|
WORDS ON BIRDS
March is an important month to feed birds
March 10, 2007
Steve Grinley
The weather this time of year is challenging for us and
especially for the birds. Although most of the robins and bluebirds
that are seen now have been here all winter, some true spring migrants
have been seen in the area over the last week or so. Just before this
most recent cold snap, flocks of red-winged blackbirds, with a few
grackles and cowbirds, had been reported from all over the area.
Seventy-five redwings were counted in a Rowley backyard this past week
and we saw several mixed flocks of 20 to 30 blackbirds on a birding
trip last weekend. A total of 2,500 redwings were counted in
Newburyport just a few days ago.
Another spring migrant, the killdeer, a shorebird of
the plover family that prefers fields and gravelly areas, started to
arrive last weekend. We heard a couple of killdeer on Plum Island and
we counted six on the frozen tundra of Common Pastures, from Scotland
Road in Newbury. It was hard to imagine what they might find to eat
this past week. We also saw a lone phoebe perched near a house on
Turkey Hill Road in West Newbury last Sunday. This member of the
flycatcher family hawks flying insects in mid-air for food. That bird
would have been hard pressed to find any flying insects this past
week.
It seems to happen every year this way. These birds, or
other early migrants, show up in late February or early March, only to
be followed by a snowstorm or other form of extreme weather. This past
week of below-zero wind chills must have had its effect on these
birds. Why don't they wait another few weeks before coming to New
England? Haven't they learned by now? After all, most of our winter
resident birds are still here. The bald eagles are still on the river.
Snowy and short-eared owls are still hunting on Plum Island. Tree
sparrows, juncos and white-throated sparrows are still foraging for
food at our bird feeders.
So, with these extremes in weather, it is important to
fill your feeders and keep suet out for the winter birds and for the
returning spring birds as well. A heated bird bath gets more activity
when all the available fresh water is frozen, as it was this past
week. Fruit and mealworms for the wintering bluebirds and robins will
also be appreciated by the resident Carolina wrens and mockingbirds.
In the National Wildlife Federation's current
newsletter, George Harrison writes: "March is the most difficult month
of the year for birds to find adequate food to survive winter in most
of North America. That's because the supplies of natural food ... last
year's seeds, fruits, berries and insect eggs and larvae ... are at
their lowest levels after months of birds feeding on them. March is
too early for a new crop of seeds, fruits, berries, and insects to be
available. Therefore, birds have to work harder to find sufficient
food during a month when it is still very wintry in much of the
country.
"That's why March is the best time of the year to feed
birds in the backyard. They will respond more readily to feeder foods
offered in March than at any other time of the year. Isn't it curious
that in fall ... October and November ... when natural foods are most
abundant, people take the greatest interest in feeding birds? It is in
fall when there are the greatest number of bird seed sales, bird
feeding seminars, bird store sales, and start-up backyard bird feeding
efforts. By March, the interest in bird feeding has waned, at a time
when the birds need it most.
"Though birds are not dependent on feeders for their
survival (studies have shown that birds glean 75 percent of their
daily food from the wild, even when feeder foods are available),
feeding them in March will make life a little easier for them, and
under severe conditions, may even save them from starvation."
So keep those seed and suet feeders full. Help those
wintering birds build up their body fat to survive what's left of the
cold weather and to be able to travel north when it is time. It also
helps those spring migrants which may stop at your feeders after
traveling hundreds or, sometimes, thousands of miles. It may also lift
your spirits to watch the birds at the feeders during this chilly and,
often, challenging month of the year. Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift and Nature Shop at Joppa Flats
Newburyport, MA
BirdWSG@Verizon.net
978-462-0775 Index of Recent
Articles |
