By Trudi, Reference Assistant
Before getting into details, take this fun and quick quiz regarding bird sounds and identification.
1. What bird sings, “drink your tea?” Eastern Towhee
2. What bird mimics other birds? Northern Mockingbird
3. What bird is orange and black? Baltimore Oriole
4. What bird meows? Gray Catbird
All of these birds have visited our birdfeeder in the last several weeks after offering a variety of food, such as black oil sunflower seeds, birdseed mix, suet, peanuts, raisins, grapes, oranges, and grape jelly. Different food attracts different types of birds. Most birds will eat sunflower seeds and birdseed mix. The woodpeckers like the suet, raisins, and peanuts, and the Orioles love oranges and grape jelly. We were surprised to see the Catbird and Mockingbird like the oranges and grape jelly also.
A great website for bird facts and bird identification — inlcuding what they eat and how to identify based on sounds — is All About Birds by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The site also features a Merlin Bird ID app that allows you to download a database of birds native to your area, so you can search by characteristics and photos. It also has a K-12 Education site that gives instructions on making your own feeders.
After experimenting with the Bird Seed Cookies recipe at home, here are the results:
There were several birds eating from it within 10 minutes of hanging it by the bird feeder…a Cardinal, a Chickadee, and a Downy Woodpecker!
