Thanks UncleGoo

That was interesting and educational

I also followed the link to Mixed-Species_Flocking

https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Mixed-Species_Flocking.html

The birds that feed are a mix of doves, ducks, sparrows, and white-cheek-"something" (forgot the name of the bird. LOL ) beside a few other species.

And , yes, cats are all around. The other day I saw a duck with only one duckling. They were separated from the rest of the ducks (about 20) . Someone indicated the duck used to have about 10 babies a few days earlier.

My attitude towards animals is that I love them so much as to NOT have them as pets. If they die or something I can't stop blaming myself. Rather I put a feeder in my garden where they eat and drink and go. The mother duck mentioned above had the baby with a large pond separating them from the rest of the ducks. This pond is man-made and constructed from concrete ( just like a shallow pool ). Actually it was just made for landscaping - not with ducks in mind. The ducks were added later. It had high concrete edges that didn't allow ducks in or out so easily. Only one spot was added for exit/entry to the water. This - in my view - had contributed to the sad demis of the small ducks. If they were in the middle of those 20 large ducks , no cat would dare approach them.