American Goldfinch feeder update - The Final Flourish

After the slowest American Goldfinch season in recent memory, we finally have somewhat of a final flourish. Since about March 1, the goldfinches that did make it down to Florida for the winter are now fueling up for migratory flight back to breeding territory in other parts of the continent. The graph below is generated using eBird's Bar Chart data exploration tool. It clearly shows that the historical peak for American Goldfinch activity in Alachua County is March 22 and that a month long, steady decline in the frequency of goldfinch observations should already have begun.

Most of us will have a little more goldfinch activity for as much as a few more weeks but some of us have probably already seen the departure of their entire flock. The longer the goldfinches stick around the more likely you are to see the bright yellow and jet black of breeding plumage. All goldfinches should have started to molt by now and some will be well on their way to full breeding plumage by the time they finally depart.

During this final flourish of goldfinch activity, Nyjer will be the preferred seed. If you don't have a Nyjer dispensing feeder then try Finch Blend which is 50% Nyjer and 50% fine sunflower chips. If you're using a tube feeder, the sunflower helps contain the Nyjer which would otherwise pour out of a standard seed port resulting in an alarming amount of waste. Then, if the goldfinches depart before they've eaten all of your Finch Blend, the sunflower makes it more appealing to other species of bird that might be coming to the feeders.

If you don't want to purchase any more Nyjer or Finch Blend to avoid the risk of having a stockpile the day after your birds finally migrate then try No-mess Blend or another blend heavy in sunflower chips. That's what most of us are feeding to finches in the earlier parts of the season anyway.

 

Your House as an Instrument - Tapping and Drumming

Spring is bubbling up inside of our birds already and it causes them to do things that we consider strange like spending all day tapping on windows. We often take this pattering as an indication that the bird wants us to fill the feeder. I believe that’s sometimes the case but rarely. What’s usually happening with your tapping titmouse, your chiding chickadee, or your blithering bluebird is that the bird is simply perceiving its reflection as a threat and so it is attacking it.

The urge to defend a territory gives out before windows do. That’s why some of you have experienced this phenomenon for months on end. If you are able to endure this period of territorial tapping then it might be best to wait it out. There are times, though, that something has to be done. I once helped a customer whose newborn baby’s sleep was being disrupted by a Northern Cardinal. A temporary screen solved the issue for the baby but the problem moved to a different room. If nobody can get any peace then there are other [legal] remedies. Lowering the blinds often works as do realistic looking woodpecker decoys. As a last-ditch effort, you can set up a mirror in a distant part of the yard. This doesn’t solve the issue for the bird, though. It will likely even make it worse and that could end up costing the bird the fitness it’s trying to demonstrate.

While territorial tapping is a difficult problem to solve, it’s far less dangerous to the bird than a full speed fly-through attempt. Fly-throughs occur when a bird attempts to fly into the space or onto an object behind a window. These are high velocity strikes and they are deadly. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize or even eliminate the potential for fly-through strikes. Decals can cause birds to recognize a window as a solid obstacle but a screen may become necessary where window strikes persist. If strikes occur because birds are being scared off of feeders then you might have to move the feeder. Each situation is a little different.

Woodpeckers are well known for their various tapping behaviors but they rarely tap on windows in territorial defense. However, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers commonly use corner posts, fascia board, and metal flashing as a resonating surface for drumming from late winter well into spring. While some people naively interpret this behavior as “dumb,” it’s really an ingenious method of expanding territory.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Migration

Hummingbirds are back! It feels a little strange to say that because we now know that hummingbirds are a year-round phenomenon. It’s just that our migratory Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are starting to arrive in the area after flying north across the Gulf of Mexico and before the end of the month the flood gates will have opened and most of us will have some degree of hummingbird activity around the yard.

 

This winter, there were somewhere on the order of a dozen hummingbirds reported in the Gainesville area. Fred Bassett, master hummingbird bander visited in late January and banded five hummingbirds in a half day at a few homes around Gainesville. Three of the bird banded on  that day were Ruby-throateds and two were Rufous, a species that breeds in the Pacific NW.  The bird in the photo is an adult male Ruby-throated that was banded at a home near Gainesville High School. They become docile during the banding process but are easily roused with a puff of breath or a slight touch to the feet.

The first migrant Ruby-throateds to arrive are adult males followed throughout April by females and younger males.

If you didn’t leave a feeder out all winter, it’s time to make some fresh nectar and fill those feeders.

Protecting Nestlings and Fledglings

Bringing birds to your feeder can generate a lot of enjoyment but hosting a breeding family of birds can be endlessly entertaining and educational. Nest failure is a fact of life for birds but there are a few simple steps you can take to increase the likelihood that your nestlings will fledge and your fledglings will fly.

Pole-mounted and baffled—Nesting boxes are often mounted where they can’t be effectively baffled against predators like raccoons or snakes. Move your nesting box to a pole to which you can affix a raccoon baffle. Our APS Bluebird Pole works great for most nesting boxes. Raccoon baffles also work well against snakes although large yellow rat snakes sometimes require a custom cut 3’ square hardware screen accessory baffle.

Mesh raccoon guard—Raccoons might still be able to climb onto the nest box but keep them from getting into the cavity as easily.

Port guards—Red-bellied Woodpeckers are notorious for enlarging a cavity entrance to a bluebird house. A thin, circular strip of metal around the cavity entrance can do a lot to deter chewing and excavation. We also have in stock a wooden entrance extender to guard against this. Squirrels and larger bird species have a more difficult time getting into a nesting box designed for smaller species if reinforced with a port guard.

Protect fledgling areas—After leaving the nest, most species of songbird spend the first few days of their lives on or near the ground. A nest that is high enough to be safe from dogs and cats doesn’t do any good for the birds after they’ve fledged. Keep pets away from areas un-der the nest where fledglings will be looking for shelter.

Leave it be—A fledgling might look like it needs to be returned to the nest but if it’s feathered and alert, it probably just needs to be left to fledge on its own.