Carolina Wrens at feeders and how to attract Grosbeaks

[judykr]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this site but I am hoping to be a member of this community for a long time to come. I live in a rural area in northeast Ohio. I live on a small farm with a lot of woods, a small lake, and a small stream so I see quite a variety of birds. This spring we were regularly visited by 3 huge tom turkeys along with about 20 or so hens. Just a few weeks ago (in November) I spotted a couple of bluebirds, I am hoping that means that we are going to have a mild winter.

Anyway, my question is about a bird that I've seen several times lately, but oddly enough not at all during the spring and summer. The bird, I believe is a Carolina Wren. The coloring/markings are exact however the bill appears to be longer than I've seen in pictures. This bird has a bill similar in size to the bill of a nuthatch. This bird also frequently visits my window seed feeder which I didn't think was a habit of the Carolina wren. Is there any other bird that this could be?

[AndyB]

Hi judykr, thanks for posting and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you live in a bird rich area and a backyard most of us would dream about.

Carolina's do visit window feeders - here's one at a window (http://www.flickr.com/photos/skippysbackyard/419187232/). In terms of other birds, Red-breasted Nuthatch has a strong eyestripe like a Carolina but they are different colors (http://www.birddigiscoping.com/blogrbnu2007b.jpg). I suspect your bird is a Carolina. If you can manage a photo, however poor, and post it here, we will know for sure. Best, Andy

[judykr]

Thanks to you Andy Birch, the picture that you sent of the wren at the window feeder gives me a positive id for my visitor. I've been trying to get a picture of him but he is a little camera shy.

Yes we do get quite a variety of birds and other wildlife. I am anxiously waiting for the Pileated woodpecker to come back to the suet feeder once winter sets in. Right now though I have Downys, Hairys, and Red Bellied. We've never had a Red headed woodpecker even though I am sure there have to be some living in our woods.

One day last month I saw a couple of pair of Evening Grossbeaks at our feeder but they've never come back. Do they have a favorite food that I can use to attract them back?

[admin]

Hi judykr, Grosbeaks are always exciting visitors to the feeders. Our most common "what's this bird that's just shown up" is usually in May when someone has a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak (http://www.surfbirds.com/namericanbirds/sparrows-finches.html). Evening Grosbeaks are also great birds in the winter months.

In terms of food, here are our Top 10 Wild Bird Foods (http://www.surfbirds.com/bird-feeders/wild-bird-food.html). You cannot go wrong with #1 or #3, I would have thought for finches, grosbeaks etc. Some members have had success switching from black oil sunflower to nyjer and have seen a dramatic difference in variety and numbers of birds. It'll need some experimenting.

Here is our central resource for backyard birding (http://www.surfbirds.com/bird-feeders/backyard-birding-HQ.html) that answers some of the more common questions including ID.

Good luck and let us know how you get on attracting those Evening Grosbeaks!
________
William Bushnell Stout (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/William_Bushnell_Stout)