Working for peanuts

Photo by Chris Bosak A downy woodpecker eats peanuts from a feeder in Danbury, CT, March 2019.

Here’s a downy woodpecker getting peanuts from the homemade feeder I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

It’s funny how birds prefer their food offered in different ways. White-breasted nuthatches and downy woodpeckers are all over this feeder. They typically perch on the feeder and peck away at the shell to expose the nut inside. My other peanut eaters — blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers and tufted titmice — barely touch this feeder and prefer to grab their peanuts from a platform feeder and fly off with it.

A bunch of Downy Woodpeckers

Photo by Chris Bosak Four Downy Woodpeckers gather around a suet feeder attached to an oak tree in Danbury, Conn, Feb. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Four Downy Woodpeckers gather around a suet feeder attached to an oak tree in Danbury, Conn, Feb. 2016.

OK, a group of Downy Woodpeckers is probably not called a “bunch,” but at any rate, here’s a photo I took a few days ago of four of them around a single suet feeder. This is the same feeder/tree that attracted two Brown Creepers a few weeks ago. Interestingly enough, the Downys all seem to be female. (Where was that bar when I was in my 20s? Ha.)

I’ve seen Downys come and go at a suet cake and perch nearby, but never 4 in one tree.

Not the best quality photo, but a pretty neat sighting.

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Today at the feeder

Photo by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Black-capped Chickadee and Downy Woodpecker share the suet feeder, Nov. 16, 2014.

It’s been a particularly busy day at the feeder today. There haven’t been any out of the ordinary species, just lots of backyard favorites. Here are a few photos from the action. Not pictured, but seen visiting today are: American Goldfinch; Northern Cardinal; Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker; Dark-eyed Junco; White-throated Sparrow; Blue Jay and American Crow. No nuthatches today yet … odd.

(Author’s note: OK, got my nuthatch. All is good.)

More photos are below. Click on “continue reading.”

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