Bird Watching: Who is eating what, 1 by pollengarden

pollengarden wrote:
RE: Curved-bill Thrasher. I have a pair that lives here - They nest in my neighbors Cholla cactus, and spend time in our brush/trash piles, too. They have a lot of the same behaviors as a Flicker, spending time on the ground sorting through leaves, mulch, duff. They occasionally come to the feeder, but I don't think they are eating the birdseed, I think they are just sorting through it? They will peck at the suet sometimes. The meal-worms would be for them. I like them except when my fruit trees are ripening, then I call them Curve-bill slashers, because of the slices through my plums. The marks in the peanut butter were similar, but I guess any bird could have drug its bill through it. The Thrashers will come right up to the house because of the water.
1 Cholla, Cylindropuntia imbricata, 3-4 ft exposed prairie, but 5-6 ft (up to 8!) in sheltered yards
2 Thrasher checking but not eating at feeder
3 Thrasher at suet on a cold day
4 Thrasher ignoring seed experiment, checking out water, next to back door.