There are no more worms left after that

Frigatebirds can sleep whilst flying. That’s true that is.

I can sleep while driving.

Because they change the batteries in the afternoon.

I was once told by a friend who is a bit of an ornithologist that birds don’t fly for leisure; it’s just too energy sapping. So if you see them flying, chances are they’re hunting for food.

They’ve clearly never watched ravens flying out in the open then. Usually they’re flying for specific purposes, fetching sticks for nests, feeding, etc, but occasionally you’ll get to see ravens flying just for the sheer joy of it, climbing, tumbling, doing wing-overs, basically aerobatics. Watching a big bird like a raven playing with the air is joyous. Watching a gang of swifts tearing around the rooftops at high speed screaming their little heads off is one of the great sights and sounds of summer – again, no reason for the behaviour as far as feeding or anything else other than for shits’n’giggles.

As far as my garden birds are concerned, during the warmer months, when I have my bedroom window open, I have to wear earplugs when I’m not working because the gang of starlings that pitch up at around 5.15am, screeching and squabbling wake me up every time. They come back at various times during the day as well.

Because they change the batteries in the afternoon

🤣 nice reference

Birds eat whenever there’s food and they’re hungry. They’ll eat even when not very hungry if the food is particularly appealing. Some spend time having fun like the acrobatic corvids mentioned but generally most birds spend a huge chunk of time searching out food.

Maybe the OP’s question could be ‘I see birds feeding in the morning. Where do they go to feed after that’?

We get a few kinds of birds popping into the garden to feed throughout the day. There’s a bit of regularity to it. Crows and magpies early on. Blackbirds mostly in the morning. Robin intermittently in the day. Blue tits in the afternoon. Wagtails afternoon. Nuthatches late morning or afternoon.

Not yet had any of the parrots that hang around in the park visit. our own will perk up at the rustle of food packaging or amble over when they see us with food. Birds be greedy and have almost insatiable appetites.

I’m not so sure that birds will ‘keep on eating for the sake of it’ as a human would. Birds tend to be the same shape and weight that their species has always been. Although they sometimes look plumper in the winter when they fluff up, to keep warm.

The blackcap comes several times a day.

Well, i’ve had two red squirrels and now a woodpecker on the feeder outside my office window today.

Filled it up last week…

birds don’t fly for leisure

Nope that’s when they sing – they’re putting on little operas an that.

I was once told by a friend who is a bit of an ornithologist that birds don’t fly for leisure; it’s just too energy sapping. So if you see them flying, chances are they’re hunting for food.

They’ve clearly never watched ravens flying out in the open then. Usually they’re flying for specific purposes, fetching sticks for nests, feeding, etc, but occasionally you’ll get to see ravens flying just for the sheer joy of it, climbing, tumbling, doing wing-overs, basically aerobatics

I thought about gulls when I read that first post. (I have a theme on this thread! 😀 ) Go and watch gulls on a windy day and tell me that they aren’t just flying for enjoyment.

Buuuuttt…. maybe they are flying because they roost in stupid places* and can’t hold on well enough in a storm, or have nowhere to hide from the wind. Maybe the ravens you mention are tumbling to dislodge parasites from their feathers. I just made that up because we simply don’t know. But I can spend hours watching birds and some types of bird seem to enjoy flying for the sake of it.

Not all birds are as stupid as we’ve always assumed. There’s been some interesting work on the intelligence of corvids eg https://www.newscientist.com/article/2314573-crows-may-owe-their-intelligence-to-an-abundance-of-certain-neurons/
One researcher, a few years ago, was convinced that crows were conspiring against him after he’d trapped some for research. 😀

Interesting link here about communication:

UW researchers eavesdropping on crows’ caw-versations

* like my roof. Every year we seem to be a feeding place for juvenile herring gulls, noisy feckers.

Training racing pigeons will fly endlessly in circles near their lofts until a tin of corn is rattled. They could just roost on nearby roofs if they didn’t fancy flying.

One researcher, a few years ago, was convinced that crows were conspiring against him after he’d trapped some for research.

They probably were… certainly, they can remember human faces and can pass on to their young information about humans who’ve harmed or caused them distress, should those humans show up at any time. They can count, use tools and adapt a tool to give better results, and are self-aware.
All of those traits show they’re quite capable of flying just for the shits’n’giggles. Although, having said that, I’ve watched big flocks of rooks and jackdaws, and carrion crows, all of which are pretty smart, but don’t seem to indulge in random flight displays. Magpies and jays I’m not sure about, however jays aren’t that common, and it’s difficult to tell with magpies.

Never been lucky enough to see chough in the wild, sadly, but as they’re coastal birds, using updrafts a lot, hard to tell the difference.

New Caledonian crows are apparently the smartest corvids, but not much to choose between them and ravens.