I saw a starling today, observing the scene but not joining in

[conuly]

A single starling is nothing to get worked up about, and I actually have no grudge against starlings to begin with. Native bird loss due to starlings is insignificant compared to bird loss due to human activities, and anyway, I live in a big city, so, you know, I'm not exactly expecting a rural idyll.

But that doesn't mean I want to feed so many starlings that they push out the birds I like more, like those woodpeckers. Still, I have a plan. I'll wait and watch, and if this becomes a problem I'll put out some feeders that are optimized for smaller birds only and cut down to exactly one tray feeder.

Comments

[movingfinger]

It is so cool that you have a woodpecker regular! You're on a flyway---do try keeping a list or snapping pics of any different birds starting around February, you could have some nice visitors!

My woodpeckers also appear to prefer the woodpecker suet, btw, I think it has more dried bug bits like crickets etc.

Allegedly, if you can get beef suet and other ingredients (eg peanut hearts, mealworms) you can reuse the plastic containers the suet comes in and mold your own. I'm not that dedicated.

[conuly]

Two regular woodpeckers. I thought it was first a female downy woodpecker and then a male red-breasted woodpecker, but since I haven't seen the corresponding opposite half of each pair I think now I may have been mistaken and they're both red-breasted.

I've been hearing woodpeckers around here since we moved into this house 30 years ago, but I never saw any until this year!

And get this - today, I glanced out the window, and the male woodpecker was just hanging out in my tree! Not eating the suet, just chilling! Which is even cooler than eating the suet, you know?

Allegedly, if you can get beef suet and other ingredients (eg peanut hearts, mealworms) you can reuse the plastic containers the suet comes in and mold your own. I'm not that dedicated.

It'll be a lot cheaper to make my own suet for the winter, when I don't care if it's no-melt because it's cold, though I might not actually use suet, I might use lard or coconut oil or anyway something easier to source.

...though I wonder if I could get suet by just asking at the butcher counter? It might be like asking for chicken skins - they don't sell it, so I can get it very nearly for free. (The last time they offloaded me with ten pounds of chicken skins at the price of $.05 a pound, the minimum they could charge. I've been a little scared to ask again, they were just so enthusiastic to let me haul their garbage away!)