Backyard Birds

January 28, 2020

This morning I stood at our sun-room windows and watched the birds gathering at our feeders. We have several different feeders containing a variety of seed, grubs and suet. I recently added a large square “cake” feeder containing a mix of millet, black oil sunflower, “mixed seeds,” cracked corn, peanuts and gelatin (to hold it all together, ingredient list taken from the cake label). These feeders are attracting what I call the usual backyard species: finches, nuthatches and chickadees. Today’s brief observation (about 20 minutes) had a half dozen House Finches, about evenly split between male and female, two Redbreasted Nuthatches and two Black-capped chickadees (pairs observed at the feeders at the same time).

As I watched I noted the House Finches behaving a bit differently from what I usually see: they were feeding about equally on the ground as well as at the feeders, the latter are typically about five feet off the ground. It has been my impression that the finches generally spend all of their time at the feeders. Curious as to what has drawn them to exploring the ground under the feeders. It is probably not seed cast away from the feeders above as they are foraging some distance out and away from the area immediately beneath the feeders. I note that we also have a squad of squirrels who regularly arrive to claim the seed tossed from the feeders. We do not have any grass in our yard, both front and back yards are given over to annual and perennial flowing plants, many of them native or similar to native plants. They may be finding the seeds scattered by the Hollyhocks and other plants.

The nuthatches and chickadees come and go quickly, their usual feeding pattern. Both species will collect a seed and fly off with it to the cover of nearby shrubs to break open the shell. They will check out several seeds before selecting one and then departing. The “Woodpecker Cake” I put out is particularly attractive to the two species.

Now several comments on what I am not seeing. This winter there have been no Northern Flickers, Blue Jays, Downy Woodpeckers and House Sparrows. Blue Jays were regular visitors a month or so ago, but have not seen any recently, though I put up a circle peanut feeder designed to be attractive to the Blue Jays. For several years a couple of homes several blocks south of us put out feed drew in flocks of Rock Pigeons and we would often get a pair or two of them visiting the yard and cleaning up the castaway seed on the ground. The feeding of pigeons stopped several years ago and the large flocks that were attracted to our neighborhood are no longer here.

Over the years I have had regular visits from both Northern Flickers and Downy Woodpeckers. Now the only woodpeckers are the Downys and they are not that frequent visitors. I have suet cakes to which they have been drawn before though the ones I have up now area bit different in composition from one I originally used years ago.

We have had plenty of Corvids (Crows, Jays and Magpies) in the neighborhood through last fall and earlier in January, but not so many now. I still see Magpies a couple of miles south of us around the church we attend,

Finally the most striking absence has been that of the House Sparrows. Over the years they were constant visitors to my feeders, often outnumbering the House Finches. My casual recollection is their numbers began to drop 3 or 4 years ago and now there are none. I knew they nested under the ceramic tiles of our neighbor’s roof on the south side of our home. That has not been the case for several years now. I also regularly saw large flocks in a couple of locations in the neighborhood, I will have to take a walk around the neighborhood and check out those locations see if any are still there. Curious!

Feel free to add comment or observations you have made about birds in your yards. If you do please give a general location. Our home is in the University Park neighborhood of southeast Denver, Colorado (as an example).