2. The Winter Flock

It's common for some species of birds to band together in a mixed flock during the winter.  Most of the birds at our feeder belong to one of these winter mixed flocks and are year-round residents that share our land. Being together in a mixed flock gives the birds many eyes to watch for predators and more foragers to discover any food that’s around.  The bird species in the flock occupy different niches, which means they eat different types of food, and they therefore don't normally compete with one another.  The flock around our house has a mixture of species that are common in these winter flocks.

Tufted Titmice (Baeolophus bicolor) are the leaders of our resident flock, and we have eight or ten of them.  They are social birds that are very bright and inquisitive.  They are even known to land on people’s windows and watch inside their houses.  Our Titmice quickly became used to us and now let us get to within a few feet of the window to watch them feed.  They also watch us watching them.  They don’t stay at the feeder long, but instead take a seed to a nearby branch, hold it between their feet, and peck it open like a woodpecker.  They nest in cavities that woodpeckers make in trees, which is why we have so many around our house.  I'll talk more about the woodpeckers below.

Tufted Titmouse at our feeder March 2013, as seen through our living room window.  I was standing about 3 feet away from the bird when I took the photo.

For more on the natural history of the Tufted Titmouse visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website: http://allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/lifehistory

There are also a pair of Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) in the flock.  They are close relatives of the Tufted Titmice and commonly associate with them in these mixed flocks.  The Tufted Titmice are dominant over the Chickadees, who usually wait until the Titmice have finished at the feeder before eating.  The Chickadees also nest in cavities made by woodpeckers, or they will excavate their own in a tree.

Carolina Chickadee. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Ken Thomas/Public Domain

For more on the natural history of the Carolina Chickadee visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Carolina_Chickadee/lifehistory

We also have eight or ten American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis), which are colorful little yellow and black birds.  They come to the feeders as a group with the Titmice and Chickadees, and several will land on the feeders at once so that the Titmice will give them their turn. 

American Goldfinch at our window feeder looking inside at us, March 2013.

For more on the natural history of the American Goldfinch visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/id

The Titmice and Chickadees primarily eat insects and spiders during the summer, and are great to have around to keep pest insect populations in check.  They eat more seeds in winter, and both love the safflower and sunflower seeds and peanut chips in our feeder.  The Goldfinches eat seeds from grasses and plants in the summer, so they occupy a different niche in the environment, which means they don't compete with the Titmice and Chickadees for food.  They like sunflower and peanut chips and thistle seed in our feeder.

Also part of the mixed flock are a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis), cute little birds that live in the forest, cling to the bark of trees like a woodpecker, and flit around looking for food.  They eat various nuts from native tree species, and will wedge the nuts in cracks in the tree bark and peck, or "hatch" them open.  They feed at a suet feeder suspended from a small tree.  The suet has a variety of seeds and nuts in it.

White-breasted Nuthatch. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Yurko/Public Domain

For more on the natural history of the White-breasted Nuthatch visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/lifehistory

There is also a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) that are part of the flock and feed at the suet feeder.  They feed on insects, spiders, and nuts.  Although not part of the flock, we also have a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) that are residents.  We have all of these woodpeckers and cavity-nesting birds because we have over four acres of forest on our property.  It is a mixture of deciduous trees and loblolly pines, and we leave the snags (dead trees) standing to provide habitat for these birds.  The dead trees become infested with wood beetles and other insects that the woodpeckers rely on for food.  The woodpecker excavations provide nest cavities for the Titmice and Chickadees.  We have also been able to watch the Pileated Woodpeckers excavate nest cavities to rear their young. 

Red-bellied Woodpecker. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Ken Thomas/Public Domain

For more on the natural history of the Red-bellied Woodpecker visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/lifehistory

Dead Loblolly Pine tree on our property with a cavity (round, dark hole) excavated by a Pileated Woodpecker.

For more on the natural history of the Pileated Woodpecker visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/lifehistory

A pair of Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) is also part of the flock.  They eat mostly seeds and fruit, with some insects.  Lately a pair of Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) have begun to come around the feeder also.  They are residents, but not part of the mixed flock.  They feed on the ground, and are eating the millet and other seeds that the other birds don't eat and that spills out of the feeders onto the ground.

Northern Cardinal. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Ken Thomas/Public Domain

For more on the natural history of the Northern Cardinal visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory

Mourning Dove. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Ltshears - Trisha M Shears/Public Domain

For more on the natural history of the Mourning Dove visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/lifehistory

Another species of lone foragers around our house is a pair of Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus).  The male Wren sings outside our bedroom window at dawn every day.  These small birds stay close to the ground, searching through leaf litter, under our wooden decks,  and in our woodpile for insects and spiders.  They don't eat seeds from the feeder.  I leave the leaves on the ground around our house all winter to provide habitat for them.

Carolina Wren. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Ken Thomas/Public Domain

For more on the natural history of the Carolina Wren visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/carolina_wren/sounds

We also have a pair of migratory winter visitors at our suet feeder that have come all the way down from Canada, Pine Siskins (Spinus pinus).  These birds prefer to live in coniferous forests at higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains in the summer, but will forage in many habitats farther south and at lower elevations in the winter.

For more on the natural history of the Pine Siskin visit this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pine_siskin/lifehistory

The Window Feeder

This post is the result of deciding that bird-watching and learning a lot more about the birds in Georgia was at the top of my natural history To-Do list for this year.  I decided to get going on this project in January, so I put up a bird feeder during the winter.  It resulted in this mixed flock visiting our feeder and has been an incredible way to learn about the birds that share our property with us.  I also found out that it is easier than it has ever been to identify birds and learn about them.

We had a bird feeder many years ago, but gave up on it because the squirrels took over the feeder, which was on a post.  This time, after some research, I decided to put the feeder on our living room window.  This places it 10 feet up the wall of our house where it is inaccessible to the squirrels, while allowing us to sit on our couch and watch the birds feed right at our window.  I was concerned that the birds might fly into the window and injure themselves, but that hasn’t happened.  The window that I chose is north-facing and it is a little dusty, has panes and a screen, and has glare all day, so it is apparently visible to the birds and they aren’t fooled into flying into it. 

Our bird feeders are 10 feet high, out of the reach of squirrels.

The forest adjacent to our feeder. A green suet feeder is visible hanging from the branch of the small tree in the center of this photo.  The mesh squares of the feeder are small enough to keep squirrels from eating the suet block.

I placed the feeder on the window and the birds ignored it for a few weeks.  I finally moved it about 4 feet away to a small branch on a red maple that they visited daily.  They found it the first day.  After they fed for a couple of days, I moved it back to the window and they followed it.  It has been a popular hangout for the birds ever since.  I also put up a suet feeder on a red maple that we can see from the couch, and then recycled an old 14 inch plastic water tray from a flower pot into a birdbath.

Looking out our living room window at American Goldfinches at our window feeders, March 2013.

Identifying the Birds

It is really easy to learn to identify birds these days.  You can go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website and easily look up any bird you see.  Just note the shape of the bird and its size, then go to their page and match it to one of 22 general shapes.  By clicking on the bird's shape you will come up with a short list of bird photos and you can identify your bird.  You can then click on the “Life History” link for the bird and find out a lot of information about its biology and behavior.  There is also a lot of other information, including range maps, and recordings of the birds' calls so that you can learn to recognize them.  The site is at: http://allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse.aspx

If you have an iPhone you can also get the iBird app.  I use iBird South for the birds in my area.  It is an excellent app and well worth the price ($6.99) and memory it uses (538 MB).  It has a search feature that makes it easy to identify any birds you see.  It is also loaded with photos and information for each bird and includes recordings of its calls.  It is handy to pull out and use wherever you are.

Recycled plastic flower pot tray and old concrete table for birdbath.

Closeup of birdbath.  The rocks are perches for the birds. 

Bird Habitat

The reason we have such a variety of winter birds at our place is because there are habitats for the various species.  As I already mentioned, most of our land is forest with patches of both deciduous and coniferous trees.  This provides habitat for the forest species that like nuts and seeds, and the dead trees provide food for woodpeckers and homes for the cavity nesting birds.  My son is a botanist, and he replaced our small lawn areas with gardens of native plants.  Some areas have a mixture of native shrubs and forbs, other areas with more sun have taller flowering plants like asters, goldenrods, and various sunflower species.  Within a year or two of planting the native gardens the bird diversity exploded around our house.  The plants attract insects, including pollinators like bees and butterflies, and the insects attract birds.  The seeds and berries from the native plants provide food in the fall and winter for birds.  If you want to have more birds around your place, consider planting lots of native species of shrubs and flowers.

Mixed deciduous/coniferous forest on our property near our bird feeders.

You can see mixed flocks of birds foraging in the summer also.  The come around our house every morning.  Keep your eyes open and you'll see these mixed flocks anywhere in Georgia- in parks, suburban neighborhoods, rural areas- anywhere there is habitat for birds!

Birds Discussed in this Post

Winter Mixed Flock:

Tufted Titmice

Carolina Chickadees

American Goldfinches

White-breasted Nuthatches

Red-bellied Woodpeckers

Northern Cardinals

Resident Lone Foragers:

Carolina Wrens

Mourning Doves

Pileated Woodpeckers

Migratory Winter Visitors:

Pine Siskins

-Wayne