I scatter seeds on my porch for the birds when the weather gets cold. This morning I had lots of visitors. Click on the photos to enlarge.
House sparrows, Passerdomesticus, are always the first to arrive. They like seeds and breadcrumbs. They usually come in a group.
The cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, eats seeds, nuts, and fruit.A male/female pair come together, and he usually comes out from cover first. She is less trusting and flies away ifshe sees me watching.They can open peanut shells, and often nibble some grapes and then fly off with one big peanut each to peel and eat in a more private place.
I can always tell when the blue jaysarrive from their loud calls of Jay! Jay! Jay! The jays, Cyanocitta cristata, target whole peanuts in the shell, carrying them off, one by one, until they have collected them all. They find a good spot and bury them for later.
White-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, mainly breed in Canada and then migrate south to spend the winter in the eastern and southern states, west coast, and northern South America — and in my garden. They show up on the porch when I put out seeds, seeming mainly to be interested in the smaller ones, like millet.
Pigeons, Columba livia, almost never come to the garden, but they seem to know immediately whenever there are seeds on my porch. Ditto breadcrumbs, another of their favorites.
Julie Feinstein
I am a Collection Manager at the American Museum of Natural History, an author, and a photographer. I live in New York City. I recently published my first popular science book, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, an illustrated collection of natural history essays about common animals. I update my blog, Urban Wildlife Guide, every Sunday.
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