We do, yes. The field mark (for those interested) on the male are the sporty little epaulets that pop on his otherwise all-black outfit:
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Our feeders are over-populated with these! Literally, 50+ birds at a time. They are costing us a fortune in bird seed!
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That’s not very Canadian of them.
Be thankful they’re not European Starlings. Now that’s an annoying bird.
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One scared the crap out of me when it took off. I was just entranced by the water and didn’t notice it hanging out just down stream till it took off.
Then KAbloowie! it took flight right up over my head and flipped me right the hell out.
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Yeah, that sucks. Do you live near water? (That’s where RWBs live.) You could switch feeder styles to some that are big-bird proof, like this (no financial interest):
Grrr–there go, my heart’s abhorrence! (Shout-out to @themyth.) Like most birders, I despise the European Starling. It’s a nonnative species that was intentionally introduced in 1890 by an American Shakespeare-phile who thought it would be cool to have every bird mentioned by Shakespeare live in the US:
The problem is not just that the Starling is an ugly bird (although it mos def is):
Rather, it’s that the Starling is a cavity nester (ie, it nests in found cavities rather than in built nests), and thus competes with our native cavity dwellers for nesting sites. And the American bird most devastated by this invader is the Bluebird, of which there are three species in North America:
The Eastern Bluebird:
The Western Bluebird:
And the incomparably beautiful Mountain Bluebird:
Bluebirds are members of the thrush family of birds. The thrush most of us know is the American Robin. If you live in North America, you probably see them all the time:
Now, think about how you see robins everywhere there’s a patch of grass, and how you don’t see bluebirds at anywhere near the same rate, then consider: Before that idiot introduced the starling, bluebirds were as common as robins in this country.
As an introduced species, the starling does not enjoy the protections afforded by US law. Thus, if you feel like shooting them, be my guest. Or more practically, put up bluebird boxes, then monitor them for occupation by starlings. If starlings move in, kick 'em out and destroy their eggs. Long live the bluebird!
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Plenty of small lakes/marshlands/swamps in the area. My wife had also mentioned this fact to me.
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Yep. They love that marshy/swampy habitat especially.
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Confession: I have found a surprising amount of enjoyment with the recent turn this thread has taken.
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With all those starlings, You guys should get into Falconry.
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I knew a guy at work that put up bluebird houses and set starling traps (a cage contraption that starlings get into but can’t get out of). I asked “what do you do with them once caught?”
“Drop the cage in water and wait for the bubbles to stop.”
Bird watchers really hate starlings. I’ll admit that made me stop talking to that guy on the off chance he’s a serial killer.
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It’s our strong anti-illegal immigrant stance. No amnesty!
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I’ve been attacked by those things more times than I can count. Fortunately, my cat wreaks vengeance upon them with a sadistic joy that only cute wittw kitty wittys can.
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Those redwing bastards would follow and dive bomb me when I used to ride bikes. Depending on the time of year, they’d follow chirping angrily for almost a mile. There were enough of them that once you were out of range of one, you’d always pick up another. I never actually had any hit me, just could hear/sometimes feel them dropping real close.
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Bird watching is an enjoyable pass time. I picked up a little bird call at a state park once. It’s small. A cylinder of birch wood with a brass insert. The brass has a grooved top and it too is round and passes through the wooden piece. As you turn the brass you can alter the amount of tension applied and it will chirp or as you work with it you can mimic common bird calls.
Once we were hiking in some ravine and stopped to take a break and I had it. Started using it and soon we had all kinds of birds stirred up and flying in to look at the intruder. It works.
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Haha, my father in law is into making/collecting bird/squirrel calls. Every once in a while he’ll take a few crow calls out on the porch and hammer on them, getting way more crows than you’d think possible. It’s like something from a Hitchcock movie. I’m sure the neighbors love it.
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In 2015 I was running an after school strength and conditioning program for basketball at my wife’s school. It was voluntary and mostly underclassmen. The juniors and seniors that had any talent were playing football at the time. After our workouts we’d play pick up ball. I didn’t play every day but I enjoyed running with the small and awkward youngsters.
One day on a fast break a sophomore threw it off the backboard to me. I caught it a bit off balance. I was all stretched out and leaning a bit to the left. I dunked it and had to hold on to the rim just a hair longer than I’d like.
The backboard exploded…
I was embarrassed, but the kids thought it was amazing. I felt bad because we couldn’t play anymore…and I was 31.
That’s the only time I ever broke a goal and it was later confirmed that the rim malfunctioned and it wasn’t my fault. The goal was replaced for free by the manufacturer.
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Being modest about your badassery is not becoming of a basketball icon like yourslef.
I will always be proud of my ability to dunk until I can no longer dunk. Dunking and brute strength is all I bring to the court when I play. And brute strength is relative to basketball players. They’re not the toughest group out there.
That is also my only experience of me being “coach” with high school kids…and look what I did.
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@littlesleeper, I was tending the feeders this morning, when from the trees above I heard the distinctive trill of…the red-wing blackbird. I hope this doesn’t mean I’m going to be invaded.
For anyone interested, here is a video of a RWB singing. The bird ‘chips’ for a few seconds; the first call occurs at the 12-s mark:
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Well… I don’t know if this is appropriate but I gotta get this off my chest. Recently, this celebrity died and everyone seems to all in mourning and shit.
Cause of death has not been issued but it is speculated he died as a result of health complications. Well no shit, to quote the article, “He suffered from health problems including acute pancreatitis, in part due to excessive drinking”.
Meanwhile, a couple days back…
This happens and no one gives a shit. To quote the article, “Schultz suggested that the deputies may have been killed because law enforcement has been “demonized.””
Really? This is just plain infuriating to me.
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