I realize that we often have snow here until the middle of April and it is snowing here this weekend so I'm not surprised but, anyway, enough - please. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.
Rufus Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalamus)
This red-headed woodpecker has been frantically storing sunflower oiler seeds in crevices it drills into a dead tree. No sooner does it leave the seed behind than a nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) or a downy woodpecker (Dendrocopos villosus) sneaks over and takes it out. They actually watch the work and then take the seed. (The actual bird feeder is just ten feet away!) Unfair! I identify with the red-headed woodpecker. I know how it feels.
The American Robin is our Michigan state bird. Sad about its name, actually. (Turdus migratorius) The smaller European Robin, to which our Robin is not related, has a more appropriately named breast color, hence - "when the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along" - as the song goes.. Orange versus red? I believe the Merle is more like our Robin and pretty too.
The European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) is actually a chat and not even in the same family as our American Robin. I'm not sure but I think the song is for the European bird. (Maybe they call it "red breasted" although it's orange because nothing rhymes with orange!)
I was looking for some cocktail napkins I had from back in the day and couldn't find them. And then I did. Now I have none of those sweet remembrances from that lifetime ago.
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