I got a sequence of photos the other day that shows how birds…interact. There’s a lot of threats, chasing, claws, and quick departures.
The photo above is the go/no-go point in the attack. If the incoming bird feels it will win, it literally attacks the other bird. In this case, the bird on the perch is indicating that it’s willing to make a stand; is it enough to turn the attacker away?
The attacker is either hungry enough, or senses weakness, and presses the attack with its best weapons: little teeny tiny claws. Which, I have to admit, would look pretty scary if I were a tiny bird and they were just inches from my face.
The attacker has succeeded in chasing the bird that was on the perch, and is attempting to stop itself and gab a landing spot on the feeder. The former occupant of the perch is falling away, and will recover orientation in a few wing beats and be off—or may turn around and become the attacker in just a few seconds. (These birds are shifty, quick, and determined to get their food.)
Shifty, quick, determined—and sometimes pretty clumsy. This bird has overshot the mark; he came in too hot and is about to do an unscheduled flyby. Not every victory is a win.
Not shown, but a few seconds later the displaced bird calmly settled on the other perch, and Mr. Oopsie flew off, presumably in some disgrace, but probably to one of the other feeders.
The birds get just a few second to grab some seeds before a rival tried to knock them off the perch, and the occupants constantly cycle by making these kinds of threatening passes. OMG: here comes another one!
Thanks. The Towhees here are numerous and feed in various ways, including at several of the feeders. But they do tend to hang out in the shrubs more than the other birds do.
Our birds all tolerate the Mourning Doves, too, but the doves are not around now. We started out with one or two occasional visitors a few years ago, and this summer we'd have as many as half a dozen doves at once. They handle what falls to the ground, as do some of the smaller birds like the Juncos.
We are only getting as cold as the mid 20s. Even so, the water freezes over and Donna breaks it up in the morning. The hummingbird feeders also get a skim of ice; Donna has a heater, but the birds don't seem to like it and won't feed if it's attached. So we bring in the feeders in the morning and put them on the heating vents in the house if they need to thaw.
This is a fun series and your towhee shot is very good. They are hard to photograph since they are usually foraging in the under brush. We have a large platform feeder. We attract many small birds who feed peacefully side by side. They tolerate the presence of Mourning Doves. But not magpies, they are too scary. We put out a suet basket during this bitter cold and the flickers found it. We also have a heated bird bath as finding open water is almost impossible when it’s 4 degrees at night. The birds need to drink and preen to stay warm.