Backyard Birds

I finally switched our cheap mixed birdseed to black oil sunflower seed. Why, you ask? Because thanks to the good folks at GardenWeb, I learned that millet is the favoured food for house sparrows. I'd noticed that the only birds we were seeing at the birdfeeders were house sparrows and grackles, even though we have tons of cardinals, song sparrows, and other birds in the area.

What's wrong with house sparrows? They're actually non-native birds, originating from Europe, who were introduced to this continent about 200 years ago. And they're deadly to native bluebirds. They'll actually enter a bluebird nest and peck to death its inhabitants. We won't go so far as to trap them, but we'll not encourage them. Sialis.org has more information on these little bullies.