Fall is time for putting out feeders for the birds but making sure we have taken down the hummingbird feeders. No, it is not a good idea to leave the hummingbird feeder up, but seed-eating birds will love you for helping them get through the colder weather to come.
Please do not put soft fats like peanut butter or real suet out until the temperatures remain below zero as greasy feathers no longer keep the birds warm. Harder animal fat is OK.
Researchers have been using data collected by people participating in the Project FeederWatch program run as a joint project by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada to study bird behaviour, especially the pecking order, at the feeder.
The success rate at “face-offs” at the seed feeder depends a lot on whether they are social birds or more solitary species.
For example, pine siskins are very social as they hang about in groups in their everyday activities. If a pine siskin goes to a feeder by itself, it is likely to be scared away by a more aggressive species e.g. a red-breasted nuthatch. So, it is less successful at getting a bite to eat than if it arrives at the feeder together with a group of its pals.
The red-breasted nuthatch on the other hand is a more solitary, lone wolf species used to doing things by itself. Consequently, is not afraid to be aggressive and fight off other visitors to the feeder while it gets a seed.
Currently, at my feeder, the pecking order (i.e. who gets the seed first or who is more of a fighter) is 1. red-breasted nuthatch, 2. mountain chickadee 3. black-capped chickadee 4. dark-eyed junco.
Despite this, the chickadees and juncos do not seem to mind sitting side by side as much. Goldfinches are gradually becoming more common at feeders here and they are social birds so they will tolerate other species also.
However, by next spring watch out for changes. Chickadees do not tolerate, and will fight off, yellow-rumped warblers.
When it is colder, the woodpeckers come to the feeder more frequently. Then the size of the bird also enters the equation with northern flickers being the most aggressive and downy woodpeckers the least so (or more polite?).
All these species love black-oil sunflower seeds the best and all have figured out how to shell the seed, so there is no need to buy the more expensive shelled seed.
Forget the commercial mixes that contain lots of millet and corn. Most of it is wasted on our common species, although ruffed grouse might come to this seed spread on the ground.
