251 Birds

Perhaps this happens all the time, but I’ve never seen it.  I looked out my window yesterday morning expecting the regular songbirds at my feeder station but instead I found this monster staring back at me:

Not that we don’t see pigeons in the neighborhood; a house down the street often has a dozen perched on its ridge and they periodically make sorties over our place.  I’ve never seen one eating at a feeder before though, and I wouldn’t have guessed that my hopper could accommodate a bird of this carriage.  The Morning Doves have enough trouble squeezing onto it.

I have a confession to make.  I’m actually fond of pigeons.  When you see them somewhere other than a strip mall parking lot you can appreciate their fundamental dove-ness, and their plumage can be quite beautiful.

Sure enough, it fits!  Between the pigeon and an invasion of House Sparrows my feeder was cleaned out in a few hours.  I suppose it’s time to switch to black-oil sunflower for a bit, though I’d hate to think that we’d fail to attract American Tree Sparrows this winter.

Tags: chittenden county, rock pigeon, south burlington, yard birds