The Project FeederWatch Top 20 feeder birds in the Mid-Atlantic - PDF document

The Project FeederWatch Top 20 feeder birds in the Mid-Atlantic Region Based on the reports of citizen scientists from across the region. White-breasted Nuthatch by Steve Delloff 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 the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch, you can help scientists learn more about the distribution and abundance of birds. Project FeederWatch is a 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 Mid-Atlantic region. 1

PROJECT FEEDERWATCH REGIONS Project FeederWatch counts are divided into 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, the continent is divided into 15 FeederWatch Regions. Each region includes a group of states and provinces that share similar bird communities. FeederWatch groups Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and the District of Columbia into the Mid-Atlantic region. 2

Northern Mockingbird Regional Rank #20 • Seen at 56% of feeders • Average flock size = 1.1 Continental Rank #26 M. Hopiak / CLO Food Preferences • Peanut butter mixes • Fresh and dried fruit 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… 3

This species was the 20 th most Regional Rank #20 commonly reported • Seen at 47% of feeders bird in your region • Average flock size = 2.6 Continental Rank #13 This same species was the 13 th most commonly reported bird in North America 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. 4

This species was Regional Rank #20 seen at 47% of • Seen at 47% of feeders the FeederWatch • Average flock size = 2.6 count sites Continental Rank #13 When present at a site, an average of 2.6 birds were reported 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. 5

Northern Mockingbird Regional Rank #20 • Seen at 56% of feeders • Average flock size = 1.1 Continental Rank #26 M. Hopiak / CLO Food Preferences • Peanut butter mixes • Fresh and dried fruit Preferred feeder: •Platform •Suet Winter Behavior: •Most young mockingbirds set up territories in the fall when pair formation also occurs. Once having staked some boundaries, mockingbirds stay within them for the rest of their lives. In winter the home turf may be split into separate male and female areas, especially in northern regions. Territory size is smallest where there are dense, defensible sources of food. Cool Fact: •A single mockingbird may sing up to two hundred different songs in a year– over fifty in one day’s concert alone–and the songs incorporate mimicked sounds of other bird species. The imitations are not perfect, but they are often good enough to fool bird watchers into searching for a calling cardinal or jay – only to find themselves being mocked by a mockingbird. 6

American Crow Regional Rank #19 • Seen at 60% of feeders • Average flock size = 2.6 Continental Rank #13 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 offspring from previous years. Young crows may remain with their parents to help raise their younger siblings. 7

Song Sparrow Regional Rank #18 • Seen at 63% of feeders • Average flock size = 1.6 Continental Rank #17 L. Elliott Food Preferences • Mixed seed 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. 8

American Robin Regional Rank #17 • Seen at 64% of feeders • Average flock size = 3.2 Continental Rank #12 Milne Food Preferences • Fresh and dried fruit 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. 9

House Sparrow Regional Rank #16 • Seen at 65% of feeders • Average flock size = 6.1 Continental Rank #11 L. Elliott Food Preferences • Mixed seed 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. 10

Common Grackle Regional Rank #15 • Seen at 66% of feeders • Average flock size = 7.1 Continental Rank #18 A. Dionne Food Preferences • Mixed seed • Suet Preferred feeders: •Ground •Suet feeder Winter Behavior: •During the winter, grackles gather in roosts each evening. When they flock with several other species, roosts can include up to one million birds. •Most northern-nesting grackles migrate south for the winter. In the spring they are early migrants, and populations are sometimes hard hit by late- spring snowstorms. Cool Facts: •The Common Grackle is an opportunistic forager, taking advantage of whatever food sources it can find. It will follow plows for invertebrates and mice, wade into water to catch small fish, and sometimes kill and eat birds, particularly nestlings. •The vast majority of a grackle’s diet during the winter is grain left in the fields after mechanical harvesting. Grackles also depend on chestnuts, beechnuts, and acorns. 11

European Starling Regional Rank #14 • Seen at 73% of feeders • Average flock size = 5.0 Continental Rank #9 J. Smith / CLO Food Preferences • Suet 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. 12