed that is the new mixed seed feeder.

As for the chickens? I think one of the side benefits of all these bird feeders is that they are opportunistically waiting under the songbird feeders for any sloppy eaters. And I'm hoping this means they'll leave my daffodils and pansies alone. (knock on wood)