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Dalton
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When the weather starts getting cold each year I write a column urging my readers to feed the birds. Previously I have talked about cold weather and urbanization destroying their natural food sources. Today I just want to talk about how much fun birds bring into your life. You might have the joy of saving the life of a one-legged bird. I wrote a column long ago about the cardinal I named “Long John” who was with me for five years and finally died at the base of my patio fence as I had asked him to do. Would it not make the hairs on your arms stand up to tell a bird, “When you die, don’t go off in the words and make me wonder about you -- die right here on my patio and I will give you a decent burial” and go out one morning to find him there? Admittedly, all bird-watching pleasures are not that dramatic but the small differences in bird behavior are perfectly enchanting. I still remember the first time I saw a White-breasted Nuthatch walking headfirst down the trunk of a tree at Cumberland State Park. In 30 years of bird watching we had never attracted a nuthatch to our feeding area. So I had never seen a bird walk down a tree trunk that way. When I was in college in Nashville I enjoyed stopping for a drink at Martin Springs just this side of Monteagle Mountain. Two large rocks were perfectly spaced for me to place my hands when I stretched out over the water to drink. Just thinking of that sweet spring water right now makes me thirsty. One day as I was going down to get a drink I heard this gray-brown sparrow-sized bird distinctly say, “Phoebe.” When I got my Peterson’s Guide and binoculars I discovered it was a phoebe – an Eastern Phoebe. It was building a nest over the entrance to the cave out of which Martin Springs flows. I discovered they often build around the mouth of a cave with a water flow. They cement their nest to the rocks with mud, moss and leaves. What better place for an insect-eating bird to raise a family? I once wrote about goldfinch being able to hang upside-down to eat and how I bought an upside-down feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited to feed them their favorite food (thistle). The so-plentiful-they-can-be-aggravating house finch cannot hang upside down so this feeder was a thrill to me. Then Wild Birds started making a special thistle feed with tiny pieces of sunflower mixed in with the thistle. What a delight when my tiny downy woodpeckers started coming in to dine at it! They can hang upside-down or sideways. So can chickadees and titmice. Now my special feeder with this special seed mixture attracts four of my favorite small birds. Do not feed anything to attract crows to an area where you have bluebird boxes. They will eat the eggs or the nestlings. But if you have no bluebird houses and want to have some fun, put out peanuts in the shell and the crows and bluejays will put you on a show. The jays will just swoop in and get a peanut, fly 10-20 feet away and crack it. The crow is more intelligent and cautious. They will creep up on a peanut, circle it a few times, strike it with their claw and jump back to see if it is a trap. Being satisfied it is safe, they will crack it open but they will usually go through this ritual with every peanut. When I lived on Benton Drive, a tiny Tennessee Warbler would come through once a year and dine on my peanut butter. This little bug-eyed beauty became one of my favorites. I would risk attracting some starlings with the peanut butter just to have him one time a year. You will never be without color, excitement and surprises in your bird-feeding area.
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