Good Afternoon All,
The staff at The Wood Thrush Shop hopes you are well, at home, and enjoying the birds. We continue to serve with curbside service and, if needed, delivery. It is extremely helpful to us if you call in your order in advance so we can pull the items together, process the payment, and have it ready for you to pick up when you arrive. Checks and cash are accepted, too.
If you are looking for birdfeeding, bluebird, or other backyard birding advice, or certain types of product, emailing your questions is best so we can keep the phone line open and answer your questions thoroughly. Our email address for orders and inquiries: thewoodthrushshop@gmail.com
Please understand we don’t always answer emails immediately and sometimes the phone line is full. We will get back to you as promptly as possible. Thanks very much for your understanding and cooperation during this challenging time.
Going forward in the current state of affairs we are going to attempt to significantly reduce inventory by offering discounts on lots of different merchandise. No worries, we are simply trying to move merchandise. Every day we will post on Facebook, Instagram, and our website, thewoodthrushshop.com, various specials. This will be fun because in some cases we have only one or two of a particular item and it will come down to the first caller winning.
Happy Easter and Enjoy the Birding to Come
This is the most rewarding time of the year for birdwatchers. You may have noticed a bit of a slowdown at your feeders recently but keep in mind that birds on the nest tend to gravitate to insects for a while to feed young. I have seen about a 50% slowdown at seed feeders in the last two weeks, but that will change soon. Activity at suet feeders, however, picks-up significantly. Suet consumption nearly doubles during the spring months, particularly if you live in a wooded environment. Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Nuthatches and Titmice, and even Bluebirds really take advantage of the suet at this time.
Sightings of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings are just days away which means feeder activity will again pick-up with their arrival. These two species, like hummingbirds, have been migrating from Central and South America to their breeding grounds in the U.S. Typically, we have an opportunity to see the RB Grosbeaks for about a month at the feeders until all have passed through TN to areas north of here. See Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Bunting in the video below. They appear 30 seconds in.
And yes Ruby-throated hummingbirds are beginning to arrive and pass through TN. My first sighting at home was April 6.
Pileated Woodpecker Dance
While at home a few days ago I witnessed and got on video the courtship display of Pileated woodpeckers. There are birds with more elaborate displays but this is still very interesting. I have seen this a few times before but haven’t had the opportunity to share until now. To tell the difference between male and female one must see them through binoculars to see the red “mustache” on the male. A small red slash extending from the beak to the cheek.