stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters) (11/26/90)
Since chickadees seem to be much in the news, what (if any) other bird species, particularly Eastern US species, can be hand fed in the wild by a patient person? In the summer, I spend so much time sitting on our dock on Lake George hand-feeding chickadees that when I arrive they come begging within seconds. If I tire of feeding them, they'll land on my hand and peck at the cookie I'm eating. Several other species come around and will take seeds from the dock surface within a few feet of me, but so far only chickadees will eat out of my hand. (I also hand-feed chipmunks, grey squirrels, and one feisty red squirrel that sometimes can't tell a finger from a peanut.) -- Dick St.Peters, GE Corporate R&D, Schenectady, NY stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com uunet!dawn.crd.ge.com!stpeters
sandra@pyrtech.pyramid.com (Sandra Macika) (11/27/90)
In article <14182@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters) writes: >Since chickadees seem to be much in the news, what (if any) other bird >species, particularly Eastern US species, can be hand fed in the wild >by a patient person? > >Dick St.Peters, GE Corporate R&D, Schenectady, NY >stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com uunet!dawn.crd.ge.com!stpeters Blue Jays. Sandra
jklee@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (James Kin Wah Lee) (11/27/90)
>In article <14182@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters) writes: >Since chickadees seem to be much in the news, what (if any) other bird >species, particularly Eastern US species, can be hand fed in the wild >by a patient person? And in response, sandra@pyrtech.pyramid.com (Sandra Macika) writes: >Blue Jays. If you want to extend your range further north, I also cast a vote for the Grey (or Canada) Jay, found predominantly throughout the boreal forests of Canada. And when you're not looking, they may also raid your campsite! jim -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Lee (jklee@phoenix.Princeton.EDU) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dept. of Geological & Geophysical Sci. * ONLY IN CANADA, YOU SAY? * Princeton University * PITY ..... * Princeton, NJ 08544 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * --------------------------------------------------------------------------
andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (11/27/90)
In article <14182@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters) writes: > Since chickadees seem to be much in the news, what (if any) other bird > species, particularly Eastern US species, can be hand fed in the wild > by a patient person? It's not relevent to the eastern US but many of the Australian birds which come into backyards can become tame enough to be hand fed. Many people feed parrots such as Rainbow Lorikeets and Crimson Rosellas (count your fingers afterwards). It's common for Kookaburra to be tame enough to swoop down and take meat from your hand. I've had a wild White-Eared Honeyeater take hairs from my head (ouch) for nest building. Quite an experience. Presumably it normally molests kangaroos. Andrew
ted@isgtec.uucp (Ted Richards) (11/28/90)
In article <135667@pyramid.pyramid.com> sandra@pyrtech.pyramid.com (Sandra Macika) writes: > In article <14182@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters) writes: > >Since chickadees seem to be much in the news, what (if any) other bird > >species, particularly Eastern US species, can be hand fed in the wild > >by a patient person? > >Dick St.Peters, GE Corporate R&D, Schenectady, NY > >stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com uunet!dawn.crd.ge.com!stpeters > Blue Jays. Also grey jays (a.k.a. whiskeyjacks). One year in Algonquin Park, my wife astounded me by taking some toast out into a clearing in the woods, holding scraps of it out in her hand, and having ten or more grey jays swoop out of the woods (one at a time, in quick succession), land on her hand, and fly away with their prize. Grey jays live in northern pine forests, so they are primarily a Canadian bird, but my bird book shows their range extending into the northern US (Maine and Illinois or Wisconsin? - my geography isn't too good). Another possibility is either pine siskins or goldfinches (I can't remember which). I know they are quite relaxed around our feeder, and someone at the store where we buy our seeds (Birdlife Services Inc) said that they practically had to pick them off their feeder in order to refill it. I think they said that some would actually eat out of their hand. -- Ted Richards ...uunet!utai!lsuc!isgtec!ted ted@isgtec.UUCP ISG Technologies Inc. 3030 Orlando Dr. Mississauga Ont. Canada L4V 1S8
david@star2.cm.utexas.edu (David Sigeti) (11/28/90)
In article <4280@idunno.Princeton.EDU> jklee@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (James Kin Wah Lee) writes: In article <14182@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters) writes: >Since chickadees seem to be much in the news, what (if any) other >bird species, particularly Eastern US species, can be hand fed in >the wild by a patient person? And in response, sandra@pyrtech.pyramid.com (Sandra Macika) writes: >Blue Jays. If you want to extend your range further north, I also cast a vote for the Grey (or Canada) Jay, found predominantly throughout the boreal forests of Canada. And when you're not looking, they may also raid your campsite! jim Two years ago last August, my father and I were going for a hike in the Washington Cascades. When we got to the alpine lake that was our goal, we stopped in a grove of Douglas fir to have our lunch. I sat on a rock but my father sat on the ground with his back against a fir and his legs stretched out in front of him. The grey jays appeared almost immediately. Although we weren't feeding them, they were very bold. I have no doubt that they would have fed out of our hands since they seemed intent on getting our food out of our hands whether we offered it or not. The funniest encounter between man and jay occurred when a jay flew down and perched right on my father's boot--- while his foot was in it. Apparently, with my father's legs stretched out in front of him, the jay considered his foot to be far enough away from his more active parts to be a safe perch. -- David Sigeti david@star2.cm.utexas.edu cmhl265@hermes.chpc.utexas.edu