I enjoy watching the dynamics at our birdfeeder. The mourning doves are among the rulers at this feeder. I laughed as a red-bellied woodpecker fended off all comers this morning, too. No one wanted to mess with that big beak, I guess! We're being overrun by grackles, though, and they bully a lot of the other songbirds away.
When we fed safflower exclusively, we didn't have so much of a grackle problem, but we didn't attract as wide a variety of birds, either. We have black oil sunflower seed in there now, and everyone loves it. Maybe we'll just have to put up with them. They are pretty if they weren't so messy and bossy.
Feeder Pecking Order
Hello gardenwife. I know what you mean about everybody and nobody. I use safflower seed at my window feeder and I get house finches, chickadees, titmice and cardinals as regulars. I have another feeder across the yard and I put cracked corn in it which seems to keep the grackles, blue jays and others at bay. I stopped using sunflower seed since the squirrels gobbled it all up.
I have the songbirds coming to my window and the larger birds on the other side of the lawn.
In the colder weather I put out suet and watch the winter birds go to it. As the weather gets warmer I have to take thst down since the squirrels start to gobble that up also.