I came into week two gung ho and ready to try new things. For starters, setting up the bird feeder in my backyard.

The Bird Feeder

I filled up the feeder that we’ve had at my house for almost a decade, placed it on a hook hanging from a rope on my favorite tree, our backyard’s dogwood and waited. The blue jay came by first. Then, the eastern grey squirrel. I chased them away a few times, but as the week progressed, the squirrels seemed to be less afraid of humans. I remember when we first got the feeder, the opening and closing of the sliding door to the moss covered patio would be enough to get them to flee. It could just be my imagination, but I think the future generations are getting smarter. I would say I am indifferent towards the Sciurus carolinensis using the feeder, but they take away from other birds as well as cause greater wear and tear. Not once, but twice, the wire suspending the feeder was snapped. The first time was most likely a combination of rust and squirrel weight. My mother repaired the contraption by inserting her own suspension wire. However, when I went to refill the feeder at the end of the week, the wire wasn’t long enough for the lid to travel up it and leave enough space for the bag of feed to fit. So, most of the feed ended up on the ground. The next afternoon, sure enough, the feeder was back on the ground, only this time not only was the top not attached but the bottom wasn’t too. I removed the feeder for further repairs and when I returned a few hours later- I saw a mourning dove! Usually it’s only been blue jays, cardinals, house wrens and another small bird I cannot identify. I have seen chipmunks around the lawn, but none seem to venture out in the open near the seeds. Not only was it super cool to see a mourning dove, I realized after trying to learn more about the bird, it’s mourning, not morning. However, there is a morningbird, but the species is only found near Australia.

I wish there was a bird feeder for which both squirrels and birds could benefit without one being overbearing on the other. I have learned squirrels will fight to the death, so that isn’t good for birds as well as squirrels can fall at their terminal velocity and survive! They can pretty much fall from any height and land on their feet unharmed. According to science, as soon as a squirrel starts falling, 300 milliseconds later, they know where they will land and will have their head pointed to the landing target for the duration of their fall. If you’re like me and are not put off by squirrels and want to learn more, especially in terms of squirrels and bird feeders, I’d highly encourage you to check out this video: https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg

While the intention for birdseed and bird feeders is to feed birds and not squirrels, I think some birds were still fed, this made me curious about ideas for my independent project and the squirrels seem to be happy about the change in their diet.