A puzzle for old time's sake
 

Back in the day, I/we used to do quite a lot of these around here. In the modern internet world, it's harder and harder to post a puzzle that someone can't just search-engine through... so this is an original. As usual, the caveat applies: I think this is challenging but get-able, but I may well be misjudging its difficulty, in either direction.


As many of you know, I am something of a birdwatcher. A while back, we put up a new thistle seed feeder outside our house. As birds started to discover it, we (in keeping with our household) gave nicknames to the birds we started to see.

The Puzzle: What nickname did we give to the second, larger, bird that became a regular at our new feeder?

No, I don't intend to answer questions or anything... in theory, you have enough to noodle this one out.

Norm

Good guess.

Lenny?

Cartman

Daddy

Big Bird

Big Norm

Wait can I change my answer to 2/3?

If not Norm, then Tiny

Peewee

Moose

I can't top that. Good guess.

heybrad

Nothing wrong with these guesses, but nothing in the right neck of the woods yet. I'll offer this... the correct answer would not be reachable just out of thin air, but only by taking and using some of the information that I have given you in the setup, and using it along with some degree of common sense.

Tex

According to the interwebs, thistle seed seems to attract finches.

So, I still got nothin', but maybe that's a clue.

Bully

Atticus

Good one, Mike.

I'll guess Jem along those lines.

Number Two or Will Riker

Clark

Sidd?

Two-can

Junior

Dean Houston

W.C. Fields (from My Little Chickadee)

Big Blue

Chicken Little

Okay, Mike made leap #2 in the chain. And this is the closest answer so far, at least in spirit. Wrong answer, but you have 2/3 of the logical steps on the way to the right answer.

Boo?
Scout?

:+1:

Operation Shutdown?

Lennie Small

Because of the household hint, it probably is something -issy or such, or a link to the color of the bird, or even a hint of the tweeting dialect of the bird. And there's another hint on the size of the bird. Usually the first birds to appear are the more assertive ones.

I'm not too familiar with the 'birdopedia' of Maryland, but something like "big bird" or something else from Sesame Street? "Oscar", maybe?

Okay, I will elaborate.


Clue #1 was to figure out that the bird is a finch... check

Clue #2 was to figure out that the first finch we start seeing is going to get nicknamed Atticus... check

Clue #3 gets you home.

Spartacus?

Already regret this reply after finding out what a 'finch' is. Not to mention who 'Atticus' is... :redface:

David Spade

Gregory Peck

That's actually better than what we came up with.

Ours is more childish, and based on a clue embedded in the puzzle above.

Scout, then?

Edit: Sorry, didn't see that as a guess above.

What about Rufus?

Howard Beale

Childish and in the puzzle..

Fatticus?

Jenny

Winnar.

Luigi

Jim Crow?

The second finch started showing up a day or two after the first one, who we predictably has started calling Atticus. He was noticeably larger, looked sort of puffed-up (might have been feathers as much as anything) but in short order he was styled "Fatticus." *shurg*

All told, nice work, I think. I underestimated the number of more legitimate highbrow directions to go with the nicknames, but I don't think the clues were really untoward to get you there.

All I know is that I want to start a bird sanctuary with every bird taking a name from this thread.

The wife and I have started to get more into birds, trying to draw them to our yard, etc. We're at boring birds right now - but hopefully that will improve.

Real thistle seed is the best way to go to feel like you're getting something from the effort. (Not cheap mixes of same... but the real stuff, all black seeds, labeled either as thistle or more recently nyjer/niger) In pretty short order, you ought to see bright yellow goldfinches (and a few reddish house finches) hanging around, and that's far better eye candy than most.

I have a metric ass load of wildflowers blooming on my land right now, and tons of birds are out there every day. The coolest one I've spotted is a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. I have several hummingbirds that hover right outside of my office window. Back when I had a corn feeder up for the deer, I'd have a covey of quail come in and clean up the corn dust that was left behing.

please switch to imperial weights and measures commie

Yup. We started with just a fly through feeder with black sunflower seeds. That got the mocking birds mostly. Went to a mix, get mocking birds, house finches, and grackles mostly - but we have seen Cowbirds. Then we put in a finch feader with nyjer and we've seen a gold finch or two in the week it's been up. They're nicely positioned to see out a bay window where our kitchenette is and we sit at our table there to eat and watch the birds.

This was all triggered by the Robin that made a nest on our deck last year that I told you about. Trying to encourage that happening again, etc. The neighbors have a bluebird couple that use a house in their yard, so we may try the mealworms at some point.

I have a couple of barn swallows that built a mud nest on a vertical surface on my back porch. This is their 3rd year back. The first year they didn't build it nest very well, and it fell, smashing several eggs. But they rebuilt it and it has stayed for the past couple of years. They hatched a few chicks last year, and I'm waiting for another batch to show up sometime soon.

We have a pair of red tailed hawks that nest way the hell up a huge pine I have at the edge of my yard. They return every year and raise chicks. They can be seen almost constantly sitting on branches at the edge of our yard.

We also have a hummingbird feeder which I never tire of watching. I have wanted to put up a thistle feeder for a while.

We are pretty lucky, imo, in that our neighbors have some wildlife that brings hummingbirds and then we plant madavillas that they LOVE, so we get to see them in natural flowers.