Those confusing LBB's!!! - 08/20/03 06:37 PM
Since putting out the second tube feeder yesterday, my front yard has been inundated with LBB's. They must have some kind of high speed access, to get the word out that fast!!! There must be over 25 out there now, all trying to elbow their way to a perch near one of the ports on the feeder. I guess there's enough spillage onto the grass to keep the rest of the rabble happy (being summer, though, I think I will let the second feeder go down to empty, then keep only the first one out until fall/winter. I'm not sure they really need both at this time, when there is still alot of other food out there for them. Am I right in this?)
I will also have to go out to refill the birdbath pretty soon. I emptied it and put fresh water in this morning but it already looks close to empty and, well, no longer *fresh*, shall we say...I watched one little soul wade right into the water, up to her knees, so to speak, *kneel* down to wet her tummy, then fluff out her wings and shake herself over and over again, splashing everyone else perched on the rim. Some are drinking, some are *tail-dipping*, some are simply being obnoxious and pushing whoever is next to them either off the rim or into the water and some are, well, doing what we are always asked NOT to do in public swimming pools! It's amazing what you can observe through the binoculars when you watch for 10, 15 uninterrupted minutes!! And it is pretty funny just how similar young bird behaviour is to young human behaviour, on a hot summer's day! LOL!
And now for my question. It occurred to me after watching for awhile, that not ALL the sparrows I am seeing are my regular common house sparrows. Initially, they all looked alike to me, although it is easy enough to tell male from female. But after looking in my Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds (Eastern Region), I think I might also be seeing a Song Sparrow. The dark central spot is the giveaway. The tail IS rounded although it doesn't appear to me to be particularly long, as the book says it is. Is this possible, that I could have both types of sparrows at my feeders and birdbath at the same time? They are all making so much noise out there that it is hard to differentiate whose song is whose and they are so quick and flitty that it is also difficult to really have a long look and go back and forth to the book. They are not all that co-operative in that way, if you know I mean!
Whew! Ok, any and all input is appreciated!!
Shelley, ever the novice.... :angel:
I will also have to go out to refill the birdbath pretty soon. I emptied it and put fresh water in this morning but it already looks close to empty and, well, no longer *fresh*, shall we say...I watched one little soul wade right into the water, up to her knees, so to speak, *kneel* down to wet her tummy, then fluff out her wings and shake herself over and over again, splashing everyone else perched on the rim. Some are drinking, some are *tail-dipping*, some are simply being obnoxious and pushing whoever is next to them either off the rim or into the water and some are, well, doing what we are always asked NOT to do in public swimming pools! It's amazing what you can observe through the binoculars when you watch for 10, 15 uninterrupted minutes!! And it is pretty funny just how similar young bird behaviour is to young human behaviour, on a hot summer's day! LOL!
And now for my question. It occurred to me after watching for awhile, that not ALL the sparrows I am seeing are my regular common house sparrows. Initially, they all looked alike to me, although it is easy enough to tell male from female. But after looking in my Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds (Eastern Region), I think I might also be seeing a Song Sparrow. The dark central spot is the giveaway. The tail IS rounded although it doesn't appear to me to be particularly long, as the book says it is. Is this possible, that I could have both types of sparrows at my feeders and birdbath at the same time? They are all making so much noise out there that it is hard to differentiate whose song is whose and they are so quick and flitty that it is also difficult to really have a long look and go back and forth to the book. They are not all that co-operative in that way, if you know I mean!
Whew! Ok, any and all input is appreciated!!
Shelley, ever the novice.... :angel: