differences

Some birds confuse me!  These two often up show in the feeder garden.  The female Red-wing Blackbird (top) has a long pointed beak for gleaning cattail seeds in the grassy pond area where they nest.  The female Rose-breasted Grosbeak (bottom) has a thicker beak for opening the bigger seeds they prefer.  Their male mates are bright and flashy, but these females wear a softly speckled breast and subtle coloring to avoid being noticed as they nest and raise their defenseless chicks.  Each has a beak that is best suited for the food they prefer.

suet for Spring birds

Brown Thrasher

Baltimore Oriole, male

Every bird loves suet at this time of the year.  Their efforts -- whether to migrate, find a mate, define territory, or build a nest -- all take energy.  Suet provides it when the insects are not quite plentiful enough this early in our "late" Spring.

wrens

Several House Wrens Troglodytes aedon have invaded the wild wild woods.
Only about 4.5 inches long, they are tiny melodious singers in the trees.

But in an effort to please his mate, a male will fill several boxes or tree cavities with small twigs, preventing other species from using those nesting sites.

The female Wren will choose one twig-filled cavity or nestbox and place soft material at the bottom.  The twigs create a scaffold that serves as a shield against predators. In her chosen hideaway, she will lay a clutch of eggs.

Grosbeak

Rosebreasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus pair are nesting somewhere nearby in the wild wild woods.  The female is dressed in brown-gray camouflage pattern so she can hide her eggs among the trees; the male sports a rose front to contrast with his black and white tuxedo. Both come to the feeder tray for seed.  But they won't let me know where their nest is!