Feeder Birds scarce this winter

Nature Notes for February 4, 2012

“Where are all the birds? I haven’t had any birds at me feeder for over a week!”

I have been asked variations of this quite a few times over the past month. The questioners are usually people who are used to enjoying birds in winter at backyard feeders. This winter, they have not had many avian visitors.

For most of the winter, there has been very little snow. Although the ground is snow covered as I write, the forecast for later today is for above freezing temperatures and rain which will probably remove most of the snow. In these conditions, birds can find lots of food without visiting feeders.

Many feeders welcome big flocks of various finches in most winters – American Goldfinches, Pine Siskins and/or Common Redpolls. The goldfinches are around, but not at the feeders in big numbers. The Port Hope/Cobourg Christmas Bird Count in mid-December tallied a record high number of American Goldfinch. The ones that I saw, however, were mostly not at feeders. They were feeding on the cones of white cedar and white spruce.

The same holds for the Pine Siskins. They are around. A Willow Beach Field Naturalists hike in on Jan. 22 found a single flock of about 70 birds on a side road just north of Burnley. They, too, were feeding on the cones of white cedars. The week before, siskins could be found in several locations in the Northumberland Forest area.

Only a few Common Redpolls have come this far south this winter.

All of these species are irruptive. They only migrate in response to food shortages. There has not been a food shortage this year.

Both Red and White-winged Crossbills can often be found in the Northumberland Forest at this time of year. There have been a few small flocks of White-winged Crossbills, but they have been hard to find. Observers have to get a bit lucky to find them, as they are often very quiet and easily put to flight. Neither of these species is a regular at feeders.

As for other feeder birds, they are around, although perhaps not in as large numbers as usual.

My own feeder in the urban part of Port Hope has hosted Black-capped Chickadees, a Northern Cardinal pair, two Blue Jays, a couple of White-breasted Nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos, a male Red-bellied Woodpecker, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, a female Hairy Woodpecker (which just turned up this week), a few American Goldfinches, a gang of European Starlings. The most abundant bird has been Mourning Doves – up to thirty one day last week.

The mild winter has also brought one more unusual bird, a single White-throated Sparrow. Although these are not a rare bird, my garden has not held one for an entire winter since I have lived here. This bird has made an appearance on every one of my weekly ProjectFeederwatch counts, starting last November.

Of course, whenever an abundance of small birds does turn up, the local hawks will be attracted, too. Although I haven’t seen them in several weeks, earlier in the winter, my feeder was visited by both Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks.

So I guess my response to the opening query is just to keep  watch. The birds are out there and eventually they will take advantage of human provided food.