NO Birds At the Feeder?? Here's Why!

Dark-eyed Junco

Many people have been reporting a lack of birds at their feeders and right now we are not going through the bird seed as we were in later summer when the baby goldfinches were gobbling all.

The main reason for birds not being as abundant right now at feeders here in New England is because this has been wet year and mild fall and there seems to be a superabundance of wild food available, including pine cones, other cones, seeds, fruits, berries. The birds just don't need the feeders, plus since it has been warm their calorie requirements are lower. As you know, birds in the wild do not ever get all their food entirely from feeders. They go around their winter ranges each foraging in their own species way. Chickadees stay in a small fixed flock in a winter range of about 20 acres and glean insects and larvae from bark, as well as eat nuts and seeds. They visit feeders in their winter territory. In extremely severe weather however, when wild food has been depleted and or is covered with ice, then chickadees will visit feeders more and sometimes it can be life-saving.
For those of you, including us, that are addicted to seeing birds at our feeders, there are some birds coming to feeders now and here's how to entice them.
Dark-eyed Juncos are one of the most common feeder birds in the country. These northen breeders come down into the U.S. in winter. By us, some stay the winter, some migrate farther south. Juncos are a type of sparrow and love eating at or near the ground.

We built this brush pile and placed it about 15 feet from our bird feeder. It is about 4 feet high and 12 feet wide, made of saplings and even seed heads from our perennials. We sprinkle millet on the ground in front of it and in it. The Juncos and White-throated Sparrows just love it and visit often. These species naturally feed on the ground in the wild, and this set-up simulates their wild feeding situation plus gives then the cover of the brush pile to hide from predators. Millet is a tiny white seed enjoyed by sparrow species. It is not the favorite food of chickadees (black oil sunflower is). Even though we sprinkle it on the ground we monitor it and clean up any old seed. Mostly all our seed is in feeders and seed cleanliness is very important to the birds. We also put millet in platform feeders, and sometimes the juncos and other ground feeding species feed there. The brush pile also offers protection from predators to all the other birds who visit the feeders.

Blue Jay

Blue Jays also are coming to feeders now big time. You'll also see them flying across highways as you drive around. Jays have a habit of carrying off seeds and acorns in fall to cache (hide) them for later use. Jays have a mixed reputation; they can eat birds eggs, but they are also great alarmists, warning of hawks, and other birds may benefit from that. We enjoy their beautiful colors against the late fall landscape.
Meanwhile, have patience and keep feeders clean and filled, you want the winter feeder regulars to know you're there when they need you. Once the weather turns cold your feeder regulars will be back.

Feeder Birds in Hurricane Sandy Video

I took this video, with my Canon SX 40 HS point-and-shoot superzoom camera,  from inside the house, through the slightly open glass slider, during Hurricane Superstorm Sandy here in southwest NH. It was really interesting to see how the feeder birds coped during the storm. Birds need to eat, so they tried to come to the feeders when they could. The winds were blowing at 20-30 miles an hour during the day, getting much worse, gusting to maybe 50 mph, at night. The birds stayed low in the shrubs and were most protected the lower down to the the ground they were. The Blue Jays had difficulty landing on the feeders and one was able to feed on the lee side of the biggest feeder. The Mourning Doves, Juncos, White-throated Sparrows and one first winter White-crowned Sparrow (big sparrow with plain face and 2 brown stripes on crown), prefer to feed on the ground and thus were most protected from the wind. 

By morning, the bird feeders were knocked down to the ground from the wind. The birds seemed fine and were hopping around waiting for us to upright and fill the feeders.

Luckily we had no other damage, and we still had power. Sending positive thoughts for a fast recovery for all who sustained losses due to the hurricane. Take care.

Evening Grosbeaks, Irrupting, Coming Your Way Too!

We keep telling you the big news in birding circles is this is going to be a big irruptive year for certain birds. It's true for Evening Grosbeaks. These birds only show up certain years when their winter range food crops are low. So we are seeing them repeatedly come to our bird feeders now in NH. These two female Evening Grosbeaks were enjoying the sunflower seed, their fav, this morning. Look how they dwarf the goldfinches feeding with them!
Keep a look out and your feeders well stocked with sunflower and perching room and let us know when you see Evening Grosbeaks.