A mockingbird did the same at my feeders in Louisville a couple years ago.
Only this mocker tried to chase away all the birds. His only problem, the
littlest birds - chickadees & titmice, were too quick for him. And the biggest
birds - red bellies & blue jays, were not intimidated by him. Though he
successfully kept away everything else in between size - for example the
cardinals, and gratefully, yes, the starlings.
After a few days of this, the Mockingbird finally gave up when both a red belly
and a blue jay both decided they had had enough and each in turn went after the
mockingbird.
Jim Seelhorst
then St. Matthews
________________________________
From: Steve Brown <steve554b@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2024 10:49 AM
To: joycefry1@xxxxxxxxx <joycefry1@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: jaseelhorst@xxxxxxxxxxx <jaseelhorst@xxxxxxxxxxx>; birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [birdky] Re: Orange-crowned warbler update
A few years back we were besieged with starlings at our feeding station when a
Northern Mockingbird decided it was the new boss of the yard. The cool thing
was it wouldn't let the starlings mob the feeders, but didn't bother the more
"desirable" feeder birds. Every time the starlings showed up that mockingbird
went on the warpath until they left!
It seems like that lasted a few weeks and we really enjoyed seeing that
Mockingbird running off the starlings. Everyone needs a bossy mockingbird to
manage their feeders.
Steve Brown
Louisville, KY
On Sun, Jan 21, 2024 at 8:16 AM Joyce Fry
<joycefry1@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:joycefry1@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
too bad that all the native species don’t band up together and run them off!
“When nature is your reality and your home, every offense to nature feels
personal.” Joanne Price
On Jan 20, 2024, at 9:49 PM, Jim Seelhorst
<jaseelhorst@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jaseelhorst@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
The orange-crowned warbler returned today to feed at both the peanut and suet
feeders. Only saw it a couple times though, an influx of starlings made it
hard for even the red-bellies to feed. The little birds - titmice, chickadees,
finches, downies, and the orange-crowned - didn't have many opportunities.
I'm curious to see if the orange-crowned continues visiting the feeders once
the weather warms and snow melts in a few days.
Jim Seelhorst
currently Greenup Co (Siloam)
--
Steve Brown
Louisville, KY
