From Charly: This great tit tried to take carry a whole nut off of the feeder. Later I found the nut on the ground, it was probably too big. Click for full size!
Let me get this straight. A Great Tit? That a “Great Tit,” right? The Great Tit tried to take your whole nut out of the feeder. But dropped it. But then you found your “nut” on the ground. And you think the Great Tit dropped your nut because your nut was “probably too big?” I’ve got that straight, have I? That’s how whatever happened, happened?
Ice Swimmersays
A walnut kernel would be about 4 to 6 g and a great tit would be about 14 -- 20 g. So, for a great tit, hauling a walnut may not be trivial.
Yup, Raucous Indignation, the nut was too much to handle for the tit. Under all that fluff there is not too much to it and it is great only in comparison with other tits. That is, if we are talking birds.
And the walnut kernel was fresh and with bits of soggy shell attached to it, so it weighed probably between 6 to 8 g. That is 30 to 50% of the birds body mass and comparatively bulky, representing the birds whole day’s worth of food. I have seen the bird to struggle with the load on the fence, and I took a few pictures. After that the bird whooshed and I went to the feeder and I found the kernel on the ground and put it back in the feeder.
Birds seem to love walnuts. My father has yesterday put out empty cracked shells to dry (I am going to use them in my workshop to tumble steel) and birds made a mess trying to find bits of nuts in them.
Raucous Indignationsays
Oh, oh. We’re talking about birds. Riiiiiggght. Sure. Whatever you say …
rqsays
Someone’s in a mood. Not to point any elbows at the tit with the nut or anything like that.
blf says
And burping.
Raucous Indignation says
Let me get this straight. A Great Tit? That a “Great Tit,” right? The Great Tit tried to take your whole nut out of the feeder. But dropped it. But then you found your “nut” on the ground. And you think the Great Tit dropped your nut because your nut was “probably too big?” I’ve got that straight, have I? That’s how whatever happened, happened?
Ice Swimmer says
A walnut kernel would be about 4 to 6 g and a great tit would be about 14 -- 20 g. So, for a great tit, hauling a walnut may not be trivial.
Charly says
Yup, Raucous Indignation, the nut was too much to handle for the tit. Under all that fluff there is not too much to it and it is great only in comparison with other tits. That is, if we are talking birds.
And the walnut kernel was fresh and with bits of soggy shell attached to it, so it weighed probably between 6 to 8 g. That is 30 to 50% of the birds body mass and comparatively bulky, representing the birds whole day’s worth of food. I have seen the bird to struggle with the load on the fence, and I took a few pictures. After that the bird whooshed and I went to the feeder and I found the kernel on the ground and put it back in the feeder.
Birds seem to love walnuts. My father has yesterday put out empty cracked shells to dry (I am going to use them in my workshop to tumble steel) and birds made a mess trying to find bits of nuts in them.
Raucous Indignation says
Oh, oh. We’re talking about birds. Riiiiiggght. Sure. Whatever you say …
rq says
Someone’s in a mood. Not to point any elbows at the tit with the nut or anything like that.