I had Rose-breasted Grosbeaks visiting my feeders for almost two weeks during this year’s migration season. Usually they only stick around for a day or two. Or perhaps these were different birds that arrived on different days, but it’s still unusual for me to see them at my feeders for that many days in a row.
The cold weather slowed down all of the migrating birds this year, and most of them came through on three different nights. When I first discovered BirdCast back in late April, I was amazed when 697,500 flew over our county in one night. Turns out that was nothing! Ten days later an estimated 8,622,200 birds passed through Dane County overnight! And I was wondering how 600K birds don’t smack into each other!? Two days after that, 5.3 million flew over and on May 11th it was 7.6 million.
People all over our area were reporting unusual numbers of grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Baltimore Orioles and Scarlet Tanagers visiting their backyard feeders, and for many it was a first-time thrill. Those 7.6 million birds needed to stop somewhere to rest and feed and get a drink of water on their journey north!
There was a group of about 8 grosbeaks that spent all day every day at my feeders. I know because I always set up cameras during migration season so I knew when to get to the window to see something interesting! They seemed to favor the in-the-shell sunflower seeds the most. Although I did see one female grosbeak eating grape jelly and another eating suet.
Grosbeaks are friendly to other birds (not bullies!) at the feeders, and they aren’t skittish like the Indigo Buntings that force me to play Captain Sneak Up if I want to get a closer look or take a photo from the window. And when the birds were in a group they would often silently chortle with each other which was fun to listen to through my little window microphone/speaker.
Some of the grosbeaks stay in our area of the state during breeding season, but because they like deciduous forests and thickets, they aren’t usually seen at feeders in our city after they stop in for a rest during spring migration.
This was one of the best migration seasons we’ve ever had, and it was a thrill to get to enjoy so many pretty birds for so many days in a row!