#52 Bitty Bullies at the Bird Feeder 
By Pat Gibson, March 11, 1987
One of the courtesies of county living is you don't bother your neighbor. You help when they need help and you visit when it seems appropriate, but you try not to interfere with the way they run their lives. Now, some of our neighbors this year have been just a little troublesome.
We got a new bird feeder this fall when Crow's had then on sale. It was hung on the balcony and replaced throwing the seed out on the picnic table. The cat was not too pleased since he now can't reach the feeding birds or chase them off. It has caused quite a problem however. We have a large flock of black crested titmice that winter here in our yard and they are seed eaters. They are a small plump bird that I often call 'peaches birds' because of the peachy pink under their wings. We also have a large flock of sparrows around this winter. They are also seed eater.
I'm not sure which variety of sparrow we have. There are about twenty or more kinds that can be found around Texas . These may be chipping sparrows or they may be field sparrows. Either one is a small, slender bird, smaller than the titmouse. These two groups of bird have battled over the bird feeder all winter. They chatter and chase each other until the seeds fly. If there are more titmice at the feeder, then the sparrows wait on the balcony. If the sparrows outnumber the titmice, they will gather on the railing until their numbers are strong enough to take over. Other birds do come around occasionally.
We had a few cardinals and at least one male finch. He is either a purple finch or a house finch. They look like a sparrow that was spray painted raspberry red. Most of the other birds seem a little put off by the fussing of the others. We don't see the variety we saw when the seed was spread out more. It has however, been entertaining to watch them chase each other and listen to the chatter.
The wrens are back now and I hope will be building their nest under the balcony again. They eat lots of bugs and earn their keep. It is also fun to hear the baby birds peeping in the nest.
Spring is here and I saw some bluebonnets blooming along the highway in Austin. They are a beautiful flower with an interesting family, but that's another story.
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