I’ve been observing the birds that feed on the scraps of bread I throw into the garden. The blackbirds are the first to arrive in the morning and sit on the wall looking down hopefully, reminding me to throw out the scraps. The magpies are quite happy to scare the smaller birds off so that they can gobble all of the bread up. When it was colder the starlings would arrive as a group to feed and to my surprise would not chase the sparrows off. The sparrows are very nervous feeders with the exception of a few greedy ones. Mr Robin arrives on his own and waits to feed alone.
Sometimes I put out stale brioche (a delicious buttery tasting sweet bread) which I’ve noticed get eaten first in preference to the bread. Is it because;
1. It’s easier to spot because it is a yellowy colour and stands out more,
2. It’s softer and breaks up without so much effort?
3. Birds have a sweet tooth – ahem, beak?
3 comments:
Okay, I'll admit this is sick, but you should see birds fight over no-cal sweetener packets.
Particularly Sweet-n-Low, which seems to effect them like crack, which when a restaurant leaves them out on outdoor tables, you'll get 30-50 birds flapping wings and screeching like banshees...
The simple pleasures in life :),
MJ
M.J.: I remember a film I saw years ago where a company was dumping sugar into the sea. All marine and wildlife in the area became even more aggresive than normal. I think that there is something in that. Sweeteners too!
Shea; me too. Tears came to my eyes when I first heard it.
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