Thanks, these are interesting ideas. I googled Ischia figs after hearing your idea and I see a lot of nurseries that say they do not attract birds. Some are a little more precatory than others like saying they are 'reported' not to attract birds are 'sometimes known' not to attract birds. Do you grow the Ischia yourself? I am curious to know if it really fools birds, especially crows who are known for being so smart. Another Ischia fig question: How can you tell if they are ripe? I love white figs but I cannot separate the ripe from the bland. I am also still hoping to hear from someone who might know from firsthand experience whether fruits that ripen off the tree like medlar, cherimoya, (possibly others?) are free from birds. I was reading a little more since my last post about cherimoya and apparently they can be grown small in containers. So, if my theory is correct that birds will not bother them until ripe perhaps I could make something work there by picking green and bringing in. I would love to hear if anyone has firsthand experience of this. Perhaps there are others fruit types as well that grow this way, but I can't think of any. With the Cherimoya at my other house, the stem would rot while the fruit was still hard and so the fruit would fall to the ground and ripen there (or inside). This seemed like a good evolutionary strategy with respect to seed spreading by animals advanced enough to carry away the fruit and eat later in distant places. So it seems like there would be other fruits that use this strategy, but having trouble thinking of any.

The original decline in populations of the Kirtland's Warbler was due to loss of the early successional jack pine habitat, through decades of fire suppression, these birds depend on. Fire opens the jack pine's cones causing seeds to come out and germinate after a fire. The young growth of pines that followed is what the Kirtland's Warbler depended on. Once the population of Kirtland's Warblers declined from loss of habitat, added pressures from parasitism of their nests by Brown-headed Cowbirds added to their declining population. So, the Kirtland's Warbler was not on the "brink of extinction" due to cowbirds, but originally was due to loss of habitat that cause their population decline in the first place. In addition to cowbird parasitism the Black-capped Vireo experienced declining populations due to loss of habitat via urbanization, fire exlcusion, grazing, and brush control. The Golden-cheeked Warbler has suffered tremendous habitat loss of its Ashe juniper habitat due to the expansion of the cities of Austin, San Antonio, and Waco. Add to that parasitism by cowbirds, and you get the same story as for the Kirtland's Warbler. These three species, both with normally limited distributions due to extremely narrow habitat requirements, make them susceptible to habitat loss and the added pressures that brings on their populations. The moral here is that other causes, primarily loss of the species primary habitat, are the reasons for the initial decline of these species. Then, the impact of cowbird parasitism is enhanced because the species impacted have such low populations from habitat loss, they can't make up for the loss of parasitism by cowbirds. Thus, wildlife biologists and land managers institute cowbird removal programs within the species last remaining breeding habitats so that populations can more easily recover as new habitat is created to aid in recovery. One should study up on it. And a final note (which has been mentioned on this and other forums) Brown-headed Cowbirds are a protected native species. Any killing of these birds, however deemed "right", is illegal without a permit. If you are going to write about killing them or other species besides starlings, house sparrows, and rock pigeons that are not protected, you should be prepared for people responding to your posts with less than sympathetic views. BN

I used to feed stale bread to the outside birds.My neighbors dad,who lived at the house part time after retiring to Pa,,,told me it was no good for the birds. So for the last 5 years I have bought wild bird seed,..A year or so ago my neighbor told me I needed to stop feeding them as they pooped on his 50 thousand dollar truck.I told him to F off...Months later I got a warning from town saying I can only feed them with a bird feeder,...I got one,,,,Then he told me not to feed them more than once a day.At 63,with a bad hip,I fed them if I happened to see it empty whenever that was.I got a ticket from town saying the food that falls to the ground as they eat,is illegal.,,,How can people be so mean?

Crows aren't friendly or neighborly. They look out for each other but that's where it ends. They routinely steal nestlings and fledglings of small songbirds and feed them to their young. If you care about songbirds in your garden, I wouldn't encourage crows. They do serve a purpose of scaring away hawks but usually they only bother larger hawks like red tails, not smaller ones like coopers or sharp shins. It's the smaller ones that take the songbirds. They will try to eat the food in your garden - they will eat just about anything.