A large sparrow with a long tail. The Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) fills the edges of the woods here with their beautiful song of “Drink your teeeeaa” all day long. For me, a constant companion.
Here in Virginia these Towhees have haunting red eyes but in Florida and northern Georgia they will have light straw colored eyes.
The Eastern Towhee is a bird that is here year-round, scavenging in the undergrowth for whatever it can find. Insects, spiders, snails, berries, millipedes, all could be on the menu.
If your bird feeders are close to the understory of the woods you might be fortunate to find a Towhee under those feeders scratching about for sunflower seeds or mealworms. If they feel safe.
What a special treat just three years ago when I saw my first Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus). They were migrating through but they took their sweet time giving me great opportunities to observe and admire them. They were wonderful models for me too.
Late April until early May is when they’ve arrived. Three years in a row. Making themselves at home at my feeders where they gobble down sunflower seeds. On their own they eat berries, seeds and insects.
The male outfitted in his striking black and white feathers accented with the brilliant crimson bib.
The female reminding me of my favorite hot fudge sundae with not quite enough hot fudge. I hear they’re in the neighborhood right now but I’ve yet to see any. Hoping I will, before they take off on the rest of their journey to their breeding grounds of northern North America or the mountains of the West.
A male Downy Woodpecker has a red spot at the back of his head
The Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens. A permanent resident here and in most places in their native range. That range, with the exception of the desert southwest and the tundra of the north, is nearly all of Canada and the United States. But in the northern portions of their territory, some may wander a bit south for the winter. Or if in the higher elevations may come to a lower elevation.
A female Downy Woodpecker has no red, only black and white
They are little woodpeckers. In fact, they are the smallest woodpecker native to North America. The size of a White-throated Sparrow. Little. Downy Woodpeckers are nearly identical to the Hairy Woodpecker, who is about the size of an American Robin. NOT little. Keep that in mind when you see one of these black and white beauties. I’m accustomed to seeing the Downy Woodpecker, and on the occasion that I see a Hairy Woodpecker, the size difference is enough to make me say, “Whoa!” For me, there is no mistaking one from the other, the size difference is quite striking.
Another difference that you might find helpful is the size of their bill. The Downy Woodpecker’s bill about 1/3 the size of its head. Think CUTE. The Hairy Woodpecker’s bill is about the same length as its head, from the base of the bill to the back of the head.
Though Downy Woodpeckers mainly eat insects, beetle larvae and caterpillars, they also eat berries, acorns, peanuts, sunflower seeds and grains. During the winter, when I’m able to feed the birds, Downies are frequently at the suet feeder.
During the warmer months the bears up here in the mountains, want to join in with the birds, getting their food, so I restrict my bird feeding, reluctantly, to the winter.
But I keep three bird baths full, one with a dripper. Without feeding them I still get to see the best of the warm weather birds. Pure delight.
A bird that doesn’t migrate. Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a bird that comes to my feeders during all seasons. Well, all seasons that I have those feeders out. Bears think the seeds I put out for the BIRDS are for bears as well. During many months of the year I must consider the pluses and the minuses of putting out feeders when bears may be roaming. For me, a tough choice to make.
I’ve discovered a Tufted Titmouse loves peanut butter and hulled sunflower seeds. But its diet consists to a large extent, of insects including caterpillars and stink bugs. I sure wish they’d eat MORE of the Brown Marmorated Stinkbugs that are way too plentiful around here.
The Tufted Titmouse enjoys berries that are in season in the neighborhood, as well as seeds, acorns and beech nuts.
Given a choice of seeds of different sizes, it will chose the largest. It will then take that seed to a nearby branch securing it in its feet, and work on it with its beak. Whacking it into smaller sizes so that it can be eaten in a genteel manner.
A Tufted Titmouse pair will build a cup-shaped nest in a cavity in a tree. A natural hole in that tree or a cavity created and abandoned by some other animal. Or the couple may settle into a bird house put out by a human, or choose an open pipe of just the right size. The nest will take shape using bark strips, leaves, moss, grasses, wool (as in the above image) or hair of all sorts of animals.
Look carefully at the photo above. There, blending in with the many branches of flowering dogwood are a group of Tufted Titmice. And drumroll please. A group of Tufted Titmice is called a “banditry” or a “dissimulation” of titmice. Who THINKS of these names!?!
Some might think this an LBJ. A little brown job. But certainly deserving of more distinction than that.
This, a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) and a master of camouflage.
A bird that is known for its rich collection of songs. Quite the crooners, males use their songs to identify their territory and to attract females.
Song Sparrows are year round residents in much of their range. In the northern most parts they will migrate south for the winter.
The diet of the Song Sparrow includes a large variety of insects and invertebrates, and many different berries. If you put out a platform feeder close to good cover with sunflower seeds or peanut hearts you’ll probably find Song Sparrows coming to your buffet.
Of the native sparrows in North America the Song Sparrow species is one of the most abundant. But NOT just LBJs.
And, as you can see from my photos, if you’ve got a bird bath that you can put out summer and winter (with a water warmer) they’ll love it.
