It’s been an unusual winter bird feeding season. In the fall a nice-sized flock of Northern Cardinals were hanging around my feeders daily, but this winter they’ve been scarce. They still show up after a snowstorm, however.
American Tree Sparrows have never been common winter birds in my backyard, but this season they are everywhere—not only in my neighborhood, but I’m seeing reports from all over southern Wisconsin. They seem to get along well with other species like Dark-eyed Juncos and finches, and they’re fun to watch.
There’s never a shortage of Mourning Doves at my feeders, and this winter season is no exception. The other day there were 14 of them trying to cram themselves onto our platform feeder all at once.
And there were no irruptions of Pine Siskins or Redpolls this year, so for finches I’ve only seen House Finches and American Goldfinches. Of course my favorite is the leucistic goldfinch who seems to be fitting in nicely with the rest of the flock now and no longer getting bullied.
A Cooper’s Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk regularly fly over my backyard and throughout our neighborhood, and that has also kept down the numbers of birds visiting my feeders during the day. So far one of them has captured a European Starling for sure because the feathers were left behind as evidence in our backyard. Blechhh.
Overall it’s been a light birdfeeding experience this winter, but that’s okay because bird seed prices have skyrocketed!