A typical question from homeowners at this time of year goes like this: “Where are the birds? They have stopped coming to my feeders.”
Actually, there may be several reasons why birds become scarce at feeders — usually temporarily. Perhaps the biggest reason right now is an abundance of food in the wild. Birds generally prefer the natural fare over store-bought feeder food and bypass feeders in favor of nature’s bounty.
This is, in fact, peak time of year for wild foods. Nearly everywhere I look now in the woods, fields and other wild places, I see plentiful offerings from nature — acorns, sweet gum balls and cedar, dogwood, wax myrtle, pokeweed, holly and beauty berries.
A lot of late summer and fall wildflower blooms also are turning to seed and providing food for wildlife. For instance, the goldenrods that bloomed so brilliantly a few weeks ago have started producing copious quantities of seeds that will be eaten by a number of birds and small mammals. In particular, the American goldfinch feasts on goldenrod seeds during fall and winter. Swamp sparrows, Eastern towhees, pine siskins and dark-eyed juncos also dine on the tiny seeds.
Birds also may avoid feeders because of a predator lurking in the area, such as a hawk or a feral cat wanting to make a meal of a small bird or two. You may not always see the predator, but the birds do. When a predator does show up, a solution may be to take down your feeders for a couple of weeks. The predator probably will give up and go away. Then, rehang the feeders; the birds likely will return.
Quite often, however, you may never know why birds disappear from your yard. But, take heart: Their absence usually is only temporary. Continue to provide wholesome bird food in clean feeders. Providing clean water also is important. Most likely, the birds will return, especially when the weather turns colder and wild foods become less available.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be last quarter on Wednesday. Mars is in the east at dark and will appear near the moon on Thursday night. Jupiter is high in the south and Saturn is low in the southwest around sunset. The North Taurid meteor shower reaches a peak of about 15 meteors per hour in the east this weekend. On Friday night (Nov. 18), the Leonid meteor shower will peak at about 20 meteors per hour in the northeast.
Charles Seabrook can be reached at charles.seabrook@yahoo.com.
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