How Can I be Seasonally Savvy about Feeding Backyard Birds in the Fall?
As fall arrives, it brings a season of change for us. Summer vacations are over, the school year starts, and we anticipate the coming cooler temperatures. At the same time, our backyard birds are going through even greater changes in their lives. They may change the foods they eat, their social arrangements, plumage and even where they live. Most of our backyard birds have been eating protein rich insects in summer and feeding them to their young. In fall, they may change to feeding on the ripening seeds and berries, partly because of the abundance but also because insects are becoming scarce.
As autumn deepens, the activity at your feeders may change. Jays, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches begin caching seeds for the winter by the hundreds. In a behavior called “scatter-hoarding”, each seed is individually hidden in a unique location. Common storage sites include under tree bark, dead leaves, knotholes, and even house siding and shingles. In central Texas there can be an abundance of dried seeds in the fall. If you see less birds at your feeders rest assured, they are most likely eating all of the natural seeds available. Just keep your feeders full of clean food and they will be back once they can’t find seeds on plants.
Bird feeding in the fall is a little different than feeding in the summer. As we get ready for colder temperatures and birds begin migrating south, here are six bird feeding tips to get the most out of feeding in the fall.
- Add sunflower seeds (in and out of the shell) to your food offering each fall to cater to caching behaviors of jays, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches.
- Offer Jim’s Birdacious® Bark Butter® and a water feature to attract migrating warblers.
- When Dark-eyed Juncos arrive or increase in numbers in the Fall, alter your feeding program to include more millet in a feeder near the ground.
- Keep up nectar feeders until you no longer notice hummingbirds in your area (Most, except for the occasional winter hummer, are gone by the end of October.)
- When bird activity is greater or extreme weather is about to arrive, expand the number of foods and feeders you offer.
- Pine siskins, purple finches, and common redpolls are attracted to WBU Finch Feeders filled with Nyjer® or WBU Finch Blend. You can also attract them to your Seed Tube Feeders by offering blends with sunflower chips like our WBU No-Mess Blend.
Visit us this month, and we’ll make sure you have everything you need to keep your resident birds happy and to help attract these winter guests.
Nest Box Cleaning
Autumn is also a great time to clean out nest boxes. The birds should be done nesting. To be sure, observe them to confirm all nesting activities are completed.
Put on some gloves and pull out any old nesting materials. Make sure you are upwind from the box. If it is windy at all, you don’t want anything blowing into your face as you remove it.
Wash out the inside of the box if it is soiled. Use soap and water with a brush or cloth. If needed, use a 10% bleach solution (nine parts water; one part bleach) to sanitize the box. Rinse with fresh water and let it dry.