The cheery call of the black-capped chickadee adds light to the darkest days of the year in late December and early January. That’s one reason why I enjoy feeding birds in winter.
It’s comforting to watch a chickadee snatch a sunflower seed and fly away to pound on it and open the protein-rich morsel inside.
If these birds can make it through a cold winter, then perhaps we can make it through difficult times, too.
Bird-feeding, if done properly, can help these birds survive. Black-capped chickadees, for example, have a much higher winter survival rate if they have easy access to food, such as sunflower seeds humans provide in feeders, according to one study.
By feeding birds, you’re also giving yourself some joy in the bleak season. It could even be a great hobby for youngsters, and what better time to start after the holidays when boredom sets in?
In Illinois, the most common bird species found at feeders include the northern cardinal, downy woodpecker, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, dark-eyed junco and red-bellied woodpecker, among others.
Choose foods that mimic what birds would normally find on their own outdoors, for example sunflower seeds, which cardinals and blue jays eat, and thistle seeds, which goldfinches and pine siskins will eat. Bread, crackers and other carbohydrate-filled human foods do not offer much nutrition to birds, and can even disturb some species’ digestive systems.
We grow many plants that hold their seeds throughout winter. On a cold, snowy day, I watched an American tree sparrow munching on seeds from a native goldenrod species in the front yard.
Feeding birds provides an opportunity to watch bird behavior or see a rare species. This season, after a heavy snow and cold spell, two fox sparrows showed up alongside juncos and American tree sparrows, and one white-throated sparrow in the front yard. Fox sparrows are among my favorite sparrow species — they stand out in a crowd of other sparrows with their long, rusty-colored tails and wings, some gray and rust on the head, and deep dark splotches on their bodies.
The fox sparrows scratched the ground incessantly to kick up fallen bird seed, while the more petite tree sparrows hopped and pecked at the same food. Just the other day, two pine siskins, winter visitors from up north, joined the gregarious American goldfinches on a thistle feeder. The goldfinches, which take on drab colors in winter, can be separated from the similarly sized siskins, which have thin streaking on their bodies.
On especially cold days, many birds congregate at and beneath the feeders, and sometimes the non-native house sparrows take over, even squabbling with each other and other species. I watched a tiny red-breasted nuthatch attempt four times to get at the sunflower seed feeder, which was dominated by house sparrows. But later, the nuthatch had the feeder to itself and got some nice rewards, plus it was stashing food all fall to prepare for winter.
The trouble with bird feeding, for some, is that they’re not just feeding the songbirds, they’re also sometimes feeding hawks.
The Cooper’s hawk, once threatened as a breeder in Illinois, has bounced back after DDT was banned. In winter, it visits bird feeding stations to get a live meal. More than once, a Cooper’s hawk this winter snatched a goldfinch right off the thistle feeder.
But Cooper’s hawks need to eat, too, and they sit at the top of the food chain, providing a balance in nature. It may not be pretty to see a hawk carry off a songbird, but remember, humans eat meat, too. And the Cooper’s hawk is a beautiful bird, with its blueish-gray back and wings and red bars across the underparts.
When a Cooper’s hawk enters the yard, birds will either fly away en masse or freeze at their perches to escape the predator. They know it’s there even before I do. On a recent morning, juncos, goldfinches, woodpeckers and sparrows were feasting on the ground and atop sunflower and thistle feeders.
Suddenly, whoosh, they were all gone. I knew a Cooper’s hawk was in the area. They all escaped. Just as mammalian predators in Africa don’t always get a meal, neither does the Cooper’s hawk.
You cannot talk about bird feeding without mentioning squirrels and ways to keep them off your feeders. Sometimes, squirrel baffles on feeders work; sometimes they don’t. Placement can help, for example, by moving the feeder away from a tree branch where the squirrels can easily jump on top of it.
Watching squirrels try to get to feeders can be fun, for someone, although I know many a bird-feeder who would prefer they would all go away. Recently, two black squirrels, a form of the gray squirrel, joined the scene with sparrows and juncos.
It was quite a menagerie, and I cherish watching such antics of birds and mammals each winter. If you have any questions about feeding birds in winter or want to share your experiences, feel free to email me.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the Chicago Tribune and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to sheryldevorewriter@gmail.com.
