My backyard visitors

[roy-me-boy]

Really lovely pics there Mari.I do like your Goldfinches.There so different to the ones here in England.

[michbird]

Thanks, Me-Boy Would love to see pics of some of the birds you have over there too

[Feather]

Just beautiful!

[KIPPY]

Thank you for sharing those pictures, what a variety.

The backyard guys I have are not very colorful.

[theAussie]

Thanks so much for such a lovely way to start my day. I sipped my coffee and enjoyed your photos - they are just fantastic. I love the idea for the extender on the bird boxes and we may just have to borrow that idea. We are only a week or two off Spring here in Tasmania Australia and the birds are already looking for nest sites. We have a very old farmhouse on 3 acres and so far have had to cut 4 holes in our walls to rescue birdies who fell from the roof into the internal walls - Its a 14 room house and the whole roof needs replacing and we just do not have that kind of money just now. Hmm, that started 4 years ago and now I have 8 talking starlings (who I love to bits) and a male European Blackbird. Have saved 24 birds so far from pulling them out of the tight spots they get themselves into. My hubby and I are like a magic act, but it is me that has to put my arm into the wall cavity up to my armpit and feel around the icky stuff in there to catch the biting, screaming birdie. LOL So this year, it's nesting boxes everywhere we can and I was worried about Possums and Ravens getting into the smaller boxes for sparrows (we love them here and only have about 5 in our yard, so they are precious to us) and the starlings and blackbirds - mostly Blue Wrens and Red Robins here. So again, thanks for the inspiration -
love and light
Susan in Tasmania
PS - How do you stop the birdies getting into that lovely veggie patch?

[michbird]

Hi Susan I so much enjoyed reading your post as well- It is so interesting the differences we have in our areas. The European Starlings and House Sparrows are not native here, though they don't realize it. They think they belong here, and that the native birds are the invaders. This makes them very competitive for nest sites with our native birds. Because of this, we have to watch entrance hole sizes carefully in order to keep starlings from the bluebird/tree swallow boxes. Pairing boxes also helps to provide housing for both sparrows and bluebirds/tree swallows. In the starling & house sparrows' native realms, they are not destructive as they are here.
The veggie patch? We LOVE the birds in our veggie patch! They eat the bad bugs mostly, though I have had to chase stalings from seedlings early on in our growing season...but the bunnies are a bigger problem. The older bunnies have learned they don't belong- They're smart animals which can be trained to stay out if you chase them out constantly for a few days....but when the young begin feeding on their own, it is a much bigger problem in many more numbers- ha ha! I just plant extra and put chicken wire over their favorites