National Bird Feeding Month

February is National Bird Feeding Month and looking at my feeders today it was easy to see why. The feeders were constantly busy with birds.

From top to bottom: White-winged Doves; Carolina Chickadee; Pine Warbler and female Northern Cardinal; Red-bellied Woodpecker; Pine Siskin and several American Goldfinches.

During about an hour of watching the feeders, in addition to the birds shown above, I also saw: Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Sparrow, Carolina Wren, Inca Doves(!), Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, and Northern Mockingbird. In addition, a nearby hummingbird feeder was frequently visited by a Rufous Hummingbird.

The birds are hungry. In our part of the world, at least, this is the month when they are hungriest and the feeders are the busiest. The wild seeds, nuts, and berries from last year have been nearly exhausted, and now the birds have to scramble to find new sources of food. That is why bird feeders are so important in February.

As I watched today, I seemed to be able to see the seed levels in my feeders going down. The next few weeks will find me refilling them every couple of days. This, of course, is leading up to the Great Backyard Bird Count which takes place this year on February 15 - 18. The count tracks where the birds are in the middle of winter, as well as their numbers. I want as many of them as possible in my yard for my count.

National Bird Feeding Month is sponsored by the National Bird Feeding Society. If you visit their website, you will find a lot of useful information about how and what to feed the birds and just what kind of birds you can expect to attract to your feeders.