The bird count was going on this week-end,unfortunately I don't know my birds except the obvious...cardinals,robins,blue jays,cranes,crows,the sea gulls are always around. My sister and I stood outside and watched quite a few we didn't know. These very small brown ones always build nests right in the windows or in odd places,one day I'll get a book on birds! lol in the meantime,we always set out birdseed and water and enjoy them no matter what their name is. The weather is trying to stay nice,but this cold is still here for now. Have a Great Day!

Thanks, guys! And the fun part of it is, my latest setup still has the squirrels confused, though I'm sure they'll figure it out soon enough. Maureen, I adore fox squirrels. We had some at the golf course about 2 blocks from where I live, but I haven't seen any of them for months now. I fear they may have been hit by passing cars. (Or golf balls? Eeek.) The only thing I didn't see from my garden today was the shuttle...too overcast. I tried and tried, but couldn't even catch a glimpse between the clouds! Marcia

Thanks for the response, Loris, and so glad you enjoyed my article! I agree, the young cardinals are noisy, but then all the baby birds are when they want food! I love it, though, because we have our windows open, and as soon as I hear them squawking, I can rush over and watch. Today there was a squirrel doing contortions trying to leap from our hammock to our mixed seed feeder, and it was so funny watching him. We have that feeder strung on a string in the very middle of the back yard, so they can't jump onto it from any trees or straight up. And the squirrels don't seem to care about any of the other seeds, other than the one for sunflowers, but we finally learned at got one of those spring ones that close up if something too heavy lands on the perch. The few squirrels that originally tried it must have passed the word on to the rest, hardly any squirrels try to get seeds there any more. Happy Spring--and right around the corner, Happy Summer! Darlene

No, they aren't too large. 7.5 inches is what I am finding. They are parasitic brooders and lay their eggs inside the nests of other birds. That can cause some issues for the host species brood as the Cowbird chick often hatches first and therefore gets more food. They are federally protected birds though.~~A