Bird Feeder in Winter – Mind Games!

 First let me say that I love to put up a bird feeder in winter.

I don’t usually put a feeder up in summer since there is a lot of food available during that time…fruit, berries, insects, etc, so I don’t feel the need to give them some food when I want them to eat the bugs in my garden.

I do put up a hummingbird feeder in summer, but that is just different for some reason to me. I like to see the single bird or two that come around my feeder. How do some of you get so many hummers around your feeders? I am lucky to get two maybe, but I see some films with 50 or more, and some even eating or drinking out of your hands? What’s up with that?

My Winter Birds

I try to place my feeder in an open area where birds can see all around them and be alert for danger. I have read that is what they like. I place the bird feeder near a shelter to run to for cover in case danger is sensed. I have read that is what they like.

I put out suet feeders because birds need to stay warm in winter and that takes more calories. Suet is a solid fat rendered from beef and sometimes venison and this is a high energy food. I have read that is what they like.

Suet is a favorite of insect-eating birds and woodpeckers love to peck at it just as they love to peck or drum on the tree. I have read this too.

I hang it up so that it is kept away from other animals so that no predators such as cats would be likely to reach it. I have read that is what they like.

What I did not read is how cunning and intelligent the birds in my Ohio backyard are! I am convinced that they know exactly what a camera is and can hear me switch it on. Seriously!

First of all, I tried to watch for a bird at the feeder having my camera ready by the window. Oh, I see a bird! Grab the camera.

Gone.

Wait by the window with camera in hand, ready to take a film or photo.

Empty skies, empty feeder, nada…..

Set up the tripod and mount the camera in the window. Zero in on the feeder. Set on movie and leave feeling so proud of myself.

Twenty minutes later……….upload and watch. Fast forward…..yep, twenty minutes of empty swinging feeder.

( To answer the question in your minds, yes, while I worked with the upload and had my camera off the tripod, my backyard looked like a scene from “The Birds”, that old movie from Alfred Hitchcock.)

There is no validity to the term “bird brain.” That term supposedly means birds are not smart. Oh yes, they are! Very smart.

To wind this thing up, I have filmed many stretches of twenty minutes of film, and finally have a 22 minute video to provide. I had to cut and edit and delete and edit until I had the portions that were just the birds.

So this is extra long, but I just had to use it.

Help me identify these smart birds if you can. They are extremely smart birds.