I learned about the importance of sight-lines when I first put up a feeder for the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.  Why they sell Hummingbird feeders with multiple “seats” is beyond me!  One Hummingbird claims feeder ownership (I call him “The Sentry”) — perching nearby and aggressively chasing off any would-be sharers.  At first, I thought I could solve this problem by adding a second feeder.  Silly me!  The Sentry guarded BOTH feeders.  Now really — you’re the size of a peanut and there’s 24 ounces of nectar.  Just think of all the calories you are burning fighting off the other 20 or so Hummingbirds in the area.  My words fell on deaf ears.

SO — I moved the second feeder — hiding it out of sight of the other feeder (behind a dog bed I wedged in the terrace railing).  Much to my surprise, it worked!  The only problem with this arrangement is that the dog was not one bit happy about the new location of his bed.  The same dog who warms his butt by the winter fire must have a comfy bed to curl up on when we sit outside.

I now place the second Hummingbird feeder (and mealworm feeder) behind a column — no sight-line to the other feeder combo.  Everyone, including the dog, is happy.

I was reminded of this sight-line lesson the other day when a female Downy Woodpecker was happily enjoying a suet meal.  Soon a male Downy AND a Pine Warbler showed up.  The male landed on the feeder and the female freaked out — soon surrendering the feeder to the male.  The Pine Warbler observed all of this — then applied the sight-line principal to gain a seat at the feeder table.