One of the greatest pleasures in my life here on the Johnson Funny Farm in rural middle Georgia is birdwatching from the comfy chair by the window in my reading room. Each spring, we deep clean our feeders and add a new type to the all-you-can-eat bird garden buffet. Two years ago, I added four clear acrylic window feeders – and now we each have a coveted seat right by the window, with a front-row view.
The American Goldfinch is one of my favorite visitors. We also have Cardinals, House Finches, Pine Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Black-Capped Chickadees. and different varieties of nuthatches. sparrows, and wrens who love these smaller covered feeders. When it rains, they like to sit “inside” like the kids in The Cat in the Hat and look out their “window.”
We can get so close to our birds that we can see if they are missing any feathers or tell if they might have been in a fight. If we had ever wondered whether birds have tiny teeth, we could tell that, too. We ease up to the window and take a mannequin stance, careful not to throw our breath fog on the glass. The reflection from the outside makes it easy to remain undetected for long periods of time, watching our little frequenters blissfully fill their bellies with seeds, nuts, and berries.
A wide variety of birdseed mixes brings the fanciest charms and flocks and hosts and herds (I’m including a fuller list of specific bird group names at the bottom of this post). I found a chart at Pike Nurseries that has been helpful in matching seed, feeder: and bird type to maximize our traffic. For example, I look at the foot perch size, the encased wire openings for smaller birds, and the opening sizes where the seeds come out. All of those, along with location of the feeders, make a difference in all the species we have been able to attract. When Ace Hardware has a Buy One, Get One Free sale on brand-name birdseed in my small town, they know I’ll be there to get a cart full.
And these winged angels sing the most glorious songs of food blessings to their creator that I want to name them all Little Tommy Tucker!
If your mother doesn’t have a window feeder for the birds, it would make a lovely gift next weekend, along with a variety of seeds! I’ll be filling my feeders and remembering my mother, who shared with me the sheer joy of bird watching.
List of bird group names retrieved from: http://birding-world.com/names-bird-groups/ Aerie of hawks Band of jays Bazaar of guillemots Bevy of larks Bevy of quail Bevy of swans (when in flight) Boil of hawks (when in flight) Bouquet of pheasants Brace of grouse Brace of pheasants (when dead) Brood of chicks Building of Rooks Bunch of ducks (when on water) Bunch of waterfowl Cast of falcons Cast of hawks Chain of Bobolinks Charm of finches Charm of hummingbirds Cluster of Knots Colony of gulls Colony of vultures Company of parrots Squadron of pelicans Company of widgeon Concentration of kingfishers Congregation of plovers Constable of Ravens Convocation of eagles Covert of coots Covey of grouse Covey of partridge Covey of ptarmigan Deceit of Lapwings Descent of woodpeckers Desert of Lapwings Dissimulation of birds Dole of doves Drift of quail Dropping of ducks (when on water) Exhaltation of larks Fall of Woodcock Flamboyance of Flamingos Flight of cormorants Flight of doves Flight of Goshawks Flight of swallows Fling of Dunlins Flock of birds Flock of birdwatchers Flush of Mallards Gaggle of geese (when on ground) Gathering of birdwatchers Gulp of Cormorants Herd of cranes Herd of Curlews Herd of wrens Horde of crows Host of sparrows Huddle of penguins Jubilee of eagles Kettle of hawks Kit of pigeons (when in flight) Knob of waterfowl Murder of crows Murmuration of Starlings Muster of Peacocks Muster of turkeys Mustering of storks Mutation of thrushes Nye of pheasants Ostentation of Peacocks Pack of grouse Paddling of ducks (when on water) Parliament of owls Parliament of Rooks Peep of chickens Chattering of Choughs Pitiousness of doves Pitying of turtledoves Plump of waterfowl Plump of wildfowl Quarrel of sparrows Raft of coots Raft of ducks (when on water) Raft of loons Rafter of turkeys Richness of Purple Martins Rookery of penguins Scold of jays Sedge of Bitterns Siege of Bitterns Siege of cranes Siege of herons Skein of geese (when in flight) Sord of Mallards Spring of teals Stand of flamingos Strand of Silky Flycatchers Sute of Mallards Team of ducks (when in flight) Team of geese (when in flight) Tiding of magpies Tittering of magpies Trembling of finches Trip of Widgeon Trip of wildfowl Trouble of hummingbirds Unkindness of Ravens Volery of birds Walk of snipe Watch of nightingales Wdge of swans (when in flight) Wedge of geese (when in flight) Whisper of snipe Whiteness of swans (when in flight) Wing of plovers Wisdom of owls
Common Threads 