Page 13 - Backyard Bird Photography: How to Attract Birds to Your Home and Create Beautiful Photographs

birdseed, he follows me (emitting his high-pitched peeps along the way), first by hopping a

few steps, then flying onto the birdbath, then dropping down into the plants, and then
reappearing on the feeder as I move back after leaving the birdseed on it.

On numerous occasions, the towhee has hopped into my TV room in search of
birdseed, when I have left the sliding glass door open and the platform feeder is empty. I
have to shoo him outside when he catches me by surprise like this. You see, he knows that
I keep the birdseed in a plastic bin just inside the door, along with my bags of peanuts and

other food items and supplies for my backyard bird photography.

My relationship with the California Towhee and peanuts is quite extraordinary. Unlike
the Scrub Jays, which are happy to take an unshelled peanut, the towhee likes to be
“spoon-fed” his peanuts, one-half kernel at a time. (Most of the time, I think he is waiting
for a peanut, and not the birdseed.) As he stands below me, I open an unshelled peanut
and drop half a kernel onto the patio. The towhee picks the kernel up in his beak and flies
or runs off to the shrubbery to eat the peanut in safety. On many occasions, he sees me

from across the pool and flies over to position himself at my feet. After I give him his
peanut, he flies back across the pool to the exact spot from which he flew over to me.
Believe me, this towhee knows what he is doing.

Similarly, the Song Sparrow, which in the wild is a shy, reclusive species, has become
relatively tame in my garden. In the spring, the individual in my yard often flies up to the
picture window in my TV room, which looks out at the main part of the garden, and he
makes a soft sound when his feet hit the sill. This alerts me to his presence. Then he lets

out a song, which you would usually hear by a streambed when walking through the
woods. He often emits this call while he is perched on a plant or on the edge of a flower pot
just outside of the picture window. He is more than likely seeing his reflection in the
window and thinks it’s a rival. But I like to think that he is calling for me.

Scrub Jay at ground feeder

“Bring out the birdseed,” he says, hopping to a nearby bush. “Bring out the birdseed.”

So I go outside with a cup of birdseed. The Song Sparrow flies over to the oleander and
waits underneath it while I sprinkle some birdseed on the ground. Then he hops over to