O/T. The Government's handling of Covid

[Geoff Parkstone]

Yep...they’re not very good when challenged are they...and as for the Blackbird/Crow thing...don’t even go there. Just abject nonsense.

So I was sitting in the kitchen having breakfast and watching the birds, we feed them hence we get loads. Over the course of about 40 minutes there must have been about 12 male blackbirds drop by to feed, not one of which went into the bird hath to drink first. Yet all the (brown) female blackbirds did drop into the bath and drink before eating.

Maybe 60% of the assorted finches and sparrows who visited drank before tucking into the bread.

So I postulated that male blackbirds were perhaps somehow less thirsty or needy for liquid intake but, my neighbour, who only ever sees finches or sparrows and has no blackbirds in his garden, was sure I was wrong because he observed 10% of his sparrows and finches drinking first, but had never seen a male blackbird.

[Andy_Faber]

So I was sitting in the kitchen having breakfast and watching the birds, we feed them hence we get loads. Over the course of about 40 minutes there must have been about 12 male blackbirds drop by to feed, not one of which went into the bird hath to drink first. Yet all the (brown) female blackbirds did drop into the bath and drink before eating.

Maybe 60% of the assorted finches and sparrows who visited drank before tucking into the bread.

So I postulated that male blackbirds were perhaps somehow less thirsty or needy for liquid intake but, my neighbour, who only ever sees finches or sparrows and has no blackbirds in his garden, was sure I was wrong because he observed 10% of his sparrows and finches drinking first, but had never seen a male blackbird.

Too subtle

[ramAnag]

So I was sitting in the kitchen having breakfast and watching the birds, we feed them hence we get loads. Over the course of about 40 minutes there must have been about 12 male blackbirds drop by to feed, not one of which went into the bird hath to drink first. Yet all the (brown) female blackbirds did drop into the bath and drink before eating.

Maybe 60% of the assorted finches and sparrows who visited drank before tucking into the bread.

So I postulated that male blackbirds were perhaps somehow less thirsty or needy for liquid intake but, my neighbour, who only ever sees finches or sparrows and has no blackbirds in his garden, was sure I was wrong because he observed 10% of his sparrows and finches drinking first, but had never seen a male blackbird.

Okay, I’ll bite, and, despite our illustrious moderator’s latest jibe, it’s not ‘too subtle’ at all.

Firstly...as a mathematician one would expect you to ask how you know you have 12 male blackbirds in your garden? The only way you’d know is in the unlikely event of you seeing all twelve at once, and what you may have actually seen was repeated visits from any number of male blackbirds up to the maximum you’ve seen at any one time.

Secondly, and much more relevantly, I too feed the birds. A number of blackbirds (male and female) visit our garden but much more common are the Goldfinches.

Now let’s, for the sake of moving things on, only consider the Goldfinches and discover that they too, unlike the other birds, drop by to feed without visiting the bird bath for a drink first.

Is it unreasonable then to reach the conclusion that the male blackbirds in your garden and the Goldfinches in my garden behave in much the same way? If so...why?

[MadAmster]

So I was sitting in the kitchen having breakfast and watching the birds, we feed them hence we get loads. Over the course of about 40 minutes there must have been about 12 male blackbirds drop by to feed, not one of which went into the bird hath to drink first. Yet all the (brown) female blackbirds did drop into the bath and drink before eating.

Maybe 60% of the assorted finches and sparrows who visited drank before tucking into the bread.

So I postulated that male blackbirds were perhaps somehow less thirsty or needy for liquid intake but, my neighbour, who only ever sees finches or sparrows and has no blackbirds in his garden, was sure I was wrong because he observed 10% of his sparrows and finches drinking first, but had never seen a male blackbird.

We too get blackbirds, male and female. They all ignore any bread put out for them. They treat bird seed with the same content. They simply delight in stamping on the lawn or the soil between the plants and thereby encouraging worms to surface, offering the blackbirds the chance of a nice, juicy treat. Carnivores rule.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Okay, I’ll bite, and, despite our illustrious moderator’s latest jibe, it’s not ‘too subtle’ at all.

Firstly...as a mathematician one would expect you to ask how you know you have 12 male blackbirds in your garden? The only way you’d know is in the unlikely event of you seeing all twelve at once, and what you may have actually seen was repeated visits from any number of male blackbirds up to the maximum you’ve seen at any one time.

Secondly, and much more relevantly, I too feed the birds. A number of blackbirds (male and female) visit our garden but much more common are the Goldfinches.

Now let’s, for the sake of moving things on, only consider the Goldfinches and discover that they too, unlike the other birds, drop by to feed without visiting the bird bath for a drink first.

Is it unreasonable then to reach the conclusion that the male blackbirds in your garden and the Goldfinches in my garden behave in much the same way? If so...why?

I know that there are 12 different blackbirds because every two days I bake four and twenty of them in a pie........

You are very lucky to get frequent goldfinches, they are far from common in my neck of the woods, but I did have 3 at a time just before Christmas, all of whom drank before eating. Perhaps this is a difference between the northern goldfinch and the southern one. Or alternatively maybe your greater numbers of goldfinches act with more of a herd instinct, whereas my infrequent ones simply follow the protocols set by the greenfinches and chaffinches down here which is broadly speaking neutral and display mixed results.

The female blackbirds, which I note you do not specifically comment upon, quite possibly need more water as they are approaching egg laying season and need more liquid in their diet to create the shell material: its all in their DNA

[Geoff Parkstone]

GP was in the counting-house
Counting out his money,
rA was in the parlor
Finding things not funny,
,
Swale was in the garden
Running off his gob,
Along came a blackbird
And pecked off his knob.

[ramAnag]

...and for the ump****th time you resort to silliness in order to avoid answering the question or conceding the point.

Anyway, sticking with ornithological matters - which seems to represent safer ground - as soon as I start feeding the birds, which I usually do between late October and April, the Goldfinches arrive in numbers...sometimes as many as a dozen at a time. They remain throughout the winter when the next most common are, perhaps unusually, pheasants...unless some bread is put out in which case the Jackdaws swoop down en masse to terrorise the rest. In summer the blackbirds and thrushes take over. A pair of Nuthatches, Tree creepers, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Robins appear to be in year round residence.

P.S. I didn’t mention the gender issue because while it is particularly easy to differentiate between male and female blackbirds (unless you’re Andy and think they’re all Crows ) I can’t tell the difference between male and female Goldfinches.

[Geoff Parkstone]

"...and for the ump****th time you resort to silliness"


i refer to post 2696 (not on phone now)

"rA was in the parlor
Finding things not funny,"


Got most of those, plus countless magpies and a few rooks. No pheasants, but we do have a few parakeets to add an exotic touch. And 4 squirrels

[Geoff Parkstone]

OK I will try one more time

In my birds parody, I am seeking to understand the behaviour of the male blackbirds

You are discussing the behaviour of the goldfinches

Your points relating to the behaviour of your goldfinches may be perfectly valid in evaluating goldfinch behaviour, but they are utterly irrelevant to the consideration of the behaviour of the blackbirds: even if those behaviours are exacty the same. Unless in some way you feel that goldfinch behaviour is influenced by blackbird behaviour or vica versa, which I dont think has been raised as a consideration.

Yu are in effect seeking to exonerate the blackbirds from not drinking by saying that lots of goldfinches dont drink either, based on your observations (which differ to my observations).

If this still doesnt work for you, then I am afraid I cannot explain it, and suggest that you read a basic text on set theory and logic.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/04709058...&tag=uuid07-21

should help and, ironically, it has some birds on the front

[Andy_Faber]

OK I will try one more time

should help and, ironically, it has some birds on the front

One thing for sure. They are uncompromising looking birds.