DEAR JOAN: Turkeys are taking over in Antioch and other cities in the Bay Area. I saw an article recently about turkeys in Cleveland delaying mail delivery because the turkeys were pecking at them.

It was a good reminder to uneducated folks like me, who see the toms strutting their tail feathers and grab their camera, run up to the boys and start snapping pictures.

When the turkey guys are doing this, it is to impress their turkey girls with their beauty, not for a photo op for myself and the neighbors. It can make them really cranky. Give them some space.

Jojy Smith, Antioch

DEAR JOJY: Yes, turkeys can cause quite a bit of destruction and aggravation, although many are very polite when they come into our yards in search of food. While these birds are usually not a threat, at certain times of the year they can be more aggressive.

That includes mating season, when the toms have little tolerance for intruders, and in nesting season, when the hens protect their eggs and poults.

Above all, we should remember that these birds are wild, and like all wild creatures they should be given a wide berth. A few turkeys can turn into many turkeys, tearing up landscaping, scratching cars and knocking tiles from roofs. We should not encourage them by feeding them, nor do things that might make them more comfortable around humans.

If anyone needs more convincing, encouraging turkeys to hang around a neighborhood will also invite in coyotes and bobcats, two animals that prey on the birds and our pets.

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DEAR JOAN: We have a “flying saucer” style hummingbird feeder, with four holes near the edge of the top and a perch around the circumference.

Every summer, we get a pair of orioles who can drink from the feeder until the liquid drops below the half-full level, as it was today. I guess the holes in the top of the feeder, meant for hummingbirds, aren’t large enough for their beaks or tongues to reach further.

This afternoon and again this evening, we watched one of the pair perch on a trellis about a foot away and about 6 inches above the feeder. It would jump from the trellis to the feeder and then back to the trellis, setting the feeder swinging. It would do this several times, until it had the feeder really swinging.

Then it would land on the feeder’s perch when it was on the lowest part of the swinging arc and the liquid inside was sloshed up toward one of the holes in the top of the feeder. It would drink as long as it could until the swinging got to the point where it couldn’t get any more liquid. And then it would repeat the whole process.

Have you ever heard of orioles learning to do that?

Anna, Orinda

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Concerned Saratoga residents putting water out for wildlife but it’s not a good idea DEAR ANNA: Orioles, like most birds, are very smart, although I think this particular oriole is a genius. Researchers are learning that birds are quite good at reasoning out a problem and coming up with a solution, and this bird has certainly proved the researchers correct.

Because you get a pair every summer, you might want to invest in an oriole feeder, which is designed to meet the oriole’s needs. The birds probably will appreciate it — although they may prefer their eating adventures.

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