THE BIG BOYS

Over this winter the big boys have come to feed in our backyard on almost a daily basis.  The big boys are both male and female partridge.  When I see them through the kitchen window in the backyard, I announce to the pets and the DH that the 'big boys' are here.  The cats do watch the partridge sometimes, perched on their cat condo and looking at them through the kitchen window.

Since we have bird feeders set up in the yard, the partridge are attracted to come and feed.  Beside the sunflower seeds for the sparrows, we have scattered niger seed on the ground for the partridge.  The flock that usually comes includes several females and one male.  It is easy to tell which bird is the male as he has a red patch of feathers on his breast.  We have had more than one flock come in at the same time and this means that there are two males in close proximity.  That is entertaining to watch as sometimes there is a bit of a chase scene between the male birds.

Female sunning herself on the roof of the garden shed.

Besides the female sunning herself on the roof, there is a sparrow on the corner of the roof, which is hard to see, and a male partridge sunning himself on the top of the fence. 

The flock is pecking away at the niger seed. This picture and the following photos were taken before sunset.  

Two females.

The two bottom birds are females and the top bird is the male.