Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) Male photos by Larry Jordan

Saturday I had some time to just relax and watch the clown-faced member of the woodpecker family, the Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus), as the adults brought their juveniles to the feeder (click on photos for full sized images).

It is fitting that they sport the clown face too because they really put on a show chasing each other around through the trees and around the woodpecker feeder.

This first video begins with a juvenile male at the feeder as he goes about eating some smaller seeds and discarding others as he searches for the larger nuts in the mix, followed by what appears to be an adult male and then an adult female who goes through some contortions to get what she wants.

This is a close up of the male Acorn Woodpecker showing the light colored iris and bright red crown of the adult bird.  This particular male is one of the few having a small red spot below his throat on his breast.

The female has a broad black stripe separating her bright red crown from her white forehead.

Here is a close up of the contortion maneuver she used to extract her treasure from the feeder.

The difference in magnification from the first video to this second video and the photos is the difference between my 400mm lens and the digiscope setup.

This video includes a close up of the juvenile male and you can also hear the “laughing” call of the Acorn Woodpecker near the beginning.

I hope you enjoyed watching them as much as I did!

To see more great bird photography, check out Bird Photography Weekly!

Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) photos by Larry Jordan

A few days ago I heard the unmistakable sound of the Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) calling from my back porch.  They have a rich, fluid, melodious song that for many is the harbinger of spring (click on photos for full sized images).

The female above was accompanied by, what appeared to be three adult males.  They seem to like the all weather feeder for some reason.  I think it is ergonomically correct for their size.

Today was the first time I had seen American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) at the thistle feeder this spring.  A few joined the multitude of Lesser Goldfinches and Pine Siskins that have been here all winter.

I took a short break from all the yard work Brigitte and I were doing all day to take some shots of the other yardbirds that are here year round.

The Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) are almost constantly cooo, coo cooing this time of year.

And of course the Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) are always amusing with their call that sounds like an insane person laughing.

This male was selecting his favorite treats from the ultimate woodpecker feeder.

Another clown of the yard is the ubiquitous Western Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica).  Being members of the Corvidae family, these guys are no dummies.

Doesn’t this bird look inquisitive?  No, he’s not curious, he’s looking up at the upside down suet feeder that is made specifically for clinging birds.

You see, he loves suet and this jay bird has figured out how to feed out of this feeder without hanging upside down.

He simply flies up and takes bites out of the suet in mid flight.

And he is good at it too!  If you want to see some good bird photography, head on over to Bird Photography Weekly and post your own great bird photos!

Wild Birds Unlimited EcoTough Bird Feeder photos by Larry Jordan

Wild Birds Unlimited asked me to review one of their products and even gave me my choice of product to evaluate!  Since I am big into feeding the birds that choose to come visit me (I have more than a dozen bird feeders) around my home, I chose to review their EcoTough Classic Too Bird Feeder.  At the end of this review is a chance for you to win a product worth up to $50 from Wild Birds Unlimited so don’t miss that.

The “EcoTough” series of products are environmentally friendly, high quality products that are made from recycled plastic milk jugs, preventing used milk jugs from making their way into our landfills, so they are good for the environment as well as the birds.

I must say I was immediately impressed with the quality of construction and the excellent design of this classic hopper style bird feeder.  They are solidly built with quality screws and hinges and come with a lifetime guarantee to never crack, split or rot.  The sticker attached to this feeder even states “squirrel damage that affects the function of the feeder is covered by the guarantee!  That’s hard to beat!

Dark-eyed Junco at EcoTough Too Bird Feeder
(click on photos for full sized images)

I have several bird feeders including tube feeders, caged feeders, thistle feeders, suet feeders, a woodpecker feeder, a weatherproof feeder, a nut feeder, a tray feeder, and several hummingbird feeders, but this is my first hopper style feeder.  I have waited several weeks before writing this review so that I could fairly evaluate this product.

Not only is this feeder constructed from top quality materials, the design is well thought out too.  The hinged roof makes it easy to fill from the top when you see no more food through the plexiglas sides.  The bird food flows out onto a narrow porch with solid wall perches on each side making it easy for the birds to access the feed and perch comfortably.

I noticed that most of the songbirds using the feeder actually turned on the perches and faced outwards while feeding, making it easier for the bird watcher to view them.  The curved end design also allows the bird watcher a much better view of the birds as you can see from the photos on this post.

The area in front of the perches are open on the ends allowing seed and shells to drop to the ground where ground feeding birds can clean them up, making this an efficient self-cleaning feeder.

My yard birds are many and each species seems to prefer certain types of feeders.  They have been feeding from tube feeders for years and so it took them a little while to investigate the hopper feeder but once they found it, they went crazy, as you can see from the video at the end of the post.

I have found over the years that it is most practical to feed only quality bird seed to my backyard birds.  I feed only sunflower seed, nyjer (thistle) seed, raw nuts, suet,  and a special woodpecker, nuthatch and chickadee mix.  Wild Birds Unlimited has several seed choices to choose from including wild bird seed, suet and specialty food.

I put black oil sunflower seed in this feeder and got lots of takers like the Dark-eyed Juncos above and the Oak Titmice that breed in my nest boxes.

To my utter delight, I went out on the porch a few days ago and found an Evening Grosbeak feeding at the EcoTough Too Classic Bird Feeder along with a Purple Finch.

I believe this is the first Evening Grosbeak seen in my yard.  They are not common to my area and are usually only seen occasionally at feeders in the winter.  They certainly gave the EcoTough Bird Feeder a good review!

I also shot some video of the action at the Wild Birds Unlimited EcoTough Classic Too Bird Feeder for your enjoyment.  I went out later, after filming this video to find all four of the Evening Grosbeaks feeding at the feeder.

I edited the video to cut it down to a minute from its original four minutes, but you can see the Lesser Goldfinches, Oak Titmouse, House Finches, Purple Finches and Dark-eyed Junco enjoying the bounty.

Other products from Wild Birds Unlimited:

• Black Oil Sunflower Seed
• Thistle Seed
• Suet Feeders
• Wild Bird Feeders
• Window Bird Feeders
• Birdacious Products

You can also check out the Wild Birds Unlimited Newsletter and become a fan of their Facebook page.

Now you have a chance to win any product from Wild Birds Unlimited (WBU) up to a $50 value simply for leaving a comment on this post about what WBU product you like, or think you would like to try.  This giveaway will be open until March 27th when I will put all names into a hat and choose a winner!  Good Luck!

Western Bluebird Male Claims New Home photos by Larry Jordan

As I began my monitoring of the Bluebird Trail at Lema Ranch I saw a Tree Swallow attached to the front of the house, peering into the entrance hole.  He looked something like this.

I thought to myself, well, it looks like the first Tree Swallows are here and taking the first nest box on the trail.  That’s when the pair of Western Bluebirds swooped down to make sure the Tree Swallows knew “this house is taken.”

I clicked off a shot of the action as quickly as I could but it doesn’t do the event justice.  You can see in this photo the female bluebird’s head is sticking out of the nest box as the male bluebird (upper left) is chasing away the two swallows (middle top and center).

And the happy couple sitting atop their newly claimed home, wondering what I’m doing here

I will be monitoring three Bluebird Trails again this year.  One at Lema Ranch, one at Palo Cedro Community Park and one in Oak Run.  I will keep you updated on these nest sites, as well as other nests I happen to find.

You can be a nest watcher too.  If you want to learn how you can be part of this citizen science project go to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch site for all the information.  You might be able to watch bluebirds grow up from eggs like these I have in my first occupied bluebird nest box of 2010 in Oak Run.

This is what’s happening in my world.  To find out what’s happening in other places around the world, visit My World!

Anna’s Hummingbird Gathering Nesting Material photos by Larry Jordan

After watching the dive display of the male Anna’s Hummingbird last week, I decided to put out some nesting material for them (I believe it is simply raw cotton).  I placed it about six feet from one of the feeders and it didn’t take long for the hummingbirds to find it and start using it.

I am still hearing the dive displays around my yard but I have yet to find a hummingbird nest.  If you want to see a nesting Allen’s Hummingbird, check out Phoebe Allens Webcam.  If you want to see some great bird photos it’s Bird Photography Weekly.  Come and join the fun!