I like it. I wonder which birds I have beyond gold finch, sparrow, robins, cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, starlings, wait. I'm already figuring it out. ;) But i bet I don't know their habits. Only the robins. They like to follow me around when I am watering gardens or washing cars.

Strawberry's link provided this: Predators Blister beetle and ground beetle larvae attack the egg pods of grasshoppers. They are both capable of consuming between 50 to 60% of grasshopper egg pods. Snakes, toads, cats and skunks feast on hoppers. Bird predators include bluebirds, brown thrashers, crows, hawks, mockingbirds, meadowlarks and sparrows. Horse-hair worm, a large nematode up to several inches in length parasitizes and kills hoppers. Robber flies and spiders will feed on grasshoppers. Field mice and many types of rodents will dig up and eat the egg pods. They also feed on the adults. Chickens, ducks and Guinea hens are prolific consumers of hoppers. Muscovy ducks are tops! Preying mantis love to eat grasshoppers! Fish: One of our visitors reminded us how fish love to dine on hoppers! He goes on to add that live hoppers make excellent fish bait and that the bigger the hopper the bigger the fish you can catch. Bass are extremely fond of them. The only predators on that list I see here these days (and I do NOT use any kind of chemical or other pesticide, period) are hawks. The towhees, mocking birds, California Blue Jays, and the usual assortment of brown birds with the occasional canary and oriole are regulars. I, too, LOVE cutting them in half to add to the "organic fertilizer". No cats, we have coyotes, hawks and owls. We do have tons of manitds. There are plenty of rodents but the only evidence I find they've been here are droppings and munched rose shoots and hips. Usually the grasshoppers, katy dids and locusts are seasonal. Every few years, they explode, then shrink back to "normal". Good luck with them. Now you understand "Biblical plagues"! Kim

Jeanner, I am glad that you caught my mistake on the Song Sparrow (not a chippie) I realized that I had typed Chipping, after I had posted. An of course there is no edit feature. Thank you. Bob

This morning I was looking out my window and there were several white-throated sparrows eating dandelion seeds. I got to look at them pretty good for awhile. I'm thinking the bird that hit the window was a juvenile white throated sparrow. The feather patterns are similar, and the orange tint I was seeing might have been the juvenile version of the yellow at the start of the eye line. I have had so many birds in my yard, eating various weeds recently. I guess there is something good coming from our lawn mower breaking down. haha I'm tempted to leave alot more of the yard grow up, but there's things like septic field, geothermal lines, etc. to have to worry about. Anyhow......I think my mystery is solved and I can move on to the next one! :)