FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] birdbath etiquette

["Carole Gobert" <cpgobert@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

An observation on bird behavior at the bath.

My birdbath is a clay dish about 10 inches in diameter sitting in the middle 
of my lawn near a thicket.  Since I moved it out there from the patio the 
robins have been using it more.  Not unusual to have 5 robins there at a 
time, with 2 or 3 in the bath and two patiently waiting their turn.  The 
robins are very well behaved, calm, and patient, sometimes simply resting in 
the water.

Yesterday, 5 starlings flew in en masse and landed in the birdbath, 
displacing a robin.  Their behavior could not have been more different from 
the placid robins.  They were like hyperactive children, constantly hopping, 
shaking and jumping about all at once.  One even leaped 5 or 6 feet straight 
up in the air a couple times. It was all very frenetic and over with in 
about a minute when they departed as suddenly as they had come.  For once I 
was sorry to see them leave.

Carole Gobert, Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee


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