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Mourning dove (left) and cactus wren, two of the regular visitors to Elsie and
Myriam Toles' ranch in the Chiricahuas. John L. Blackjord photo.
We Learned About Birds
By Feeding Them
By MYRIAM and ELSIE TOLES
WE TWO women first
acquired our ranch home of
160 acres of mesquite and
prickly pear near the foot of the Chiricahua
Mountains in Southeastern Arizona,
we were not particularly interested
in birds. We knew a hawk from
a hummingbird, and not much more.
But gradually we came to know and
appreciate our winged neighbors, and
now the ranch is known as a bird
sanctuary where small visitors are assured
of rest, protection, food and
water.
The Arizona cardinal initiated us.
After we had eaten watermelon in the
yard, we saw him affectionately feeding
the seeds to his mate. Then he
flew to the top of the windmill and, a
brilliant spot of red against the blue,
informed the world in liquid notes that
he laid claim to this bountiful territory.
Such a combination of beauty, musical
talent and conjugal virtue deserved
encouragement. If he liked
seeds, seeds he should have. We tried
him out on the round little yellow
gourds that grow along our roadsides.
He loved them. Now on our drives,
we gather them from far and near,
and there always is a gourd or two
impaled on the fence to provide our
favorite bird with his favorite food.
Watching for the cardinal's visits
SEPTEMBER, 1954
There is scarcely an hour of the
day that birds are not bathing, eating
or drinking at Myriam and
Elsie Toles' ranch in the Chiricahua
Mountains in Arizona. Their
formula for such bird-attracting
success?—food, water and protection.
In this second-prize-winning
story from Desert's recent contest,
"How to Attract Birds," the authors
tell how you, too, may entice birds
to your homes and enjoy the
countless hours of entertainment
their antics provide.
to the gourds, we began to observe
other birds, the perky little Gambel
sparrows, Cassin's and the house
finches with their rosy breasts and the
canyon towhees, who liked to dine on
the remnants left in the dogs' feeding
pan. By this time, we were definitely
becoming birders, inspired with the
desire to lure the birds within range
of observation. A real feeding station
was necessary and one day, discovering
a discarded metal tire cover, we
lugged it home from the creek bottom
and dropped it, hollow side up, over
a post to serve this purpose.
It had the ridiculous effect of a
Mexican hat, which we increased by
covering the protruding end of the post
with a short section of stove pipe and
nainting the whole thing a gaudy blue.
We keep a layer of gravel in the bot-
tom, and provision it daily with bread
crusts, seeds and bits of fruit. At times
we cap the crown with bread crusts
covered with wire netting to prevent
the occasional blue jays from snatching
a whole slice at a time. In the
winter the crown is rakishly trimmed
with an open mesh bag filled with
scraps of fat, or cakes of tallow mixed
with grain.
Gradually the hat has become a port
of call for resident and migrant birds
alike. The belligerent curve bill
thrasher dines alone, the sparrows and
finches are regular boarders as are the
towhees, both canyon and green tailed.
The pyrrhuloxia is a shy occasional
visitor, as is the long tailed chat. Our
rarest visitors came but once. Three
beautiful red pine grosbeaks dropped
down into the hat, scratched and chattered
noisily for a few minutes and
went on their way, to return no more.
Belatedly it occurred to us that
water in this dry land would attract
birds that food failed to bring. We
set a shallow pan on a post shaded by
a mesquite tree and placed perching
sticks across it. We were rewarded
immediately by a flock of green backed
gold finches, as well as tanagers, kingbirds
and doves. Also in the shade of
the mesquite, but on the ground, we
set out a large dishpan, level with the
surface. In it we placed several rough
stones, large enough to extend out of
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