[Birdtalk] Backyard Birds/Hummingbirds--random thoughts

[Linda S Butler]

I've seen at least 8 male Lazuli Buntings at our Pleasant Grove home.
Three of them perched right outside our large kitchen window and ate seed
off the brick. They seem to like Millet seed--they pick that out of the
seed mixture, ignoring the normally coveted blakc-oil sunflower seeds.
They also seem to enjoy feeding from the ground. They are very timid,
much more shy than the finches and chickadees that come to the feeders. 

Whover suggested last year about putting out dryer lint for nesting--that
is a GREAT idea! I was a bit late putting lint out last year, but this
year I washed out a suet feeder and crammed it full of lint, tiny odd
scraps of colored yarn, thread,etc. and the birds have carried off quite
a bit of it! We'd love to have some nests built in our trees.

While on a short walk this morning just after sunrise, I heard (but no
sighting of) a hummingbird. This was in the hills to the east of Pleasant
Grove. For some reason I always hear &/or see hummers higher up in the
foothills about a week before they come to my home. I don't know why this
is so, but they seem to enjoy hanging out in the scrub oak and brush area
above town more than sipping from the garden flowers. Come to think of
it, I've never seen a hummer come to a tulip or daffodil. Has much been
written about local hummingbird behavior? Do they have certain specific
migratory pathways?
Linda