Parrot visitors
 

For the last few weeks a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets have visited my front door.

I have given them wholegrain bread and fruit handouts.

They are beautiful birds :).

Beautiful and clever they are
 

Beauties! Don't let your kitties get them ;)

Kiwi-Hi! I saw the photo. Those parrots are beautiful. Are they native to your area? Thanks for the big dose of happy to start my day! I love watching birds.

Hi Hotfoot53

I am glad that you enjoyed the Rainbow Lorikeets :).

Yes, they are native to my area - sometimes they nest in the trees at the back of my land.

About 10 different kinds pf parrots visit my land (not all at once). The others are a bit shy/fast-moving so it is not easy to get photos of them but they always brighten up my day :).

You are so lucky to have these colorful birds in your area.
I'd love to have them here.;)

We feed the birds here every day. The last two summers we did not go to our vacation home as it is very difficult for me to manage now with my more limited mobility. So we have been feeding thru the summer months and have seen many interesting sights, and behaviors that we missed before. The little goldfinches are fun to watch coming to my flowers. The parents teach the fledglings how to get seeds out of spent flowers. And I have many photos of this process now, which I am using to do drawings from. The males are bright yellow during the summer and females a yellowish olive color. I put out 100% cotton fluff in a "corn cob feeder" for their nesting starting in April and thru July. They nest later than other songbirds, and I have many interesting photos of this process too.

This photo is of a fledgling resting on some spent flowers.

Parrots from kiwi
 

They are really beautiful and nice work getting their photos! Lucky you to have them in your yard!

mrsD-hello!
I like the picture of the finch fledgling. I have finches but since I don't feed them, they don't stay in the yard long. How could I tell if there was a fledgling in my yard? (Do you know because you know your birds that well or is there a signature look to them?)
I have a hummingbird feeder. It's so strange to me, I never see them and within 5 minutes of putting out the liquid they're right there. (This was my first year feeding them). Thanks for sharing!
I had a robins nest this year- unfortunately right over the front door. Couldn't see a thing and couldn't use the door until they left- they divebombed me and made a loud racket! Live and learn. 😊

Hotfoot, you are lucky to have hummingbirds.

It is always a high point if I see one on a trip to the US :).

okay, hotfoot....

Photo one is a family of goldfinches.
The yellow and black one is the male.
The farthest left with the light yellow belly is a female.
The two in the middle are new fledglings, they are a bit larger, and darker than the breeding adults. The one perching on the stick next to the yellow male is waiting for him to feed her and flapping her wings, begging.

Goldfinches in N.America are the only songbirds who molt twice.
(I looked that up). The males molt in spring from drab olive feathers, to the jazzy sleak yellow/black. In fall they molt again into the drab colors for winter.

We have a tube feeder outside the kitchen window with finch seed in it. So we get to see them up close.
Goldfinches only eat seeds, and no insects. So they nest late in summer when the flowers and weeds are setting their seeds.
I plant specific flowers for them in containers which are on a bench outside my computer room window--and I take their photos thru the window.

The second photo is of the fluff dispenser I put out for them in spring. (in winter it holds corn cobs for the blue jays and squirrels). The female is at the top and her mate is below.
I originally offered the fluff for the hummingbirds, and was pleasantly surprised that the goldfinches really loved the fluff more! If you Google Goldfinch nests and hit images function you can see how some use it to line their summer nests. I didn't know this either until 2014!

We have hummingbirds too. Just one family I think though.

This is one photo of a fledgling in early fall in 2015, sitting next to the feeder. You can tell fledgling hummers by their short beaks. Males have short beaks too, but they have a red throat in the second season and they are a bit smaller than the female who has a longer beak.

Parrot visitors
 

Kiwi - the funny thing is I didn't know we had them, but I left a piece of orange rope on the deck and they came by to check it out while I was looking out the window! I was so surprised! I'd only seen one once on a trip, so I had no idea they were nearby, and certainly not on my deck! Lol!