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Avian Antics Laura Sunderland

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On January 6 , after a sharp drop in the overnight temperature, I awoke to find the garage roof
with silver tiles, the bird-baths filled with ice, and empty bird-feeders dangling reproachfully.
Time to don a thick dressing-gown and boots and put things to rights! Out I went, even before

my morning cuppa, for Operation Refill. My feathered friends needed sustenance. So
sustenance followed, in the shape of nuts, seeds, mealy worms, suet balls and a coconut half.

“That’s better,” I said to the garden. Was there a fluttering in the bushes in response?

I try to hang my bird-feeders in such a way that small birds have a chance to feed before the
incredibly greedy starlings chase them off. Luckily, starlings can’t hover, so as long as some of

the feeders are hanging inaccessibly there will be food for other birds. Of course, the greedy
ones do need to eat as well, and the coconut half will be a special treat for them. And so it
proved. As soon as I went indoors, the garden filled with birds. The starlings perched on small
twigs near the coconut shell. A large, plump pigeon tried to join in, but the twig snapped

beneath him and he made an undignified descent. One after another starlings perched on the
shell itself, digging their claws in and contorting their little bodies to feed upside down.

Sparrows arrived in a crowd, as they usually do, for they are the most sociable of birds. But they
would not approach the feeders until the starlings left. They stayed in a nearby bush,
discussing the situation. The bush fluttered and stirred, with all the cheeping and chirping.

There was a blackbird on the lawn, eyeing the coconut shell. He wisely decided not to try and
take on several starlings and waited patiently. The starlings never stay anywhere very long;
they are snatch and grab birds. So they grabbed what they wanted and took off. The blackbird
immediately seized his chance and was quickly joined by a robin. They tolerated each other,

rather than seeking confrontation and seemed to be taking turns to eat. When they had had
their fill, a wren appeared from nowhere. The sparrows were now fully resident on the seed-
feeder, which could take four of them at a time and the air round the feeder was full of moving,

fluttering wings and incessant, tiny journeys. A lot of the seeds spilled onto the ground so the
two pigeons waiting below had some pickings at last.

I decided to leave my avian peep-show and find some breakfast for myself. I would come out in
the middle of the morning and put out small pieces of brown bread and scraps of bacon rind at
the end of the lawn for the seagulls. I never feed them at the same time as smaller birds, who

are, wisely, frightened of them. Seagulls don’t really need extra feeding, as they are pretty good
at finding food for themselves, but they are spectacular to watch, so I enjoy giving them some
scraps.

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