Junk Birds????

I find myself valuing one set of birds over another set. In human terms that would be a form of discrimination or racism, I suppose. I find myself thoroughly enchanted by the bluebirds, cardinals, chickadees. I am less thrilled that the redwing blackbird flocks and the cowbirds have found my ground feeders. But I am pleased to see a flock of white winged doves at the feeder. I've also seen an occasional grackle - I'm not real happy about that, but then with the neighborhoods that are being built from the farmland and pasture around us, grackles will be inevitable. I enjoy my white crowned sparrows and field sparrows. And when I get the occasional blue gray gnatcatcher and yellow rumped warbler, I'm especially pleased.

I've looked at sparrow traps for my bluebird houses. But I've been told that even if I try to relocate the sparrows 35 miles away that they can return. If you are trying to have bluebirds, you are supposed to kill the house sparrows. I'm going to order the traps, but I wonder if I can bring myself to kill the sparrow. For those that want to know, the only birds not protected are house sparrows and starlings. I can legally kill either one. But . . . do I really want to? I do want bluebirds. And house sparrows are vicious. Stay tuned for updates. I did not see the bluebirds yesterday.

I've been asking myself why do I appreciate some birds more than others. I think that some of it has to do with the bird's tempermant and habits. And some birds are more naturally beautiful than others. And some birds can become nuisances. I know that when my son lived in a condo, the pigeons that roosted above his porch have given him a permanent distaste for birds. I find that sad. But I can understand why he did not appreciate the pigeons. So much pigeon poop making his porch an unpleasant place to be. Grackles are loud and live in large flocks, filling trees. On the Texbirds list serve recently, I read about a grackle getting into a hummingbird nest to kill and eat the hummingbirds. (Boo, boo, hiss hiss - we LIKE hummingbirds!) Cowbirds and blackbirds also live in large flocks. Plus cowbirds are known for putting their eggs in other bird's nests. The baby cowbird gets the food and the other babies die. Even the pretty blue jay does this trick. Right now I don't mind the blackbirds, but I'm getting mostly females. I can't help but wonder . . . where are the males? When My friend and I visited High Island, all we saw were the males and I wondered then: where are the girls?

I like the chicadees because they are such fiesty little birds - and they are cute! I like the barn swallows because I've enjoyed their nests in the eaves of my house and because they eat mosquitoes. Who doesn't like the beauty of a bright red cardinal? I keep hoping that goldfinches will discover my feeders some day. So many of the birds at my feeder are drab brown in color.

When we first moved to Hutto I planted Rose of Sharon and a few other perennials to attract hummingbirds. That has worked very well. I don't have to put out feeders and I get to enjoy the hummingbirds each summer. I've even seen them feed from my rose bushes. Everyone likes hummingbirds!

I guess I need to post at Texbirds and find out if I need to discourage the blackbirds and cowbirds. They can go through my seeds at the ground feeder very quickly. But I also suspect that many of them will migrate north shortly.