The Bird That Eats Upside Down.......

eat upside down at a feeder??  

It is one of the funniest things you will ever see.  When I first heard of it, I could not believe it.  I thought people were pulling my leg. 

But they told me I should buy a special feeder to feed them and they would come.  

last year.

I filled it full of black nyler seed and waited. And waited. And waited. Wow! One day, a beautiful yellow bird showed up at the feeder....He was beautiful....A vibrant yellow which is the only way I am able to describe the brightness of it.

How awesome....it landed on the feeder, sat there a moment, then swung upside down and began to eat. OMG...Then he flew away.....Never came back...I left the feeder there forever, and then took it in....that was last year.....but this year.....this year is different...

A few days ago, I saw another beautiful yellow bird...The American Goldfinch...they are maybe 5-7 inches of so tall, and absolutely gorgeous. I have many feeders outside my home, filled with an assortment of food for my feathered friends who amuse me daily....

It is like a smorgasbord for birds here. There is suet for the woodpeckers, blueberry, peanut butter, and fat suet (which is getting ready to come in in the warm weather)......There is a feeder full of wild bird seed with cracked corn, sunflower seeds, mixed variety, also a "no no" feeder which looks like an hour glass made of wire...and the nyler seed for the regular finches....

After sighting the goldfinch once again, I decided to fill up the "special feeder" once again. I hung it out, changed the water in the bird bath and went inside. About an hour later, I looked out the window and lost it. There were a total of 10 yes 10 of these beautiful birds fighting over the feeders. Flying in and out of the trees, landing on the seed feeder, flapping each other off the sunflower seeds, and hanging upside down eating the nyler from the feeder noone wanted to eat from last year.

It was a feeding frenzy. I have never seen so much yellow flying around in the air before in my life. They are so pretty. I had five pair of them here all day long, feeding from every feeder in sight. It was a blessing from God to see them all.

They played in the bird bath and were so skinny as they had just finished migrating from down south to come north to their homeland for the winter. They ate all day long.....All day long.

My regular birds couldn't get to the feeders. I have them front and back but the goldfinches were just so hungry they wouldn't leave the food. I hope they do not blow up they ate so much....and I hope they come back tomorrow. I found it hard to do anything but watch them today. A blessing from God. I say this for I have wanted to watch them eat...

LOL They are so funny. They land on the feeders and sit there a moment, then slowly swing upside down until they finish...an upside down bird. I am not sure what God had in mind when he created these birds, but they certainly are pretty to watch and have strange eating habits.

In looking up facts on these yellow wonders, I found they have "feeding frenzies" before storms..gee it is not supposed to rain here...at least that is what the weather man says...

Also, to watch them fly, it is like a "roller coaster motion" very interesting day I had today..Entertaining for sure!

They are the only member of the finch family to shed all their feathers twice in a single year, including during the breeding season...

While they are courting, the female flys in a zigzag pattern with all the males chasing her. That ought to be interesting.

All in all, I had a wonderful day watching these birds. And the other interesting one who has been here for a week or so now, is the rosebreasted grosbeak....When I first saw the male, I thought it was a downy wood pecker, from the rear, they have similar coloring....but when you get a good look at the front of the bird, It is a different story. They are also very beautiful and I have never in my life seen one before.

There are two pair here, and they love black oil sunflower seeds. And the mixed wild bird food. Their beaks are kind of like a small parrot looking beak and they are quite tame and hang close by the house.

I am sure a lot of you have had experiences similar to what I had today before with the goldfinch, but today was my first real experience with them...After last years disappointment, I almost did not put my feeder out, but I am sure glad I did.

My poor little chickadees could not get near the feeders til almost dark and the downy woodpecker who actually eats the sunflower seed came and chased all of them away so he could get a bite in....A wonderful day of bird watching. Hopefully tomorrow will be as good as today!! Bird feeding frenzy...who woulda thought of something like that.....LOL

Have a Blessed Day!!

ps...all the pics of these birds came from Google images.  I have to get my pics developed before posting....