The Usual Suspects

I’m always learning new things about the birds we see.

This morning, I awoke to the sound of an incessant tapping that went on for some time. We’d opened the door of our bedroom last night, which goes out onto a tiny deck. So, this morning, it turns out I was hearing a male downey woodpecker drumming away on the gutters outside the house. I always wondered what makes them do that. I guess I’d assumed that they tap on trees to find and help to dislodge bugs there, but then I recently read that this is a sign of territorial ownership or a mating call, or it’s to let a mate know of his whereabouts. Of course, that makes sense, but I never knew that.

Black-capped chickadees are adorable birds. I have recently been seeing one that comes over and over again to our hummingbird feeder and sips away at the nectar. While I'd read about that, no other birds but the hummingbirds have ever shown any interest in it, but this bird seems to love it. He also nabs sunflower seeds, thistle, peanuts and suet, but will sometimes fly off with the seeds. I read today that they will store food for later on, and they store each piece in a different location and can remember up to thousands of different hiding spots!

My favorite “chunky charmers” are the Carolina wrens, and it’s the males who sing the loud songs that waken me. They repeat, over and over, a sweet song that sounds like they’re very quickly saying “tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle.” Some mornings, I'll lie in bed and just laugh, they're so loud and so non-stop. It's as if they're doing their best to rouse us all for the day. Recently, I learned that a male and female will form a bond and stay together for life.

The sleek, gray and black-capped Catbirds often come in groups to our deck. They’re pretty gentle creatures, but I read recently that sometimes a Cowbird will lay an egg in a catbird’s nest. If so, the catbird will often toss out the cowbird’s egg!

Even though I watch the birds constantly, I’m ever fascinated by them!

“Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?” (-Rose Kennedy)