>  BC> That won't work, the black birds outnumber the mockingbirds both in
 >  BC> numbers and size  .  Come to think of it, I haven't seen any
 >  BC> mockingbirds around my bird feeders.  Looks like the black birds may
 >  BC> have chased them out, too.  The black birds seem to know me by sight,
 >  BC> because when the feeders are empty, they watch for me to fill them 
nd
 >  BC> then swarm when I leave.  (smart-aleck birds!!((g)))
 > Sounds to me like you're blaming the innocents.
 > Brewer's Blackbird is in the Oriole family.  Males are
 > a solid, shiny
 >         black, with green and purple sheen, and bright
 > yellow eyes.
 >         Females are solid black in the body, dark
 > brown heads, with
 >         dark eyes.  Both have smallish, narrow,
 > straight, black bills.
 >         But normally they are a bit on the shy side,
 > except at the nest.
 >         And then in marshy areas there's the Red-wing
 > Blackbird with the
 >         males' red and yellow epaulettes.
 > European Starling are identical between the sexes.
 > Both are black with
 >         small white dots over the head and body,
 > heavily speckled in
 >         fall and winter, less so in spring when the
 > bill turns yellow.
 >         The bill is large, long, and straight--would
 > do justice to a
 >         woodpecker!  Eyes are dark, tails quite short.
 >  Garrulous and
 >         gregarious.
 > Sounds to me like you've got Starlings.  They are
 > garbage birds, the
 > sort of unspecific opportunists that adapt easily to
 > human created
 > environments.  All you can do is resort to feeding
 > hummingbirds and
 > goldfinches--a more generalized bird feeder will just
 > play into THEIR
 > hands at the expense of native species.
 > ... Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me
 > now!
 > --- Blue Wave v2.12 [NR]
 > (1:105/37)
Hi, Paul, I think you are right about the starlings.  But I guess I'll just 
have to put up with them, because I enjoy the other birds too much to 
specialize in just one species.
I enjoy being outside in my swing and watching them come to the feeders.  
While I am swinging the blackbirds do not come around, so I do get to enjoy 
the other birds for a small period of time.  Thanks for the information, 
though!  Oh! BTW I do have about 5 hummers!  They are really exciting to 
watch!  TTYL.
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