When I returned home from work I discovered that my 1.5 lb homemade suet cake had been devoured. "What?! I just put it out this morning!" Immediately I blamed the squirrels. They've been plundering the feeders unapologetically for a couple weeks now. Too lazy to have stored up for the winter and hibernate these suburban squirrels. And yet, how could anything, man or beast, resist this delectable peanut butter and lard concoction loosely based on the
Zick-Dough recipe also known as "crack for birds"?
While in my state of dismay and frustration a large flock of black cloaked bandits descended upon the platform feeder to glean the remaining morsels. "Those darn starlings are the culprits!" I exclaimed.
"So what? Starlings. Who cares? They're everywhere." you're saying to yourself dear reader. Well, you see, this is a big deal for me. In my nine years of bird feeding, I've never once seen a European Starling at my feeder. I counted myself among the most fortunate of all backyard birders to have avoided this plague of plagues. I determined that I had been living the
ABA commandments better than most of you and the destroying angel had passed by my household. But no longer. The plague has taken my first born batch of suet.
European Starlings are an untrusting and paranoid bunch; shifty fellows as one might expect common criminals to be. I find them experts in camera evasion techniques. In order to catch them in the act, I had to set up 24-hr surveillance and create a blind inside my patio door. I even sacrificed my second born batch of suet on the altar of backyard bird photography to get these photos.
I must confess that it was kind of fun watching these gluttons in action. They'd throw out globs of dough and skate around on the ice-covered snow trying to pinch off bites as their feet slid out from under them. Interesting to see the yellow coloration coming back to their bills as the season for getting frisky is fast approaching. And they are kind of cool looking birds with intricate color patterns...if you can see past their character flaws.
An so ends my nine-year winning streak against the European Starlings.
Now that is a familiar scene! Squirrels and Starlings. I have you beat I also have a Cowbird. Great post and photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks Eileen. I've had cowbirds at my feeders a time or two also. This is the first place I've lived where squirrels and starlings have been an issue.
DeleteIt's definitely frustrating. I had an entire feeder of seed disappear overnight... I don't think I can blame the squirrels OR starlings....
ReplyDeleteHmm...bears...moose...raccoon?
DeleteYou're quite the slueth!
ReplyDeleteI think I missed my calling in the CIA
Deletethey might as well rename bird feeders "squirell feeders".
ReplyDeletetoo true
DeleteWith all the bird activity in my yard, I have somehow managed - touch every piece of wood I can find - to avoid the starling plague. A few of them visit the trees each year, I glare at them menacingly and wonder if I should pull in my feeders. So far so good. The squirrels though, they won their battle years ago and have their own feeders.
ReplyDeletePreviously I've had starlings in the trees, but never at the feeder. Must have been this long stretch of cold weather and snow that send them into their feeder plundering lifestyle.
DeleteLove those Red Fox Squirrels and unfortunately no Squirrels hibernate. I have used suet cakes better than seed feeders, even with tons of Gray Squirrels. The cakes are placed in closed suet holders and the Squirrels cannot access them. They last up to 3 weeks and that is with a ton of eaters, coming daily to the several suet feeders that I keep up with~
ReplyDeleteI've wondered if squirrels really hibernated or not. I know they make big cozy nests, but I do see them pretty much all year round.
DeleteActually many squirrels hibernate just not tree squirrels. In my part of the world all ground squirrels hibernate along with marmots and chipmunks. In fact most species of Sciuridae in the temperate zone hibernate. Although, no species of tree squirrel does.
DeleteMike
Which is why I quit put putting suet when I was in Arco. Interestingly enough in the 19 months since I moved I saw starlings in my yard for the first just a couple of weeks ago. It turns out that they were a handful of apples left one of the trees in my yard. They were frozen solid and the flickers discovered them and started feeding on them. The one warm day the starlings showed up and started eating the partially eaten apples until they refroze a couple of days later and not a starlings since the temp dropped below 25. Fortunately the fox squirrels were never introduced here.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the plague making it to your yard, Robert, but you didn't let it stop your great sense of humor. You made me laugh! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm hot on your heels with your lack of starlings at the feeders record. I have yet to see a starling at any of our feeders since we bought our country property 6 years ago. My fingers are crossed. We do have some very lots of acrobatic squirrels, though. The winter plumage of starlings is really quite beautiful ... even if they are rather pesky birds.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. Here in Phoenix, where the Starlings are everywhere, we still have never had them at my parent's feeders and they've been in the valley for 19 years.
ReplyDeleteVery curious.
Your birding/biblical correlations cracked me up.
I like Starling because they look like they have been bejeweled! And the squirrel is a cutie, I don't see enough of them here.
ReplyDeleteNeat post, Robert. The Starlings are cool-looking birds with their silver and gold flecked plumage. I have seen huge flocks at local farms which makes my feeder much less attractive. But squirrels, both red and gray, are a plague, keeping the House Finches and Juncos away. My dog though thinks they make for good hunting.
ReplyDelete