If variety is the spice of life, there’s not a lot of spice in my yard, at least bird-wise. Every year, the same birds occupy my yard. I always have a family of chickadees, nuthatches, song sparrows, finches, house sparrows, cardinals, bluebirds, titmice, Carolina wrens, bluejays, and mockingbirds. Then, we have periodic visits from robins, snowbirds, hummingbirds, catbirds, cowbirds, doves, thrushes, flickers, crows and (shudder) grackles.
But it’s funny how one species – like titmice for example – is always present. Birds only live three or four years, so it’s hereditary. The young always return to their home place, year after year. I’m not complaining and I enjoy the occasional special visits from rose-breasted grosbeaks and cedar waxwings, but my special friends are those loyal birds which occupy and return to my yard every year.
