By Thanksgiving, I figured my local bears were done tearing up bird feeders in my neighborhood. I tentatively put out one feeder with sunflower seeds and one with suet. Then a funny thing happened: nothing.
Before the planet started heating up, it was common for birds to mob backyard feeders in late autumn. In recent years, it’s become more common to complain that they’re not mobbing feeders.
Birds do not rely on feeders. They treat feeders as a supplemental food source. When there is plenty of natural food around, they may not visit feeders at all. Now that autumn lasts longer, feeders often hang limp until the first snow.
Two climate surprises help explain why. Global warming is not happening evenly across the planet. Northern areas are warming faster. Even in Maine, the average temperature rise has been greater in Presque Isle than in Portland. I suppose, logically, the colder it is, the more room there is to warm up. There is less change at the equator.
Winters are warming faster than summers. That also makes sense. A blanket of snow on the ground keeps the temperature colder. But as winter comes later and spring comes earlier, that snow blanket disappears sooner. We old-timers remember what Maine winters used to be like, and this isn’t it.
Our first snow arrived on Tuesday. Right on cue, mourning doves and dark-eyed juncos moved into the backyard, followed shortly by goldfinches, nuthatches and chickadees. I’m spending this morning watching the show.
I enjoy watching the birds at my feeder. They often teach me something. There’s a lot more variation from year to year than I ever imagined. I never realized how many of our year-round birds don’t stay year-round.
Last year, juncos were scarce. This year, a bunch are lingering in my yard, and probably will all winter.
Red-breasted nuthatches often wander south during a winter of limited food. But I’m watching one at the feeder right now. Until the snow came, I didn’t even realize they were still in the neighborhood.
In late November, I walked some of the logging roads west of Moosehead Lake. I was delighted to find that most red-breasted nuthatches stayed home this winter. They were abundant everywhere I went.
I’m not yet sure what to make of the white-breasted nuthatches. They’re the more numerous nuthatch species in my neighborhood, yet none are coming to the feeder. Did they leave, or are they just finding their favorite foods elsewhere? I’m guessing the latter. I can hear plenty of woodpeckers drumming and calling around the house, although they’re not hitting the suet yet. But who knows? I’ll have to pay more attention.
Not a single blue jay has visited since the feeders went back up. I’m less surprised about that. Big flocks headed south this fall. And during most of autumn, when I was depriving my bears of an easy meal, I was also depriving my blue jays.
Blue jays cache a lot of food for the winter. They can jam over 50 sunflower seeds in their crop, and then carry them away to secret hiding spots, thus ensuring themselves of easy meals all winter. Because my feeders weren’t out until after Thanksgiving, they didn’t get the chance to fill the pantry. I’ll bet they blame me for their deprivation, but they should blame the bears.
There’s now a northern cardinal at the feeder. What’s he doing here? Cardinals tend to be suburban birds, though they are slowly fanning out into more rural areas. Any brightly colored bird needs good cover to nest, and there’s no suitable shrubbery near me. They’ve never nested here as far as I know. This guy must be roaming around, dining opportunistically. I wonder if he will stay a while. Cardinals visit in some winters and not in others.
The show is just getting started. As other birds in the neighborhood learn that the kitchen is finally open, I expect numbers to increase. I expect wandering birds to notice and drop in, hopefully including some of the finches that are irrupting from Canada this winter.
Wait a minute. A hairy woodpecker landed on the suet, at last. Can a downy woodpecker be far behind? I may also learn if a red-bellied woodpecker is in the vicinity.
Many people watch the birds but miss what’s really going on. Casts change and the plot thickens.
It’s almost like watching Netflix. But cheaper.
