The sparrows have figured it out!

A week after the Chief & I brought home the new bird feeder, the sparrows not only have it figured out, but seem to have claimed it as their own.  They're certainly the most frequent, and greediest, visitors.  The cardinals have stopped by to check out the feeder, but don't seem to stay long at all.  And the bird feeder seems to be making good on its claim to be squirrel-proof - the squirrels I've seen have contented themselves with eating what the birds drop on the ground.  Or maybe the sparrows have been "discouraging" the squirrels from poaching on the sparrows' territory... :)

The feeder holds 3 or 4 lbs. of birdseed.  The level wasn't moving much at all until last night; it's dropped quite a bit since then.  I wonder how long it would take the sparrows to empty it completely - if we go on vacation for a week, will the greedy little things empty the bird feeder long before we get back?

I was amused to see that a black bird in the raven/crow family had a different feeding technique than the sparrows, which park on one of the 4 perches and chow down.  This black bird would perch, take a piece, hop to the adjacent fence, and eat its morsel.  Then it would go back to the perch, take another piece, and go back to the fence to eat it.  It's taller than the sparrows, so the feeding hole is not at its beak level; maybe it's too awkward or uncomfortable to sit on the perch and eat.