Explore the Outdoors!
The American goldfinch is a small garden bird commonly found in large flocks throughout the US, southern Canada, and central Mexico. Their natural habitat is open meadows, but they often flock to bird feeders in suburban areas. Even though American goldfinches do occasionally eat smaller insects such as aphids and ants, goldfinches do not eat…
Magpies, like other birds of the Corvid family (including crows and ravens), are omnivores and eat a variety of food items. This includes their babies, that mostly eat insects in their first weeks of life. Adult magpies feed on a broad diet of smaller animals, eggs, seeds, and carrion and they will even attack larger…
Cardinals have a varied diet that includes seeds and nuts such as peanuts. Whereas they prefer unshelled peanuts, they are often seen carrying away whole peanuts from bird feeders. Cardinals can indeed eat whole unshelled peanuts because they are able to open the shell and reach the peanuts inside. They do this with their short,…
Cardinals are common backyard birds in North America that gladly come to eat at your bird feeder. They eat smaller seeds, nuts, and even suet and fruit. You might also have trees in your yard that the cardinal enjoys sitting in, and it can eat the seeds of some trees when they ripen in fall.…
Northern Cardinals are not particularly picky when it comes to their dietary preferences, however, there are limits to what size and hardness they can handle in their food. Therefore, cardinals cannot eat whole acorns because their beak is not shaped for the purpose. Birds like woodpeckers, crows, and bluejays are stronger and have a more…
If you’ve been outside in springtime, you may have seen young birds that are not quite babies and not quite adults. These little fledglings are everywhere in springtime, but what is so special about these immature birds? Fledgling is the state a bird enters after being a “nestling” (baby) and can be compared to the…
Groundhogs are a common sight in many backyards across North America. These furry creatures may look cute and cuddly, but they can be a nuisance when they start digging up your garden! Groundhogs are herbivores and eat grasses and vegetables and fruits most of the time. However, they may eat insects, nuts, and mushrooms from…
Robins are a type of bird that is found in North America. They are brown and red or orange in chest color and have a white belly. Their beak is short and their body is rounded. For a backyard bird, the robin is medium in size (bigger than sparrows but smaller than crows) and they…
Rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus moluccanus), also known in daily jargon as “Loris”, are parrot species that reside in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. They have a very colorful appearance and can be found both in the wild and as pets. Rainbow lorikeets that live in the wild have a specific diet of nectar and pollen…
The babies of the American Goldfinch are referred to as nestlings. At this stage in life, the little ones are still very much dependent on their mother for survival. As far as diet goes, food will be brought to them by both parents. This diet of baby Goldfinches consists mainly of softer insects like worms…