A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Butterfly and Bird Gardens Do Cowbirds eat Thistle???

For the last several days I have had this large brown/grey bird eating at my thistle feeder. It is very likely a female brownheaded cowbird. I wonder if this is normal?? :/

It is possible that she is eating there because can get into it-- as my husband turned a rightside-up feeder into a combo rs/upside down feeder for me and those opening might be a bit bigger than the normal ones.
Thanks
Carol

It is QUITE possible. In my experience, Cowbirds are opportunistic feeders with a love for seed and grain.

Ditto

Thanks to the both of you---I am learning more every day.

Last night there was a possum on my platform feeder looking for seeds.

Oh No, NOT Possums too!! Thorny I am so sorry. And here I was concerned with the squirrels that are coming to visit.--(My wild bird feeder is on a small picnic table and they can get to it very easily)
I had not given the other wild "critters" a thought.

Are you going to do anything about the "visitor"???
But then as my husband says--they have to eat too.

I like Possums. Don't mind them coming around at all. I put out leftover watermelon for it today. He usually comes after midnight. Here is a picture I took of him last October.

And I get squirrels, too. This is my friend, Nick, saying Grace before Lunch. Nick has since lost her tail and now looks more like a rabbit than a squirrel, but still visits my feeders on a daily basis. (Another feeder destroyed today, but it was ollld so, good riddance!)