Feeder Footsteps

The bird feeder has been a bustling center of activity during these below-freezing days, and the light blanket snow captures impressions of the comings and goings of juncos, sparrows, chickadees, and nuthatches.

The closer you get to the feeder, the more intense the frenzy becomes:

I took some time this afternoon just to sit and watch the activity, as there is a constant coming and going of all species throughout the day. There's a lot of dominance hierarchies that work themselves out, both between and within species. In general, the larger species get right of way, with a fox sparrow or song sparrow often parking themselves in the middle of the seed tray and refusing to budge or share with anyone. The chickadees prefer the suet feeder, and will occasionally jump down to the tray to grab as sunflower seed whenever there is a brief absence of any other birds. The juncos are happy to feed on the ground, so I spread some extra seed down there, but the more dominant birds in the flock will share the tray feeder when the sparrows aren't hogging it.