How do they know........?

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.45colt
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How do they know........?

Post by .45colt »

Every year I have a hummingbird feeder hanging from the front porch on a hook . They and the Baltimore Orioles keep Me busy most of the year keeping the feeder full. This morning hearing a lot of racket the Grandkids said look at the beautiful Bird . there was a yellow and black Oriole sitting on the porch railing looking up at the empty hook above it and squawking like crazy .
I made a batch of food , got the feeder and soon a pair was feeding. they have been gone for seven months , How do they know where to come back to.?
gcs
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by gcs »

Birds have an amazing ability to learn, from little to big. :mrgreen:
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Sixgun
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by Sixgun »

That is a good question........we have a dozen blue Jays that know exactly where I put the cat food.......when the robins start showing themselves in the spring they know exactly what holly tree to go to........we have had the same set of Canadian geese spend the springtime out back in our little pond for the last 15 years? after venturing who knows where the rest of the year.

I've read it has something to do with birds having a built in magnetic compass. Some people have it too, knowing what roads and sidewalks to take to get their free stuff.------6
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.45colt
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by .45colt »

Yep it is strange....I have lived in this place for 41 years . for 30 years the 800 acres behind my property was left untouched . I thought of it as "My own little Canada". Every bow season would find me out back with a long bow or recurve . I could get home from work and slip out back till dark. I killed a few deer but the biggest one I know of was killed by a teen Hunter and field dressed at 242lb. most of the property's have been logged and ruined to Me. and the rest are full of 4 wheeler trails that I despise. All of the land back there was once farm land years ago and in what used to be big woods are a few scraggly surviving apple trees. on one ridge that You really need to look for, EVERY YEAR at the base of one of these apple trees are always antler rubs and scrapes on the ground as if these deer have a map to find out where to go. I guess this is passed down somehow........................
Larkbill
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by Larkbill »

Birds. When he was 8-9 my younger brother rescued a baby bird apparently blown out of a nest. So tiny we had no idea even what kind of bird. Fed it soggy bread soaked in milk and sugar, later worms. Grew into a Purple Grackle. In the fall it flew off, he (she? it) was never caged or restrained and just hung around even after fledging. Thought it might come back in the spring but didn't. Then 3 years later Dad was standing on the back porch one spring day and a Grackle flew down and landed on his shoulder. Squawked at him, crapped down his sleeve and flew off. Same bird? We liked to think so.
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Old No7
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by Old No7 »

Larkbill wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2020 5:59 pm Squawked at him, crapped down his sleeve...
They say that's good luck! Wonder what your Dad thought... :wink:

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Re: How do they know........?

Post by Sixgun »

That's quite a story larkbill....I believe it was the same bird.......people do not give animals the credit they deserve.....we've had dogs for over forty years and when either my wife or me is gone, they act up right before the one who left comes home...about 3 minutes or so....they know....

45 Colt.....it's not the same world you and I grew up in.......we remember pristine ....or near pristine woods.....WE are in the ANIMALS homes and nothing burns my butt up more than a hoard of 2 cycle engines zinging all over.......if the land belongs to the owners of these dirt bikes etc, fine...that's their business but we have all seen what they are capable of doing to other people's property.-----6
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GunnyMack
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by GunnyMack »

Larkbill I bet you dad was happy it wasn't an elephant! ( my dad always said 'I'm sure glad elephants don't fly 'whenever he saw bird stuff )

A few years ago we started getting Rose breasted Grosbeaks, they are still returning every spring. Have no idea where they are nesting but they do bring the young of the year to feed at my feeders. I like to think they are the same pair. Also see a cedar waxwing or 2 but they don't stay- have never seen these in the past.
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Larkbill
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by Larkbill »

Dad wasn't happy. He was a phone man and very particular about his appearance. Of course had to go back in the house for a fresh shirt. We lived in a family compound with lots of trees, about 5-6 acres surrounded by fields. So it was sort of an island. I remember dozens of kinds of songbirds and we were always aware of the birds. Gunny your visitors are awesome. We had a yard full of Cedar Waxwings a few years ago during spring migration. And I have Goldfinches that clean up last years cone flowers every spring. I would hate to disappoint them. I love watching them all.
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GunnyMack
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by GunnyMack »

Ah yes I too have goldfinches, our state bird, as well as cardinals, house finches, brown creepers, chickadees, red capped and downey woodpeckers. The past few years there has been a boom of piliated woodpeckers!
Had the dogs out during a break in the rain and happened to find where a bluejay lots all its feathers- Hawks have to eat too!
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Larkbill
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Re: How do they know........?

Post by Larkbill »

The pileated has really made a come back. While camping at a really remote Corp campsite at Table Rock Lake in the 60's I was up early one morning and saw a giant woodpecker like I had never seen before. Friends who were camped nearby were avid birders went crazy when they heard and explained what it was and how rare it was to see one. They set their alarm for dawn the rest of the week but never saw it.

Fast forward to the Mississippi River bottoms north of St. Louis in the 80's and my duck club is crawling with the things. I love their call.
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