Dunnocks (1 Viewer)

Now ! could I be right in thinking that Dunnocks are basically very stupid creatures,
There are several pairs that seem to spend nearly all day in my garden and spend all day hopping about looking for scraps of food.
However only three or four feet above them there are feeders full of the most delicious fayre , a cornucopia of edible delights ,a feast fit for kings .
But do they take advantage ? No ! they would rather faff about on the ground trying to find the very little there.

Perhaps I am being unfair to them as I do enjoy watching them from my window.

Graham

They always seem to prefer to feed of the ground don't they. At least they do a great job of clearing up any fallen pieces of food from my feeders.

Different birds feed in different ways, Blue Tits will land on my feeder, take a sunflower heart and fly away to nearby tree to eat it, before returning and repeating constantly. Sparrows happily sit on the feeder and eat what they want in a single sitting. Blackbirds prefer feeding from the ground or bird table. Wood pigeons prefer to sit on my patio table and crap all over it whilst trying to figure out why they can't land on my feeders!!!

I've only seen Dunnocks feed on the ground. Sometimes, during really hard winters, birds can be seen trying to get at food in places they wouldn't normally attempt, but I'm talking the most severe winters.

I'd hesitate to call Dunnocks stupid! After all, they haven't disappeared from the gene pool so they must be doing something right. Birds evolve to fit an ecological niche. I've seen Jackdaws nesting on a steep ledge only four feet away from nesting Peregrines. In flight, a Peregrine would be a potentially deadly threat, but Peregrines take birds in the air and simply wouldn't know how to get at those Jackdaws - as aerial specialists, it's just not the way they do things.

I will personally appologise to the Dunnocks for suggesting that they are stupid,

It never , in my ignorance , occurred to me that different types of bird would have different eating habits .

If a lovely juicy steak ( with peppercorn sauce and nice pile of chips ) was placed before me I would eat them whether they were on a table or a tray on my knee ---- When it comes to food I am adaptable ,

Thanks for your interesting replies that have taught me something I didn`t know.
Perhaps people will think I am the stupid one !

But people who ask questions are not stupid . The stupid ones are those who don`t ask and remain ignorant .


Graham

Maybe you could put some food on the ground for them? Blackbirds and thrushes are also ground feeders.