Re: [cobirds] Re: A Goldfinch challenge for David Leatherman/// Similar behavior with hummingbirds

I've observed similar behavior with the yard house finches. They gather by the brick garden wall (stacked, no morter) from time to time, and peck away at the bricks. I've assumed that they were after insects of some sort.

On Wed, Jul 5, 2023, 8:39 AM <mblackford@fastmail.com> wrote:

Hello all,

 

I've been witnessing a similar behavior with the Broad-tailed Hummingbirds at my house.    One will hover near the cement mortar around the brick exterior and then fly in and peck at that mortar, for several times.   I've witnessed this on more than one occasion.   I also have watched the females fly down to exposed dirt and peck (for lack of a better word) at the dirt.  They will even sit on the ground and peck at the dirt.   I had thought they might be gathering nesting material, but they just flew up to an overhanging limb and sat there.  (This limb is not somewhere they built a nest, just a favorite sitting limb.)

 

With the cement mortar, I was wondering if they are getting calcium from that....  

Open to comments.

 

Maureen Blackford

Boulder County

8500' elevation

 

 

 

From: mailto:dgulbenkian@gmail.com

Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2023 9:04 AM

To: Colorado Birds

Subject: [cobirds] A Goldfinch challenge for David Leatherman

 

Why would a Goldfinch cling to a brick wall for a minute and a half?

At 7 AM when I walked into my garden I was treated to a brilliant Amer.

Goldfinch male who flew directly from my Bachelor Button patch to the

side of my yellow-brick garage.  The brick has an extremely rough texture,

so it was easy to cling to.  Although there were lots of "gnats" in the air,

there weren't any near the wall, which is protected by a 3' overhang.  I expected

the bird to immediately move on, but he lingered and lingered, making little

pecking movements at the brick and perhaps at the mortar.  It came to mind

that Amazon parrots peck up clay, but it seems unlikely that 80-year-old mortar

would be digestible.  Maybe a small spider or spider eggs?  After the bird left,

I examined the wall but could see absolutely nothing. If it was a small spider, how

extraordinary that the bird saw it in the shade from 25 yards away.

P.S. to gardeners: Bachelor Buttons are incredibly easy to grow, and they self-sow,

so there's almost no work involved in having a patch.  Bees, including some native

bees, love it, and American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, and House Finches

will come to it from time to time for the developing seeds.

David Gulbenkian, Crown Hill area, Jeffco

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