Feathers and Fuzz

one woman's cure for the empty-nester blues

Defeating Grackles

Gray Catbird Investigates Prison Site

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I don’t see the Gray Catbird very often. In fact, when I had to research what I saw to determine what it was. They are actually quite distinctive with the wide, black stripe on their heads and the deep, rust-colored feathering under their tails.

When he visited, we were still in defeat-the-Grackles mode. I wonder what he thought about all the caged food. Clearly, he wasn’t taking a chance he’d end up in lock up!

BTW — the Catbird gets its name from its song. It has a “mew” sound to it. Okay, so it’s a bit of an angry-cat sound.  If you are interested in hearing it, here’s a link:  Catbird Call

Enjoy the video.  He’s a pretty cool looking bird!

Birds Singing the Folsom Prison Blues

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Building cages around all food sources at the bird feeder did slow down the Grackles.  I imagine the juvenile, Red-bellied Woodpecker singing the Prison Blues.  You can see him stretching out his neck (and his long tongue) to reach the suet deep within the prison walls.  The tiny Downy Woodpecker, on the other hand, quickly learned to scurry underneath the bars to happily eat her fill.

It's far from the ideal bird restaurant.  But, but as you will see in the feature video, the birds adapted quite well.  No one is going to sleep hungry!

Red-bellied Tongue

Juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker - Tongue Outstretched