Project FeederWatch: Season Findings

Birdwatching is an interesting activity; it can keep you on the edge of your seat or be the most uneventful hour of your life. Over the past few years, Group for the East End has been participating in Project Feeder Watch a citizen science program run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology conducted across North America. The most exciting part about Project Feederwatch has been watching how hours of observation can turn into real data. These data present a clearer image of the world that exists within each individual observation area, a world we would not be able to see by watching for merely 15 minutes on a single day. We wanted to share some of our birdwatching highlights from the Group's personal Project Feederwatch data beginning in 2018 to our most recent counts in 2021 at Downs Farm Preserve. We provided a bird trend graph for each species mentioned so you can explore our data with us!

Note:
Horizontal axis = date observed
Vertical axis = number of individuals
Site location is Downs Farm Preserve

Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) – This beautiful rust colored sparrow has become an exciting visitor at Downs Farm Preserve. This bird first appeared once in 2018 and has now become a more frequent visitor in 2021. Groupies have only spotted one Fox Sparrow amidst other more abundant sparrow varieties seen at Downs Farm Preserve. Did you know that Fox Sparrows are known to be speedy nest builders and can complete building a nest in under 24 hours?

Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) - Eight of these beautiful birds, named for their waxy red wingtips were spotted for the first time at Downs Farm in December of 2021(based on the Group's Project Feederwatch data). Unlike many birds we see at our feeders who prefer to eat seeds or bugs, Cedar Waxwings favorite food is fruit! By planting native fruit bearing trees and shrubs like dogwood, cedar, and juniper you can attract these birds to your backyard!

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) – The Brown Creeper is the only treecreeper variety found in North America. This elusive bird was spotted once in 2018 and was once again spotted during the 2021 season. There was only one individual present in the site in both 2018 and 2021. Did you know Brown Creepers have a unique defense mechanism? When threated, they will outstretch their wings and freeze on the side of a tree - their plumage blends in with tree bark and can make them invisible to predators.

Northern Flicker, yellow shafted variation (Colaptes auratus)– This large woodpecker is a breathtaking bird and one of my personal favorites to see. One individual has been spotted with some consistency over the past three years of observation at Downs Farm Preserve. Flickers unlike other woodpeckers are ground foragers meaning they look for bugs in the dirt rather than under the bark of trees. Northern Flickers also have two different color variations – yellow shafted birds found in the east and red shafted birds found in the west. These two distinctive color variations were once considered different species altogether but this has since changed as ornithologists have discovered the two variations frequently hybridize with one another.

Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) – These cute little birds have a wide variety of songs and sounds in their repertoire so while they may be illusive to the eye at times if you listen you will find them. A breeding pair has been confirmed at Downs Farm Preserve since 2018, however, we do not always see both individuals every time we observe as you can see in the graph above.  This shows the importance of long-term data collection and its ability to paint a more accurate picture of a landscape than a one-time observation. Long Island is at the Northern end of the wren’s year-round range so long cold winters can be particularly hard on them. You can help them make it through by putting out suet or a meal worms which will provide them with the proper nutrition they need and will allow you to see them more frequently.  

After discussing two ground foraging bird species whose diets consist primarily of insects this provides us with an opportunity to discourage the use of pesticides on your lawn. When we use pesticides to eliminate insect pests from our yard these toxins kill more than just the desired insect species, they kill all the bugs present. By eliminating insects from your lawn you are also destroying many birds primary source of food which will cause them to move elsewhere or go hungry. If you are hoping to create a bird friendly yard eliminating the use of pesticides is a must.

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) – These little grey birds with a cow-lick like tuft on the top of their head are quite entertaining characters. They have been seen regularly at our feeding site since 2018 and are frequently spotted on backyard feeders. Tufted Titmice are territorial and a breeding pair will defend a particular territory year-round. It is often common for one of the juvenile birds to remain with its parents through the winter and will move on by the start of the next breeding season. Interestingly you can see some of these trends in our data – through February of each year we are generally seeing two to three individuals present but by March (the beginning of the breeding season) we no longer see the third individual. We will be excited to see if a similar trend occurs in the spring of 2021.

Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org