Q: I swear I saw several robins in a tree in a city park in December and then several days later two bluebirds landed at my birdbath. Did they miss migration and are they in danger?

A: I don't think you need to worry about either species of thrush. As long as they can find enough food — and at this time of year, that usually means fruit — they'll survive our winter just fine. As winter nights become warmer, more and more robins and bluebirds remain in our area, moving around nomadically from berry bush to hackberry tree to crabapple to feed. Some people who enjoy regular visits by these birds will set out suet bits or mealworms for them. I sometimes put out chopped raisins or craisins for winter robins (but squirrels eat most of this).

Feeder gobblers

Q: Blue jays gobble up to 25 black oiler seeds at a time at my feeders. Where do these seeds go, into their crop or their stomach, and then what happens?

A: That's an excellent question, and blue jays do seem to take a great deal of food at one time from our feeders. In the case of your sunflower seeds, the jays are packing these into their throat pouches, called gular pouches, and carrying them off to hide around the neighborhood for later consumption. To eat them, they'll take one seed at a time, then land on a branch, hold the seed with a foot and hammer the shell open with their beak.

Diving mallards

Q: Walking around a local lake, I saw a male mallard dive under the water twice. I thought they only tipped forward to feed?

A: You're right, mallards are called dabbling ducks, meaning they tip head down-tail up in the water to find food. But I'll bet you were seeing a mallard giving himself a bath. They often immerse themselves in the water at bath time. Another possibility is that he was diving after food, I recently saw a small flock of mallards doing this in a channel in Shoreview.

Stone stealer

Q: I have a weird question: I was up on the roof in November, blowing off leaves, when I discovered several stones on the roof. They were about 1 inch across, maybe landscaping rock, and most were under the leaves up there. I've been up on the roof every year and have never seen this before. My only thought is crows or squirrels, but can't imagine why they'd do this. Curious minds want to know if you have any thoughts?

A: This is a really fun question to think about, but you seem to have solved the riddle already. The two possible culprits that came to my mind were crows and gray squirrels, both known to hide food around the landscape. Whichever species is hiding the stones must have mistaken them for food and stashing them away for later consumption. I'm thinking one of your neighbors recently had some new landscape stone delivered, and this fooled a local crow or squirrel.

Suet for songbirds?

Q: I witnessed a mother cardinal taking small pieces of suet from my feeder and feeding it to one of its young that was following her around. I thought parent birds only fed their young on insects and spiders. Have you ever seen or heard of other parent birds feeding their offspring suet?

A: That's an interesting observation, and it turns out that it's not at all unusual for adult birds to feed suet to their offspring. While young songbirds are in the nest, parents stuff them with insects and spiders, but once they fledge, their diet becomes more diverse. Suet has a lot of protein and energy and is an easy way for parents to satisfy a clamoring youngster. Other birds known to grab suet bits for juveniles include Baltimore orioles, chickadees, catbirds, blue jays, various woodpeckers and even warblers.

Crows or ravens?

Q: There've been two very large black birds in our backyard lately. I assumed they were crows but they seem to have a curved beak of a raven. Do ravens live in southern Minnesota? These birds seem less afraid of human encounters than a normal crow.

A: According to the maps in my field guide, it's unlikely for ravens to be found in our area. But these big black birds seem to be turning up in unexpected places, and there have been a number of reports from as far south as the metro area: I've heard ravens calling in Shoreview and along the St. Croix, near Stillwater, during the past several summers. If you visit the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union website (moumn.org), then choose "Occurrence maps" in the left-hand column, it will lead you to maps showing where crows and ravens have been reported, in each of the seasons.

Owl hoots

Q: I've been hearing an owl hooting at night in my neighborhood. Does that mean they'll be nesting around here?

A: Sounds like you're hearing a pair of great horned owls calling to each other, and there's a good chance they could mate and raise their nestlings in your neighborhood. The determining factors will be whether they like the habitat and whether they can find an existing nest to take over. Owls don't build nests, but instead adopt nests built by others, such as crows, squirrels or red-tailed hawks, or they nest in cavities in trees. Owls start tending nests in January or February.

Match seed to birds

Q: If I put up a bird feeder for the first time, what birds might be attracted to it?

A: So much depends on what kind of food you'd be offering in your feeder. If you offer black-oil sunflower seeds, you could attract cardinals, chickadees, blue jays, house sparrows, house finches, goldfinches, white-breasted nuthatches and downy woodpeckers, among others. If you put up a finch feeder and fill it with finch food (like nyger and sunflower chips), then you'll see primarily goldfinches and maybe chickadees. A feeder with safflower seed will be popular with cardinals, chickadees, house finches and downy woodpeckers. Most woodpecker species (downy hairy, red-bellied, pileated, even flicker) will visit suet feeders, if the birds are in your area, and blue jays are always eager for peanuts. And keep in mind that a heated birdbath is a popular draw for any and all of these birds.

Turkey terror

Q: Wild turkeys spook me, because they're so large and weird-looking. Are they dangerous to humans?

A: Wild turkeys are big birds and the ones in urban areas seem to have lost their natural fear of humans. There are videos on the internet showing turkeys harassing people, but it seems clear that the birds are looking for a handout of food. So many people feed the turkeys that visit their backyards that turkeys associate us with food. I'd keep my distance, as you're doing, and you'll be fine.

St. Paul resident Val Cunningham, who volunteers with the St. Paul Audubon Society and writes about nature for a number of newspapers and magazines, can be reached at valwrites@comcast.net