Feathered Friday - Winter Birds in Illinois

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Here's a few more winter shots from Starved Rock State Park for this #featheredfriday by @melinda010100 I believe these first two are cowbirds. They have a nice coppery sheen in the sun on their heads.
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Quite a few nuthatches were out as well. During winter they probably see all humans at the park as a potential millet dispenser. This guy let me get pretty close for a few shots.
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Hey man you got any sunflower seeds for me?
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Oomph looks like another cheapskate photographer without seeds, I'm outta here.
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Meanwhile the titmouse recommends the snow diet. Low calorie with electrolytes.
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Secretly the titmouse has a sunflower seed hidden in the snow... Gotta get the sneaky snacking in.
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This plump chickadee wishes he had a nice sunflower seed.
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His hunger is really grumbly in his tumbly.
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Finally he had to give in to the hunger and get to the corn...

Happy #featheredfriday

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19 comments
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Loved the close ups of the nuthatch! But they all were good!

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For once I was able to get one in the sunlight with a clear focus. Most of the time I see them in the shade moving around too fast on the side of trees for a good shot.

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Beautiful photos! Those are familiar winter visitors in my backyard. The cowbirds don't stick around when the weather turns cold, though.
Thanks for posting to the #featheredfriends community! !tip

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I wonder if they were passing through on their way to missouri or even farther south.

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Probably following the herd to unfrozen cow patties! 😀

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The only problem with these birds is the way they lay their eggs in smaller birds nests then some poor warbler is raising a cowbird that kicked the smaller chicks out of the nest.

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I know. But it is interesting how they evolved into that behavior to ensure their own survival. And how some birds have gotten wise and pitch the foreign egg out of their nest!

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What an amazing number of smaller birds you have captured here, lovely descriptive writing on how they feel about you.

I am not familiar with any of these birds, new view on nature from other side of the world.

!tip

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Thanks, I got most of these shots near a feeder so they weren't too concerned about me taking pictures of them. These little guys are harder to get shots of out in the wild as they are constantly moving around.

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Definitely the smaller birds take to flight a lot quicker, ours normally head for the closest bush and wait for you to move past before returning to the feeder.

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Hello @sketch.and.jam!
This is a great post!! We really appreciate your work and efforts.

To support your work, we have also up-voted you using our @dna.org Curation Trail ✅!
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FROM THE CURATOR (@melinda010100):
Great photos!

We hope, you'll keep up the good work, and continue posting such articles in the future as well!!
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