Our Backyard Birder reflects on the fragility of birds’ lives, and how she finds hope.
Love, War, and Water
Baby Bird Bonanza!
Comings, Goings, and Stayings
TWO IN A BUSH
CHANGE IS IN THE AIR
THE HABIT OF COUNTING BIRDS
A YEAR OF GRATITUDE AND HOPE
Pine Siskins Galore...and More!
Pine Siskins Galore...and More!
BY JULIE AMATO
Finally, it has rained. Brisk north winds, cloudy skies, and a damp chill ushered in the first good storm of the fall, and I woke one morning to a gleaming wet yard and the rhythmic tap of water dripping in the gutters. With the heat and smoke of recent months barely behind us, the change is welcome.
Winter is fast approaching, and as the temperatures drop more at night, and the humidity goes up, I am seeing more and more birds in my yard, availing themselves of the food on offer. There is an increasing number of species, including new winter arrivals, as well as a growing number of individuals, all of which is shaking up the pecking order and leading to some ruffled feathers.
Recent highlights in our yard
Pine Siskin in our yard
Pine Siskins are here! One bird snuck into the mix at our hopper feeder in early November, and it has been back with its cohorts nearly every day since. At first, this little finch can be hard to tell apart from a House Finch: look for heavy striping, with greater contrast between the stripes and the rest of the body than a House Finch has; a thin pointed bill (the House has a thick conical one); and a mesmerizing burst of lemon-yellow color when it opens its wings. When the bird is at rest, a thin yellow line can sometimes be seen along the edge of the wings, as in the picture above.
Siskin “tolerating” House Finches at our bird bath
This is an irruptive year for Pine Siskins, which means that large numbers of these migratory birds have descended from Canada to spend the winter here. In fact, the National Audubon Society says that this may be a record-making year for Siskins and that you can find them virtually everywhere in the U.S. If you haven’t seen them in your yard before, keep an eye out for them this winter!
Siskin shows a Lesser Goldfinch who’s boss
With the weather getting colder and wetter, there are more squabbles among the birds at my feeders. While working in my home office, I frequently witness explosions of wings, feathers, and angry chatter, as various members of the finch family jockey for who’s on first: House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, American Goldfinches, and Pine Siskins all vie simultaneously for prime positions on the hopper feeder. The Houses usually win, although if the smaller Lessers show up in a group, they can sometimes dethrone the other birds. The Siskins are small but mighty, and will defend their positions by jabbing their heads in the direction of interlopers and telling them to back off!
Hermit Thrush in our yard, at a shy moment
Other birds have startled me with unexpected shows of aggression. One morning a Black Phoebe and a Hermit Thrush were foraging in the same corner of the yard. Suddenly the Phoebe flew directly at the Thrush, which quickly left the scene. That was that, I thought, but a minute or two later, the Thrush had returned, perching peaceably enough on the fence - until it abruptly dive-bombed the Phoebe and drove it away! I wouldn’t have thought that these two species would have it in for each other, but on this particular cold, wet day, perhaps some resource competition was going on. Or maybe these two birds just personally disliked each other?
Brown Creeper, doing what it does best - creeping!
In other news, I saw my first Brown Creeper in a while, when movement in a street tree caught my eye while I was at the kitchen sink. I raced out, hands dripping wet, and managed to get there on time to snap a few pictures as the bird hopped up and down and around the trunk, at gravity-defying angles, probing for insects (the camera got damp but survived).
American Goldfinch, with Lesser Goldfinches and a House Finch (don’t be fooled by the serenity of the moment!)
American Goldfinches have made their seasonal debut in our yard as well. If your mental image of an American Gold is of a brilliant yellow bird, you would be right - but only in the summer months. In the winter, look for a dramatically different bird, one that is mostly a muted beige, with some yellow on the face and neck, and bold white stripes on black wings. This is the American Goldfinch’s non-breeding plumage.
Of course, all of our regular visitors are also here. Flocks of Mourning Doves forage at dusk before flying to a nearby tree to roost for the night. California Scrub-Jays come to snatch peanuts. Bewick’s Wrens specialize in gleaning insects from the nooks and crannies of the structures in our yard - the fence, the eaves, and lately, the grooves and edges of the paved patio. White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows fill the yard at dawn, dropping through the branches of the blue potato bush like rain. I suspect they cause some trepidation among our year-round resident sparrows, the Dark-eyed Junco and the California Towhee, who haven’t been as visible in the yard since the crowned sparrows arrived for the winter.
What to look for in December
In addition to our year-round residents and early winter arrivals, expect to see many of the birds I introduced for the month of November, including Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Woodpeckers are active throughout the winter. The Nuttall’s Woodpecker is our Backyard Bird of the Month right now. Almost exclusively found in California, it is common in suburban areas, where you will often find one drumming away on a utility pole.
Listen also for the squeaky kyeer and wicka-wicka calls of the Northern Flicker, which is also in the woodpecker family. Although Flickers will forage on the ground, I have usually found them in tall trees in my yard. They haven’t shown up at our place yet, but we did see two while walking around the neighborhood recently.
One December, we saw a Bald Eagle soaring high in the sky above our home. While these birds can be seen year-round in our county, I usually spot them in flight during the winter months. Step outside and look up!
Cedar Waxwings - delightful masked bandits, with red drops on their wings like sealing wax - should be seen more frequently and abundantly now. The December high count in my yard is 35 of them. These highly social birds can be a bit unpredictable at any location - as fruit eaters, they wander in search of ripe fruit and berries, and can show up unexpectedly. I am still waiting to see my first Waxwing this winter!
Male House Finch with a gleaming ruby forehead
If you have feeders, expect an uptick in House Finches as the weather gets colder - note how the males’ feathers are getting redder and redder. Look also for increasing numbers of Pine Siskins at your feeders and bird baths.
Mourning Dove hanging out in the bird bath
Scattering seed on the ground will attract abundant ground feeders like Mourning Doves and members of the sparrow family, especially White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows. Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Oak Titmice, and White-breasted Nuthatches are fewer in number, but nevertheless faithful feeder visitors throughout the winter.
Getting into backyard birding
It’s fun to see how birds of different species relate to each other. Dominance hierarchies (who is bolder than whom, and who displaces whom at feeders) have been studied using data from Project FeederWatch. Usually the bigger birds win - but not always! Read this article to find out the competitive “ability scores” of common feeder birds, and see if they match your observations in your yard.
What birds are in your yard?
What are you seeing and hearing in your yard now? All observations are good, and species ID’s aren’t necessary! (In fact, we can help with that.)
Drop us a note or send a photo or sound clip to backyardbirds@scvas.org. We’ll share your submittals in our new feature, All Around Town.
More resources
This winter, count birds at home for science! Project FeederWatch, a citizen science project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is now underway for the season. For information about how to participate, see the FeederWatch website.
For more information about backyard bird feeding, see our Backyard Birding page.
To learn more about backyard bird species, see our list of common backyard birds in Santa Clara County and read all about our backyard bird of the month.
Julie’s Backyard Bird List (October 21-November 22, 2020)
Mourning Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Turkey Vulture (flyover)
Cooper’s Hawk
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
California Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick’s Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Hermit Thrush
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Banner photo by Brooke Miller.
All other photos by Julie Amato.
Sparrows are Here and Winter is Coming!
Sparrows are Here and Winter is Coming!
BY JULIE AMATO
It’s the middle of October, and despite the mini heat wave we’re experiencing, a Hermit Thrush took an exploratory stroll around our yard yesterday. The arrival of this winter bird tells me that the seasons are indeed changing. Each week brings new visitors to our yard, joining our year-round residents at our feeders.
Highlights of the past month
This October has been the Month of the Sparrow in our yard.
An Adult White-crowned Sparrow in our yard
White-crowned Sparrows, faithful winter residents of Santa Clara County, first arrived in our yard in mid-September, showing up in one’s or two’s. Early one October morning, I opened the blinds and discovered a dozen of them, briskly foraging on the ground. The White-crowned’s had arrived, in force! They are now a constant presence in our yard, in mixed groups of adults and juveniles - look for black and white crown stripes on the adults and brown and gray crown stripes on the young ones. Their songs, melodic trailing whistles, float through the air and reach me throughout the day. (White-crowned’s songs are well studied, and the birds are known to have different dialects depending on where they live.)
A Lincoln’s Sparrow pays us a visit
Mixed in with that group of a dozen White-crowneds was a small sparrow that looked like it had been dipped in soot. My mind registered it as some sort of aberrant crowned sparrow, but when I looked more closely, I suspected that it was a different species. After days of waiting for the bird to show up, and several mishaps of not being quick enough with my camera, I finally snapped some blurry photos of this shy bird. To my delight, my visitor was a Lincoln’s Sparrow, a first for our yard and a first for me!
A Golden-crowned Sparrow forages in our yard
Golden-crowned Sparrows, also winter residents, are arriving from the north too. They appeared in our yard about a week after we saw our first White-crowned’s, and so far have been less numerous. One day I watched a Golden-crowned that had plonked itself squarely in the middle of our platform feeder, munching sunflower seeds and defending the feeder from some bemused House Finches that were used to dominating their favorite food cache. UC Santa Cruz researchers have found that Golden-crowned’s have rich social lives - they live in communities and form lifelong friendships.
I mentioned in my last post that Yellow-rumped Warblers arrive like clockwork in our neighborhood in early October - last year, I recorded my first yard sighting on October 3. I am happy to report that this year, our first Yellow-rumped of the winter showed up on...October 3! A coincidence, yes, but delightful nonetheless.
Our year-round resident birds are still here and getting ready for the winter. Male House Finches are getting redder, with color slowly spreading like a blush across their heads and breasts; the color is still quite pale, not the deep fire-engine red of later in the winter. Dark-eyed Juncos, on the other hand, mostly seem to have their adult plumage now - well-defined black hoods contrasting with their pink bills and brown backs.
Nuttall’s Woodpecker at our bird bath
The Chestnut-backed Chickadees in our yard have had a lot to say lately - on two separate days, I listened as they loudly called back and forth for extended periods of time, in the first case for a full eleven minutes (yes, I timed it!)! They were alone in the yard during this sequence, and I wondered what they were talking about. We have watched a White-breasted Nuthatch conduct a thorough inspection of overhead wires - my husband saw it glean a spider from out of a tangle of wire. Nuttall’s Woodpeckers drum on poles, and one has been spotted several times taking a quick sip from our bird bath. Occasionally we think we hear a Barn Owl at night - a scream overhead, then silence. Of course, whenever we wait and listen for it, it never obliges. Its ephemeral nature only increases our thrill when we are lucky enough to hear it.
What’s happening in November
Right now, I’m getting ready for the annual start of Project FeederWatch, a citizen science project organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Each winter, together with tens of thousands of others across the U.S. and Canada, I count birds in my yard and submit the information to the Lab. The data are analyzed by scientists to help us better understand trends in bird populations. FeederWatch starts in November. Participation is simple and fun, a natural extension of backyard birding - consider joining in!
Our first Yellow-rumped Warbler this winter
In November, I’m expecting to see and hear Yellow-rumped Warblers more frequently - listen for their squeaky chek call as they flit through your backyard trees. These birds are too shy to come to my feeders, unlike the Townsend’s Warbler. This small yellow-and-black warbler with the Lone Ranger mask showed up at our feeders for the first time last November; a male Townsend’s was a daily visitor throughout the winter.
In the woodpecker family, we are still waiting to catch a glimpse of a Red-breasted Sapsucker, newly arrived from its summer grounds further north. Tapping on a tree, and a flash of a blazing red head, will alert you to this bird’s presence. One of our largest woodpeckers, the Northern Flicker, will sometimes show up in backyard trees during the winter. Look for a big bird with a heavily spotted breast and colorful tail feathers. A bright red splash of a moustache marks the males of the red-shafted subspecies (the most common type in our area). The birds make a variety of loud calls that will let you know that they have arrived.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets occasionally pass through our yard in the winter - last year, I saw our first one in November. These tiny olive-green balls can be identified by their compact shape and large eyes highlighted by pale eye-rings. They are rarely still, preferring to flit in the trees rather than come to feeders.
If you have trees with berries in your yard, be on the outlook for Cedar Waxwings, which may arrive in large flocks to gorge themselves on the fruit. They make a soft high-pitched wheezing sound that is unmistakable once you’ve learned it. And finally, American Robins often congregate in yard trees in the winter - in the past, they’ve started to arrive in my yard in November.
Getting into backyard birding
Just like us, birds have a rhythm and pattern to their days. Try observing your yard or patch at different times of the day. Who are the “early birds”? Who closes out the day? Who is active in the middle of the day? If you watch and listen regularly, you’ll soon be able to predict which birds you’re likely to see when.
What birds are in your yard?
What are you seeing and hearing in your yard now? All observations are good, and species ID’s aren’t necessary! (In fact, we can help with that.) Drop us a note or send a photo or sound clip to backyardbirds@scvas.org. We’ll share a sample of submittals on our website.
More resources
This winter, count birds at home for science! Project FeederWatch, a citizen science project from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, starts in November. For information about how to participate, see the FeederWatch website or sign up for their introductory webinar.
For more information about backyard bird feeding, see our Backyard Birding page.
To learn more about backyard bird species, see our list of common backyard birds in Santa Clara County and read all about our backyard bird of the month.
Julie’s Backyard Bird List (September 23 - October 20, 2020)
Mourning Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Turkey Vulture
Cooper’s Hawk
Barn Owl (maybe!)
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Black Phoebe
California Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick’s Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Hermit Thrush
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
California Towhee
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Photo Credits:
White-crowned Sparrow by Brooke Miller (top)
All other photos by Julie Amato and Francesco Meschia
Summer Highlights and Fall Delights
Summer Highlights and Fall Delights
BY JULIE AMATO
It’s September, and the first White-crowned Sparrow of winter has just turned up at our backyard feeders, a young bird foraging in the shade of a tree. What a surprise! In the last two years, I first noticed White-crowns in our yard in November, although I’d seen them in parks before then. Was I so busy before that I failed to spot them in the yard earlier in the fall? Have they been pushed south sooner by the wildfires up and down the coast? Or is it merely random? Regardless, the arrival of this lovely bird is a delightful harbinger of the changing seasons.
Summer highlights in the yard
But first, summer, the season that’s just coming to a close.
It’s been a busy summer in our yard. A band of streaky young House Finches has dominated our feeders, foraging together and generally making a lot of noise. Loud squabbles break out from time to time, as they jockey for position at the feeders, but these are short-lived, and the teenage birds seem to enjoy hanging out together and splashing around in the “pool” (aka the bird bath). Quieter, but also numerous, are a group of young Dark-eyed Juncos that frequent the yard, especially at the beginning and end of the day, and forage on the ground. Occasionally one gives chase to the other, making a distinctive call that sounds like a laser beam from a sci-fi movie, and the white edges of their tails flash through the dark canopy of the trees.
Chestnut-backed Chickadees, usually one or two at the most, are also regular feeder visitors. One morning, I watched one take a leaf bath in a tree, rubbing against leaves speckled with dew drops, then shaking its feathers dry. A male and female White-breasted Nuthatch (the former with a black crown, the latter with a gray one) also stop by nearly every day. When I see one of them hopping down the trunk of a tree, upside down, approaching a feeder and making soft chirps (the Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes this sound as a “yink”), I know that I can add a second nuthatch to my yard count - I’ve learned that the chirps are contact calls. Sure enough, another nuthatch almost always appears in short order.
Young Cooper’s Hawk in our yard (Photo: Julie Amato)
A young Cooper’s Hawk has been practicing its hunting skills in our yard. In the late afternoon, it swoops in, making an awkward pass at one of our feeders, then perching in a tree. It is neither fast enough nor agile enough to nab a songbird - this is not entirely its fault, as it’s impossible to gain much momentum in our yard, which is full of obstacles like fences, trees, and bushes. This does not mean that the hawk doesn’t give our local songbirds quite a fright. Each time it shows up, they flee in terror, calling out and dispersing in all directions - or nearly all of them do. One afternoon I watched and listened as an Oak Titmouse, perched safely above the hawk in an impenetrable tangle of small branches, sounded an alarm call for nearly twenty minutes. The hawk was impressively patient, seemingly willing to wait out the titmouse and resume hunting, yet it lacked the element of surprise and eventually gave up. I have not seen it catch anything yet, but it has returned week after week and I can only assume that it’s finding food somewhere else in the neighborhood - or in my yard when I’m not looking.
Black-headed Grosbeak at our feeders (Photo: Francesco Meschia)
The summer’s biggest surprise was the arrival of a new-to-our-yard bird at the end of July, what I first thought, with a distracted glance, was a very large House Finch. I did a double-take when an actual House Finch turned up and was clearly about half the size of the Very Big Finch. The big bird had black and white stripes on its face, a pale orange breast streaked with brown, and a hefty bill that was crushing our unshelled sunflower seeds at an impressive rate. I did my research and was delighted to discover that our unusual visitor was a Black-headed Grosbeak, either an immature or an adult female bird. She visited us two days in a row, planting herself squarely in the middle of our platform feeder and working her way through our seed offerings, and we have not seen her since. Was she on her way south for the winter? We wish her well on her journey.
What to look and listen for now
As we head into October, the first full month of fall, I’ll be looking for signs that my juvenile visitors are growing up, changing their young-bird feathers for more adult ones, and generally watching for the completion of the molting process and the emergence of the feathers that our neighborhood birds will sport through the winter.
Male Brown-headed Cowbird in molt (Photo: Francesco Meschia)
Many birds are molting now, shedding their juvenile feathers for adult ones, or simply replacing old with new. Red patches are beginning to show on some of the teenage House Finches, marking them as males. The other day, a young male Brown-headed Cowbird showed up, sporting a patchwork mix of colored feathers that will eventually sort themselves out into brown on the head and black everywhere else.
Starting on October 1, I’ll also keep my eyes peeled for the return of Yellow-rumped Warblers, faithful winter residents of the Bay Area, with their buttery bright rump and throat patches and their squeaky calls. They rarely come to my feeders, but they flit through the trees in my yard nearly every day in the fall and winter. Why will I start looking for them on the first of the month? Because according to my records, during the past two years, they first showed up in my yard on October 3 (2019) and October 2 (2018). I’m documenting a new yard this year, so it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison, but still, I could set my watch by them.
(After writing the above paragraph, I have learned that migrating songbirds are dying by the hundreds of thousands, even millions, in the West this fall, and warblers are among the birds that have been affected. Wildfires may be part of the problem, but there are probably other ecological factors too. This saddens me, and I will greet each warbler that passes through my yard with gratitude and joy.)
Last October, a Red-breasted Sapsucker showed up in my yard several times, and towards the end of the month, I had my first sighting of a flock of Cedar Waxwings. I’m eager to find out if I’ll see them again this month, or perhaps some other winter residents, arriving a bit early for their stay in our valley.
Getting into backyard birding
Whether you’re new to backyard birding or not, a wonderful way to get to know your yard birds is to simply spend a little time with them every day (and you don’t need a yard to enjoy the pastime - any place with a view will do). Sit comfortably, inside or outside, and watch and listen for ten or fifteen minutes. Don’t worry about figuring out exactly what species you’re observing - just experience the moment, allowing the birds’ looks, calls, and behavior to spark your curiosity and affection. The best way to learn something about birds - and to have fun while doing so! - is to make a habit of spending time with them. Trust that you’ll gradually answer your questions, while developing a connection with nature that will enrich your life.
What birds are in your yard?
What are you seeing and hearing in your yard this October? All observations are good - species ID’s aren’t necessary! (In fact, we can help with that.) Drop us a note or send a photo or sound clip to backyardbirds@scvas.org. We’ll share a sample of submittals on our website.
More resources
To learn more about backyard bird species, see our list of common backyard birds in Santa Clara County and read all about our backyard bird of the month!
Julie’s September yard bird list
Mourning Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Cooper’s Hawk
Black Phoebe
California Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick’s Wren
Northern Mockingbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Brown-headed Cowbird
Banner photo credit: House Finch by Carter Gasiorowski