Feeding suet

[Birdzilla]

If you have not tried feeding suet to your backyard birds it is something to consider. I get a wider variety of species coming to the suet feeders than I do to sunflower. I live in McKinney and had these birds feeding on suet over the holidays.

White-breasted Nuthatch
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
European Starling
American Goldfinch
Brown Thrasher
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

I use both commercial suet cakes and a home-made blend that I just smear on tree limbs or trunks.

[sandih]

I have been seeing what looks like a lesser goldfinch but I'm not sure. I saw a bunch of them around the feeders, including the suet. They are not brilliant gold but are more dull and a slightly greenish tint. Tiny, thin beaks and they flit around like a wren, sometimes hanging onto the brick on the side of the house.

Any ideas?

[Birdzilla]

The birds are probably American Goldfinches.

The American Goldfinch looses its bright yellow and black colors in the winter, and fit your description of looking something like a Lesser Goldfinch.

[sandih]

Oh, I thought the colors got brighter in the winter. Thanks!

[sandih]

Here's one for you...and I have pictures!

This is a new bird for me to see. Small, round bird, patchy brown on back blends in w/ tree bark. White underbelly. Glides effortlessly up and down the tree getting bugs with needle-thin beak. Holds itself flat against the tree as it moves around. What is it?

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=v3wm5ex.9v6p0fy5&x=0&y=-xj5r18

[Birdzilla]

The bird is a Brown Creeper. It has a very high, very thin call. It is winter resident in Texas.

[sandih]

Are they pretty common then in the winter?

[Birdzilla]

My experience is that they are fairly common some years, less common in others. Obviously they are easy to miss, so they are probably under-reported.