Medway, Massachusetts

Greetings from the Medway WBU Nature Shop!  

Where are my birds?........................feeder

Each Fall and Winter we receive a flurry of phone calls, e-mails, and questions from our customers: “Where are my birds?” they ask.  “We have no birds at our feeders or in our yard!”  There are several plausible explanations for this annual happening.

Many people are under the impression that the birds they see in their yards from day to day are, like the trees and shrubs, constant elements.  In fact, bird populations are extremely dynamic!  There are some years when most, if not all, of the summering Chickadees, Jays, and other “resident” birds are replaced by a different wintering population. Since one chickadee looks pretty much like another, these avian “shift-changes” go largely unnoticed except when the outgoing shift is not immediately replaced by a new group of hungry birds.  Once birds have left their breeding territories, they tend to gather into feeding flocks, and it is not unusual for extensive sections of the landscape to be birdless while others are overrun by large flocks of birds. For example, last year there was a poor acorn crop so there were fewer Blue Jays around as they migrated farther south where natural foods were more abundant.

I know many of you don’t want to hear this, but birds are particularly indifferent to your generosity when there is plenty of food available in the wild.  In our area, the birds are enjoying a bumper crop of wild foods, especially berries, acorns, and other forms of tree nuts.  Mother Nature has provided a sumptuous buffet!  

However, the birds certainly have not forgotten about the great “restaurant” they found in your yard!  They are keeping it well in mind for those chilly mornings and blustery afternoons ahead.  Keep your feeder ready for your feathered friends – make sure it is clean and the food is fresh and dry.  One day, before you know it, you’ll look out your window and see: “The gang’s all here!”