I put the black oil sunflower feeder up again around Christmas, even though it's a hassle keeping it filled and trying to clean the mess the hulls make on the ground. This patch of grass will be dead soon if I don't get busy or move the feeder. The birds came back immediately, and will drain a good sized tube feeder in just a couple of days, with a little help from their fat friends, who hang on the "squirrel proof" feeder eating away, no problem.
The crows and starlings could care less about seeds; they prefer protein. I caused a neighborhood feeding frenzy the other day with some very "fragrant" feta cheese left over from Christmas. When there's nothing that good around, I see them foraging around underneath, probably picking up insects hatching in the rich mess of decomposing hulls.
We have hundreds of Oregon juncos in the yard this year, also ground feeders. It's rare to see a roaming cat in West Seattle, so they have it good these days.
There are plenty of noisy black-capped chickadees...
Thousands of house finches...
The other day, an unusual rufous-sided towhee...
And my favorite Seattle bird, a big Northern Flicker hanging upside down hogging the feeder...
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