IT'S A ROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD

Tempers were flaring! The female goldfinch on the left is trying to stop the house finch from landing at the feeder. She really had a short fuse when it came to sharing the seed with anyone else. She did this with bird after bird.

Most of the time, the birds seem to take turns - they wait on nearby branches until a bird at the feeder flies off, then they stop by briefly for a few tidbits, and so it goes. Every once in a while, there will be a couple birds who stay and stay – one eats while the other chases away new arrivals. It's possible this selfish anger has something to do with the weather – their survival instinct tells them it’s not wise to share a food source, and yet most days there is no fighting at all.