The Project FeederWatch Top 20 feeder birds in the North Pacific - - PDF document

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The Project FeederWatch

Top 20 feeder birds in the North Pacific region

Based on the reports of citizen scientists from across the region.

Spotted Towhee by M. Woodruff

Do you like to watch the birds that visit your backyard bird feeder? Perhaps you even keep a list of these birds. Although keeping track of the birds at your feeders may seem like nothing more than a relaxing hobby, you are actually collecting important information. By sending your counts of feeder birds to Project FeederWatch, you can help scientists learn more about the distribution and abundance of birds. Project FeederWatch is an annual survey of North American bird populations that visit backyard bird feeders in winter. Since 1987, thousands of bird watchers across the United States and Canada have participated in Project FeederWatch. The following show is a countdown of the 20 species that were the most frequent visitors to the backyards of Project FeederWatch participants in the North Pacific region.

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PROJECT FEEDERWATCH REGIONS

What is a FeederWatch region? If you travel across the continent from west to east, you will encounter different types of birds at different locations along your way. For example, you might see Western Scrub-Jays in California, Gray Jays in the Canadian Rockies, and Blue Jays in Virginia. Therefore, to interpret FeederWatch data in a meaningful way, we divide the continent into fifteen FeederWatch

• Regions. Each region includes a group of states and provinces that share

similar geological and habitat features. You are in the North Pacific region, which includes Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

3 Regional Rank #20

• Seen at 31% of feeders
• Average flock size = 5.2

Continental Rank #21

Red-winged Blackbird

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• M. Read

Male (left) and female (right)

In the countdown that follows, all species will be featured in a slide similar to this one. The slides provide a map, based on FeederWatch reports, of where the species can be seen in the winter. The slides also highlight a few key statistics telling us how common the birds are in the region. For instance…

4 This species was the 20th most commonly reported bird in your region This same species was the 13th most commonly reported bird in North America Regional Rank #20

• Seen at 47% of feeders
• Average flock size = 2.6

Continental Rank #13

The Regional Rank refers to how common the species is at feeders in your region. The Continental Rank refers to how common this species is at feeders when considering all of the United States and Canada.

5 This species was seen at 47% of the FeederWatch count sites When present at a site, an average of 2.6 birds were reported Regional Rank #20

• Seen at 47% of feeders
• Average flock size = 2.6

Continental Rank #13

Also included on each bird slide is information on the percentage of feeders visited and average group size. The percentage of feeders visited tells what percentage of FeederWatchers in the region reported this species at least once during the winter, thus describing how widely a species is distributed. The average group size indicates the average number of individuals of a species seen at one time in a feeder area. This tells us how abundant a bird is when that species is present at a count site.

6 Regional Rank #20

• Seen at 31% of feeders
• Average flock size = 5.2

Continental Rank #21

Red-winged Blackbird

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• M. Read

Male (left) and female (right)

Preferred feeder:

• Ground
• Platform

Winter behavior:

• In winter, Red-winged Blackbirds can form huge flocks in the evening and

spread out each morning. Some individuals may travel as far as 50 miles between their roosting and feeding sites. Cool fact:

• The Red-winged Blackbird is a polygynous species, with up to 15 different

females nesting in the territory of a single male. In some populations 90% of territorial males mate with more than one female. However, up to half of the young in the territorial male’s nests are not his genetic offspring. Instead they have been sired by neighboring males.

7 Regional Rank #19

• Seen at 34% of feeders
• Average flock size = 11.0

Continental Rank #55

Bushtit

Food Preferences

• Suet
• L. Schwab

Preferred feeder: suet feeder

• At about 1/5 of an ounce, a single Bushtit weighs only as much as a

quarter, ranking them among the world’s smallest songbirds. Small size generally leads to high energy costs, and Bushtits are no exception. They eat up to 80% of their body weight daily during cold weather.

• Bushtits may also roost together at night to conserve energy. Huddling at

low temperatures can reduce overnight energy expenditure by about 20%.

• This species is well known for its “confusion chorus”: When a predator is

detected – usually a hawk – a Bushtit gives an alarm note similar to that of most flocking species to alert the rest of the flock. Once warned, however, Bushtits do something special. All the birds in the flock immediately make a monotonous trilling sound that makes it very difficult to pinpoint the location

• f any individual bird.

8 Regional Rank #18

• Seen at 35% of feeders
• Average flock size = 1.7

Continental Rank #30

Fox Sparrow

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• Millet
• N. Drumheller

Preferred feeder:

• Platform
• Hopper

Winter behavior:

• Fox Sparrows are two-footed scratchers like towhees. Their main foraging

method consists of clearing away leaf litter by hopping and scratching to expose hidden food, a process that sometimes sends showers of dirt or snow flying.

• The seeds that Fox Sparrows eat are small for the size of the bird. At

feeders, Fox Sparrows often ignore sunflower seeds in favor of millet or cracked corn.

9 Regional Rank #17

• Seen at 36% of feeders
• Average flock size = 4.9

Continental Rank #5

American Goldfinch

Food Preferences

• Nyjer seed
• Black-oil sunflower seed

Winter plumage Summer male

• L. Worthington
• C. Ray

Preferred feeders:

• Tube
• Hopper
• Platform

Winter Behavior:

• Goldfinches rely on storing food in their crops each evening to provide

energy during the night.

• Goldfinches will hang upside down to eat, but experiments with specially

designed feeders have shown that they prefer to dine upright if possible. Cool Fact:

• The bright yellow plumage of summertime is replaced by a dull-green winter

plumage—often confusing new bird watchers. This winter coat features a dense layer of soft feathers to provide extra insulation against cold temperatures.

10 Regional Rank #16

• Seen at 46% of feeders
• Average flock size = 1.8

Continental Rank #61

Varied Thrush

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• Fresh fruit
• T. Murray

Preferred Feeders:

• Platform
• Ground

Winter Behavior:

• Varied Thrushes visit feeders far more than other species of thrush. In

winter, up to 70% of their diet is composed of vegetable matter. Fruit and weed seeds are often consumed, and even acorns are eaten after being

• pened through vigorous pecking.

Cool Facts:

• Populations of Varied Thrush noticeably change every two to three years.

These cycles are likely related to food supplies, although a connection has yet to be documented.

• A few Varied Thrushes may roam over vast areas in the winter. In fact,

individuals are routinely found as far east as the Atlantic coast each year.

11 Regional Rank #15

• Seen at 48% of feeders
• Average flock size = 3.2

Continental Rank #13

American Crow

Food Preferences

• Meat scraps

Preferred feeder:

• Ground
• Platform

Winter Behavior:

• American Crows congregate in large numbers in winter to sleep in

communal roosts. These roosts can include several thousand crows. Some roosts have gathered in the same general area for well over 100 years. Cool Facts:

• The American Crow is highly susceptible to West Nile virus, a disease

recently introduced to North America. Crows tested in the laboratory generally die within one week of infection, and few seem able to survive

• exposure. Recent declines in crow populations in many areas are likely due

to mortality from West Nile virus.

• Most crows nesting in the United States are permanent residents. Each

family maintains a large territory, shared by the adult pair and several of their

• ffspring from previous years. Young crows may remain with their parents to

help raise their younger siblings.

12 Regional Rank #14

• Seen at 51% of feeders
• Average flock size = 6.9

Continental Rank #11

House Sparrow

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• L. Elliott

Preferred feeder:

• Platform

Winter Behavior:

• House Sparrows are year-round residents, and their distribution is closely

associated with human habitation. They are found in agricultural, suburban, and urban areas, although they tend to avoid woodlands, forests, grasslands, and deserts.

• In winter, the size of foraging flocks of House Sparrows is correlated with

both the amount of food available and time of day (with feeding activity increasing in the late afternoon). Foraging in flocks is highly beneficial due to the protection against predation that is afforded by larger, more vigilant,

• flocks. Each bird within the flock can spend less time looking up for danger

and therefore forages more efficiently. Cool Fact:

• The House Sparrow was introduced into Brooklyn, New York, in 1851,

partly as a means to control insect pests. By 1900 it had spread to the Rocky

• Mountains. Its spread throughout the West was aided by additional

introductions in San Francisco, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

13 Regional Rank #13

• Seen at 56% of feeders
• Average flock size = 1.3

Continental Rank #3

Downy Woodpecker

Food Preferences

• Suet
• A. Topping

Preferred feeder:

• Suet

Winter Behavior:

• Male and female Downy Woodpeckers may stay in the same areas in

winter, but they divide up where they look for food. The male feeds more on small branches and weed stems, and the female feeds more on large branches and the trunks of trees. Males appear to keep the females from foraging in the more productive spots. When the male is removed from a woodlot, the female shifts her foraging efforts to the smaller branches. Cool Fact:

• Downy Woodpeckers defend territories against neighboring pairs, but they

are very tolerant of other species. These woodpeckers learn and respond to the alarm calls of other birds.

14 Regional Rank #12

• Seen at 58% of feeders
• Average flock size = 3.0

Continental Rank #50

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Food Preferences

• Black-oil sunflower seed
• Suet
• L. S. Smith

Preferred Feeders:

• Suet
• Tube

Winter Behavior:

• The Chestnut-backed Chickadee is not truly migratory, but it does make

some seasonal movements. In late summer some birds move to higher elevations up mountains. They move back to lower elevations in winter. In some winters, chickadees will make local movements out of areas with deep snow. Cool Facts:

• The common chickadee of the Pacific Coast, the Chestnut-backed

Chickadee is the smallest member of its family. It lacks the whistled song of

• ther chickadees, but makes up for this deficiency by the complexity of its

"chick-a-dee" calls.

• The Chestnut-backed Chickadee uses lots of fur in making its nest. The

hair from rabbits, coyote, and deer is most common, but hair from skunks, cats, horses, or cows will be used as well. The adults make a layer of fur about 1 cm thick that they use to cover the eggs when they leave the nest.

15 Regional Rank #11

• Seen at 59% of feeders
• Average flock size = 6.0

Continental Rank #35

Pine Siskin

Food Preferences

• Hulled sunflower seed
• Nyjer seed
• R. Belhumeur

Preferred feeder:

• Tube

Winter behavior:

• Every few years there is a large irruption of Pine Siskins beyond their

normal winter range. These movements are caused by fluctuations in the abundance of tree seeds that are the main food source (especially pine and alder seeds). Cool Fact:

• Siskins rarely return to the same winter destinations twice, and they are

also nomadic within a winter. The birds visiting your feeder today may not be the ones you saw a few days or weeks before. Examples come from a bird bander in North Dakota, whose marked birds were resighted later the same winter as far away as 450 miles. Another was recaptured three years later in Connecticut—2,000 miles to the east.

16 Regional Rank #10

• Seen at 62% of feeders
• Average flock size = 1.5

Continental Rank #28

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Food Preferences

• Suet
• Sunflower seed
• V. Schiappa

Preferred feeder:

• Suet
• Platform

Winter behavior:

• Characteristically found in spruce and fir forests, Red-breasted Nuthatches

periodically move out of their preferred habitats when winter food supplies are low. When movements occur, Red-breasted Nuthatches may even be found along the Gulf Coast and in northern Mexico.

• Red-breasted Nuthatches migrate southward earlier than many irruptive

species, sometimes moving as early as July. Cool fact:

• Red-breasted Nuthatches cache seeds and other foods, poking them into

crevices on tree trunks or rough-barked branches. One bird that was offered a supply of mealworms carried them off and hid them at the rate of nearly three a minute. Cache sites are usually chosen quite close to the food source and occasionally are covered with bits of lichen or bark.

17 Regional Rank #9

• Seen at 64% of feeders
• Average flock size = 4.1

Continental Rank #9

European Starling

Food Preferences

• Suet
• J. Smith / CLO

Preferred feeder:

• Suet

Winter Behavior:

• Young starlings often migrate several hundred miles, as do a proportion of

the adults, especially those adults breeding farther north.

• In the winter, starlings can gather into roosts of several thousand birds.

Dominant males occupy the center of roosting flocks, where they are most protected from the weather and predators. Cool Fact:

• European Starlings were introduced into North America in 1890 and are

now among our most abundant birds from coast to coast. Like the House Sparrow, starlings compete with our native cavity-nesting species for nesting sites.

18 Regional Rank #8

• Seen at 65% of feeders
• Average flock size = 2.8

Continental Rank #43

Steller’s Jay

Food Preferences

• Striped sunflower seed
• Peanuts
• M. Woodruff

Preferred Feeders:

• Platform
• Hopper

Winter Behavior:

• Large flocks of Steller’s Jays are likely to consist of dispersing juveniles,

because paired birds prefer to remain year-round in their breeding territories. In severe weather though, resident Steller’s Jays will move to lower

• elevations. They also undertake periodic irruptions—these wanderings are

apparently caused by failure in the local food supply. Cool Facts:

• The Steller's Jay shows a great deal of variation in appearance throughout

its range, with some populations featuring black crests and backs, and

• thers blue.
• Steller's and Blue jays are the only North American jays with crests. The

Blue Jay is expanding its range westward. Where they meet, the two species

• ccasionally interbreed.

19 Regional Rank #7

• Seen at 66% of feeders
• Average flock size = 2.1

Continental Rank #30

Spotted Towhee

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• Millet
• M. Woodruff

Preferred feeder:

• Ground
• Platform

Winter behavior:

• A familiar bird of scrubby habitats, the Spotted Towhee was formerly

considered the same species as the Eastern Towhee. The two forms hybridize on the Great Plains.

• Towhees from northern parts of the breeding range migrate to areas where

there are year-round residents, either mixing with local towhees or joining separate winter flocks. Towhees that do not migrate also wander in winter and flock with other towhees, instead of maintaining winter territories. Cool fact:

• Watch a Spotted Towhee feeding on the ground; you'll probably observe its

two-footed, backwards-scratching hop. This "double-scratching" is used by a number of towhee and sparrow species to unearth the seeds and small invertebrates they feed on. One Spotted Towhee with an unusable, injured foot was observed hopping and scratching with one foot.

20 Regional Rank #6

• Seen at 67% of feeders
• Average flock size = 1.7

Continental Rank #17

Song Sparrow

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• L. Elliott

Preferred feeder:

• Ground
• Platform

Winter Behavior:

• Northern-nesting populations of Song Sparrows are partially migratory, with

females moving farther south than males. Cool Fact:

• Thirty-one Song Sparrow subspecies have been recognized, more than for

any other North American bird.

21 Regional Rank #5

• Seen at 73% of feeders
• Average flock size = 2.6

Continental Rank #12

American Robin

Food Preferences

• Fresh and dried fruit

Milne

Preferred feeders:

• Ground
• Platform

Winter Behavior:

• Although the appearance of a robin is considered a harbinger of spring, the

American Robin actually spends the winter in much of its breeding range. However, because they spend less time in yards and congregate in large flocks during winter, you're much less likely to see them. Cool Fact:

• Earthworms are the food of choice for robins on suburban lawns.

Experiments have shown that robins rely on vision to find their prey. The bird’s familiar head-cocking allows it to see straight ahead even though its eyes are on either side of its head.

22 Regional Rank #4

• Seen at 79% of feeders
• Average flock size = 3.0

Continental Rank #2

(Combined with Carolina Chickadee)

Black-capped Chickadee

Food Preferences

• Sunflower seed
• Safflower seed
• Suet
• Peanuts
• M. Woodruff

Preferred feeder:

• Platform
• Hopper

Winter Behavior:

• Chickadees spend the winter in flocks that average six to ten individuals.

Each flock is composed of a resident pair and a number of unrelated juveniles. Cool Facts:

• Much of the food gathered by chickadees is stored for later use. Laboratory

studies have shown that 24 hours after caching food, chickadees not only remember where they hid items but also which sites hold the highest quality

• foods. These high quality items are recovered first.
• Most stored food items are recovered within a day or two, but food may be

stored for as long as 28 days.

23 Regional Rank #3

• Seen at 80% of feeders
• Average flock size = 6.2

Continental Rank #7

House Finch

Food Preferences

• Black-oil sunflower seed
• Hulled sunflower seed
• T. Fauceglia
• L. Elliot

Male (above) Female (right)

Preferred feeder:

• Platform
• Hopper
• Tube

Winter Behavior:

• Eastern House Finches have become partially migratory (some individuals

migrate and others do not), whereas the ancestral stock, which is from Western North America, is resident. Cool Facts:

• House Finches were introduced to eastern North America in the 1940s by

pet dealers. Threatened with prosecution for illegally selling House Finches, the merchants freed their captive finches on Long Island. From this founding population, House Finches rapidly spread throughout the East.

• Coloration in male House Finches can range from yellow to bright crimson.

The color comes from carotenoid pigments found in some natural foods. A bird’s color can change if different pigments are consumed prior to the growth of new feathers.

24 Regional Rank #2

• Seen at 81% of feeders
• Average flock size = 1.4

Continental Rank #22

Northern Flicker

Food Preferences

• Suet
• C. Johnson

Preferred feeders:

• Suet
• Ground

Winter Behavior:

• Most people with feeders will see flickers at some point during the winter,

but this species is rarely a consistent visitor to a feeding station.

• Although it can climb up the trunks of trees and hammer on wood like other

woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker prefers to find food on the ground. Cool Fact:

• Ants are the Northern Flicker's favorite food, and the flicker digs in the dirt

to find them. It uses its long barbed tongue to lap up the ants.

25 Regional Rank #1

• Seen at 96% of feeders
• Average flock size = 7.4

Continental Rank #1

• H. Key

Dark-eyed Junco

Food Preferences

• Mixed seed
• L. Worthington

Dark-eyed race (above) Oregon race (right)

Preferred feeder:

• Ground
• Platform

Winter Behavior:

• “Snowbirds,” as juncos are also known, have earned their informal name on

two counts. Not only are they more likely to visit feeders during snowy periods, but their return from far-northern breeding areas is a signal that colder weather is close behind. In fact, juncos are sighted at more feeders across North America than any other species, visiting over 80% of FeederWatch sites. Cool Fact:

• The sociable junco spends its winter in a flock of up to 30 birds who remain

together throughout the season. Each flock is organized following a dominance hierarchy–dominant birds get to feed in the center of a food patch and spend less time looking around for predators. At the top of the dominance hierarchy are adult males, followed by young males, adult females, and young females.

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A joint research and education project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Studies Canada, Audubon, and Nature Canada.

Signing up for Project FeederWatch is easy…

• Online at:

www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw

• By phone:

1-800-843-BIRD (U.S.) 1-888-448-BIRD (Canada)

Are the Top 20 species at your feeders similar to those reported by FeederWatchers from across the North Pacific region? You can contribute to future Top 20 lists and help scientists learn more about the distribution and abundance of feeder birds by participating in Project FeederWatch. You don’t need to be an expert birder to participate. When you sign up you will receive an identification poster of common feeder birds, a calendar, an instruction booklet, and the FeederWatcher’s Handbook with tips on bird feeding. Find more information online at www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw