Mourning doves basking in the sun and snacking on seed.
Wanting to make a meaningful difference in some way, I realized that I could in my own space and be a part of that change. I’ve been in the process of adding native plants to my backyard to rewild it for the wildlife in my neighborhood, but I felt that I could do more. With a nature preserve not far from me, and knowing the declining rates of birds around the world, I decided to give bird feeding a shot.
A Quail and a Mourning Dove waiting for their seed with some friends flying above them.
It took a while for the birds to come. They didn’t just come when I put seed out for them. The birds needed reassurance that seed was going to be out consistently before they arrived, and when they did, it was with numbers. There are days that there could be hundreds of birds that pass through my yard. My property backs up to a hill that won’t be built on to allow a small nature corridor, and I am glad to help all the creatures that inhabit that space or pass through for migration purposes.
I’m learning about all of the different species of birds. One that I have figured out through a bit of research is the Spotted Towhee, which has become a sweet friend. They greet me every morning and evening when I put out their seed. Their distinct call always gets a giggle from me. It makes my heart swell that they trust me enough to fly up to me and know that I am a friend and not a foe. The spotted towhees love to scratch through my mulch and hunt insects and seed. I affectionately call them “Scritchy Scratchers.” There’s another bird, which I’m still trying to figure out but it has a piercing chirp. This brown bird also scratches through the mulch and is just as inquisitive and friendly as the towhees.
Spotted Towhee
Hopefully in a few months the black sage, white sage, and buckwheat that I have planted will grow in and provide my feathered friends with some cover. There have been some birds that have not made it because there are hawks that also need to eat and found a large number of mourning doves. It’s been a few weeks now since any of the birds have been eaten by the hawks. Birds and smart and they adapt quickly. They know when the hawks hunt and are now on alert.
Each day they teach me something new about themselves and about love. Doves are always considered as a docile bird that is not very bright, but they are quite aggressive when need be and they have outsmarted the hawk. Finches and sparrows are quite brave and they will usually be the first to enter the yard or come up to me because they know they have speed and being so small as an advantage so they’re more willing to visit me or hunt for seed next to the massive ravens that come to snatch up as much food as they can. If the birds get scared off, they find places to perch nearby and wait for the coast to clear. The most heartwarming and interesting observance is how there is community between the birds and how they warn each other and how they share. Of course there can be squabbles over seed but it is rare because there is more than enough seed to go around. Watching five different types of birds, or more, eating seed together in harmony and taking turns in the bath or waiting for water, it is beautiful to see how much sweetly they interact with one another. They are kind and aware.
I don’t think I could ever own a pet after this because I would rather support the wildlife than cage an animal for my own pleasure. Seeing the quail sipping on water or bathing in dirt and mulch because they are so comfortable and content, overwhelms me with love. Seeing them happy and fed, overwhelms me with love. I want them to be free. Their songs as they eat or rest in the buckwheat or sage behind my yard fill me joy because I know that it made a difference to them.
Feeding the birds has also brought out other animals like the rabbit family and squirrels. I’m sure the neighborhood bobcat is also benefiting from this as well. Lizards are also booming, probably enjoying the mealworms that the birds do not snatch up.
The corvids have been a bit troublesome to the other birds. It’s hard to be upset with them because I appreciate their tenacity and ungovernability. Still, when I do not address the ravens and crows, they will often overtake the yard and scare off all the birds so they can have all the seed to themselves. Finding a balance between allowing them to eat because they should eat too, but also not letting them push that boundary so they have all the seed has been hard to manage. This is an area that I am still trying to figure out. Somedays the corvids seem to understand they can eat if they fly in gently and not intimidate the other birds, and then other days they swoop down to scatter the birds that are in the yard. I’m hopeful that we’ll work it out, but today they got a stern response from me as they repeatedly bullied fellow avians.
When I peak out my window, I can count about 30+ birds pecking through the mulch. Their chirps and songs drift in through the walls and I know that they are happy. Sometimes it is hard to put out more seed or I can send them all into the air with a whoosh, and it is a grand whoosh. I often wait until there are few so that they are not disrupted.
The littlest birds like the finches or gnatcatchers take the longest baths. They can be in the bird bath for over 5 minutes or longer. The doves are quite quick in comparison. Twice a day I change the water because they use it so often and need clean water. Usually a house finch or sparrow will swoop down right after and take a sip or a bath. There is nothing more adorable than seeing a tiny bird splash about the bowl. You can see the happiness after they are all clean and it is very precious.
Even as I write this, I hear the whoosh of many wings and I see the raven walking on the hillside. What I didn’t see was the Cooper’s Hawk that was also present, resting on the fence. He gave me a small shriek of disappointment as I interrupted another of his hunting sessions. I do understand he has to eat as well, and I feel quite bad that I scared him off just now. While he doesn’t eat the seed, he plays an important role in keeping populations in check. The last time he made a kill in my yard I made sure to not scare him or his partner off while they ate the dove. They are very thorough eaters and left a pile of feathers and nothing else. This is the cycle of life and as much as I don’t want to see any of the birds die, it’s the food chain. As I said earlier, the birds have outsmarted this very clever hawk so don’t ever underestimate the smaller ones. These pictures beneath are of the female and male Cooper’s Hawk. They are such gorgeous birds and very smart. Their call is not what I expected from a hawk but it is a very small hawk, though the females are much bigger than the males (another fact I have now learned).
This is a growing experience. My children are a part of this and are learning about the animals in our own backyard and their role in helping them and the ecosystem. My daughter waters the lupine sprouts with me and tends to the sprouts that have grown from the seeds that we toss out for the birds. There are several sunflowers and other plants, probably millet, that are now growing on the hillside. Amazingly the birds don’t really harm them. There are a few that have some sizable chomps on them but for the most part, the birds let them grow which is in their best interest because these plants provide them with their seeds. The two pictures below are possibly sunflower sprouts, but they are mostly unharmed by the birds.
Adding fruits and vegetables to my garden that are native to the area like wild strawberry and wild grapes are in the works for after summer. As of now, I have been trying to hunt down native lilac shrubs which has been difficult to find but I contacted the grower and they’re shipping two which can grown extremely large. This will benefit the birds and insects. I’m very excited about the lilacs. They’re stunning and a wonderful shrub to add biodiversity and a home for birds and other wildlife.
There’s so much more for me to learn. I wish I could find an ornithologist to help me identify all the types of birds that pop in, but I will keep on researching and learning. The quail, roadrunners, doves, wrens, finches, sparrows, towhees, phoebes, gnatcatchers, and all the other birds I have missed and yet to learn have opened my heart to a world of love I never expected. To me I though I was so connected to nature and then I realized that I have just begun and that connection is growing by the day thanks to all the birds and wildlife that visit.
A male and female Roadrunner