If my birds are tricked into thinking these limb weights are ripe apples I will be shocked. After dipping these weights in paint I hung them on this young RD tree to dry.
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Hilarious Bill! Would love to see a bird peck at one of those.
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I don’t do that Bill because my birds would break their beak on them. Love my song birds so I just grow enough fruit for them. I grow extra mulberries which they like.
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Looks like you have a well-developed sense of whimsy (and little extra time on your hands) …
:- )M
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Funny, yesterday I read how to make Strawberry rocks, once birds peck them, they won’t take anymore strawberries. Now squirrels, no it don’t work.
http://www.imageevent.com/leewismer/directionsforstrawberryrocks
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that’s a loaded question…where do you think the term “bird brain” came from??
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Last year,where I work,a Robin was on the ground,near the manager’s truck’s rear bumper.It was very shiny and the bird stayed there flying up at the reflection for at least twenty minutes.
Makes me wonder if I put a mirror by my fruiting plants,if they will pay more attention to their image than the fruit. Brady
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Yes, visual tricks can fool a lot of birds. And awful lot of them die fighting with their reflections in windows, as they fly into them.
But not all birds have the same intellectual prowess. Crows and parrots are fairly intelligent, and I suspect would not be fooled, I’d bet.
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I have one of those windows at my cottage birds smash into. I did notice humming birds would stop, and then go around. Not one ever hit the window. I then thought, they are small enough, they can stop, whereas a bigger bird once realizing the error was too big to stop the momentum.
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Part of the impetus to challenge a mirrored image is hormonal. I’ve seen a Cardinal try to chase off its own reflection in high breeding time.
As to flying into windows, in many cases the bird sees space reflected and thinks all it need do is avoid the bird coming its way. I’ve seen several birds swerve at the last moment to avoid the “oncoming” bird only to break neck or smash into a window so hard the impact kills it.
Several people I know put a decal on the window to break up the reflection. They’ve reduced or eliminated bird crashing.
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Stopped at a scenic overlook. There were 6 cars and a dozen people walking and enjoying the sights. A crow was in a small tree close to us was watching. My wife said “I wonder if he would like peanuts? We have some in the car.” We then walked through the parking lot to return to the car. When we got to the car we realized the crow was also walking through the parking lot following us. He got his peanuts.
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A few months ago I watched a wild tom turkey strut back and forth all fluffed up in front of my neighbor’s chromed pickup truck bumper for 15 minutes or so thinking his refection was another turkey. Comical to watch, wish I would have taken a video.
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Drew, it could also be that with wing beats faster than I can imagine, a hummingbird can flap in reverse to stop in mid air in time to avoid crashing. Other birds lack that advantage.
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Where do chickens fit into this avian intelligence paradigm? And asking that, which chicken breed is the smartest, and which the least so? Or are they all equally dim?
Probably just dumb and dumber. I really don’t know the answer.
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Thanks, the only talking chicken I know of is Foghorn Leghorn, so…
I took a look at your pics on your site. Very nice shots. Hope your farm is doing well.
I have kept ducks and still hope to set things up in order to keep them safely again. (Ancona, next time.) Plenty of folks tell me about their chickens. Those I have heard to be brighter than the average cluck:
Speckled Sussex
Barred Plymouth Rock
Rhode Island Red
Wyandotte
I’m allergic to living chickens, so this is offered only by way of observation of chicken keepers. I haven’t asked the birds themselves.
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I choose to think this hens just wants to take care of everyone
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You can depend upon cats to find the nearest warm spot!
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