Vintage birders. Burrough Audubon Society photo from the U.S. Archives.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was really surprised to count seven species of birds at our feeder (which had been empty since, like, summer) only one day after I filled it. When I bought the bag of seed, I figured I’d get a few cardinals. Nope. Seven different bird species visited that feeder in just over an hour. Seven! And those were just the ones that I was skilled enough to see and distinguish.
I will admit to not being a consistent or skilled birder. I hesitate to call myself a birder at all. To be honest, birds are a little intimidating because they move so fast and there are just so darn many of them. Because we have so many, though, especially here in the Lowcountry, I can’t help but notice them. And once I notice, I can’t help but start looking.
The deer were so plentiful last summer that we couldn’t afford to keep the feeder full. They were eating a $20 bag of bird food in one night. But it’s cold outside now, and the yard has been so empty for the past few weeks (not even any squirrels). Finally I realized it was because we didn’t have anything for anyone to eat. Everyone had left.
So I stocked up on a variety of different birdseed mixtures and filled the feeders. The next morning, it was like the backyard had come alive. We have a wooded backyard with two big live oaks, four pines, and four sweet gums. And our property backs up onto a dense wooded buffer that separates our neighborhood and another one behind us.
When I looked out the kitchen window, the sun was shining, and flash of brown after flash of brown moved from the feeder to some nearby, out-of-sight perch. The feeders are so far from the house, they just looked like brown bits of confetti fluttering around in the sun.
Once I dug out my binoculars and field guides (a real birder would have had them ready), those brown bits of feather and energy became the following:
- Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
- Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
- Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura)
- Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)!! This was the first time I ever saw one of these.
- Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
- Song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
- Brown-headed nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) My first time for noticing this one, too.
Real birders probably don’t think this many birds in one morning is a big deal. But for me, seeing seven different species in one hour, in my yard no less, is something I can always get excited about.
For those more experienced birders, what’s the highest number of species you’ve seen at your feeders at once?
Your post leaves me envious! I have no birds in my backyard this winter, despite having two feeders up. I hear chickadees occasionally, see crows a lot, and even heard a cardinal yesterday. But they don’t come to my yard in the winter. Part of it is that I live in a townhouse in suburbia, so there are no large trees in the neighbourhood, and none in my backyard as it’s so small. In migration I get juncos, and in the summer I get Chipping Sparrows and goldfinches. I think the birds prefer areas with more cover in the winter and that’s why they don’t come to my yard.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Gillian! I consider ours to be a suburban area, but it’s probably more accurate to say that it’s developing because there are still vast swaths of rural, wooded property around our neighborhood. And our yard backs up to a wooded buffer between neighborhoods, which attracts quite a bit of wildlife, especially birds. I got a few books about wildlife gardening from the library last week, so I’m hoping to figure out how to attract a few more. I’m hooked now!
Thanks again!
Melinda
I found Cosmos a nice annual flower which, if left to go to seed, attracts goldfinches in the fall. Letting them go to seed means you won’t have to buy them every year, too, since they readily grow from seed every year! If you want hummingbirds, try Scarlet Runner beans (a vine but an annual one), Scarlet Sage (aka Salvia, an annual), or Wild Bergamot (aka Monarda aka Bee balm, which is a perennial). If you want butterflies, try some Butterfly Weed, Butterfly Bush (if you have the room…I don’t), Lantana or Veronica. Also, research the host plants of the butterflies in your area….I planted some parsley in a container one year, and later found a Black Swallowtail caterpillar on it!
I’d love to read about your garden when you decide on what to plant!
Gillian
I will write about it, Gillian, and your suggestions are so helpful. I’ve been looking into some shrubs, but my backyard is do shady that I haven’t made any decisions yet. I will need to research butterfly food plants. Lantana does really well here, and I am adding cosmos to my list!
Thanks!
Melinda