The most frequent visitor at my backyard feeders lately has been, strangely enough, a sleek, male red-winged blackbird. A couple of other male red-winged blackbirds have shown up from time to time — no females that I’ve noticed — but this one hangs out a lot. It likes a tray feeder that held a variety of seeds — left over from an emergency run to the grocery store; I don’t ordinarily buy mixtures. Recently, it has only had millet, which seems to be fine with the blackbird.
It’s a particularly striking bird. The epaulets on its shoulders are bright red lined with equally bright yellow. On the other guys that have made brief visits, the shoulder patches aren’t nearly so vivid. I always know when it’s going to come to the feeder, because it first gives a single, loud but short call: wheeHEEE.
The surprise came this morning. The blackbird was perched on one side of the feeder; a brown thrasher was perched on the other. They regarded each other with suspicion, but neither prevented the other from feeding.
I’ve seen brown thrashers along the Lakewalk before, but I had never had one at my feeders. For a while, I wondered if I had somehow mistaken a female red-winged blackbird for a brown thrasher, but I really don’t think that’s possible. The brown of a brown thrasher is distinctive — about as pure a brown as you’ll see on a bird. Female red-winged blackbirds can best be described as drab. Brown thrashers are anything but drab. (I think, by the way, that Mr. Thrasher would be a good name for a Charles Dickens character.)
In the "Birds of Minnesota Field Guide," Stan Tekiela writes that the male brown thrasher has the largest documented song repertoire of all North American birds, with more than 1,100 song types.
And I think I’m doing good if I can remember seven or eight songs from Bible camp.
Seeing the thrasher at my feeders for a few minutes was a treat in the midst of a spring that hasn’t brought many treats to my feeders so far.
Tailnotes:
- The folks at the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota are trying to figure out why they are seeing a huge drop in the number of kestrels being brought in for treatment, and they want your help. If you see a kestrel, they’d like to know about it, including any information you can add — date, time, location, numbers, gender, behaviors. For more information, go to the Raptor Center’s Web site, here: www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu/ Click on "Kestrel watch" on their home page.
- A couple in Shorewood, Minn., reported on the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union’s listserv that they had seen a common redpoll and a ruby-throated hummingbird at their feeders on the same day, two days in a row (sadly, not at the same time). They wondered if these two species have ever met. Not in my yard — I’m happy if I see a common redpoll and a hummingbird in the same year.
- A few people in Minnesota have reported seeing orioles. I don’t think they’ve been seen here yet, but … they’re coming.
- Has anyone out there seen a hummingbird yet?
- And a reminder: I welcome your observations on the comment link, and your observations and pictures at jlundy@duluthnews.com.
