This is a photo of one of the Nyjer Seed feeders in the back yard intended to attract Finches. You can see it was doing its job this morning when I snapped the photo.
On the left side of the feeder (stage right) is a House Finch, the male of the species. House Finches are commonly seen throughout the U.S. and Mexico, with some excursions north of the U.S. border.
The smaller Lesser Goldfinches are seen on the right and bottom of the feeder. This variety of Goldfinch ranges across much of the Southwest U.S. and Mexico. They seem to be permanent residents here in the Sonoran Deserts of Arizona.
Both species of finch like to snack on the Nyjer seeds. The oily content of the seeds seems to be nutritious for the birds. We buy Nyjer seeds for the Finches and a mixed seed variety for the other birds that hang out here. Nyjer is quite a bit more expensive than the other seed mixes, but we think it is worth the investment in order to keep the finches coming around.
Click on the image to enlarge in the viewer.
We have quite a variety of birds here. Everything from sparrows to eagles. One of our neighbors was putting of special seed to attract Blue Jays, and now we have several in the neighborhood. Really pretty to see. The most amazing thing I’ve seen here was when a rabbit was sitting in the neighbors front yard, and out of the sky either a big hawk, or maybe a Golden Eagle, came slamming down on it. Rabbit made some ugly noises, and the bird sat on it looking at me. I gave the bird a thumbs-up, and it lumbered off into the air, carrying it’s prey.
Looked like something out of a National Geographic show!
In all the years we have lived here among copious prey for the big birds, we have yet to see a strike like you described.
We find evidence of raptors doing their thing (bunny scraps, bird carcasses, etc.) We see Horned Owls, Several varieties of Hawks, Roadrunners and the occasional Coyote, so we know there is active predation in the area.
Rabbits (I used to raise them for meat) can make some pretty terrifying noises, particularly when cornered.
Yeah, they sure can! The noise that one made could best be described as “Blood Curdling”….
When I raised bunnies, we also had pets that weren’t for the table. One of the pets “Moonshadow” got out of her pen one day in the backyard and was immediately chased by “Cinderella” our Dachshund — When Moonshadow ran out of places to hide, she screamed to high heaven just as I came to rescue her. Ear splitting! LOL