Birds Being Seen Recently
One part of the job that we always enjoy is hearing from folks about what they are seeing at their feeding stations. With the chill of autumn finally in the air, let’s take a moment to discuss some fall/winter residents being seen in the area!
Over the last few weeks, reports have been coming in of White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Purple Finch, and even several sightings of the Hermit Thrush. Unlike our namesake, who fills the forests with their haunting calls in the spring and summer, the Hermit Thrush is actually a winter resident in Tennessee. As it is unlikely to see them visiting your feeder, instead, look for these unassuming members of the Thrush family patrolling the undergrowth in forests or brushy fence lines. Last weekend, I spotted one in an over grown fence row making its distinctive “tchup” call as it worked the undergrowth in search of food.
Hermit Thrush
Photo credit: Eli Haislip
Purple Finches are another wintertime visitor that have recently been spotted in Pegram and Bellevue. Famously described by Roger Tory Peterson as “a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice,” these beautiful finches are only seen in Tennessee during the fall and winter months. There are several key differences that separate them from the House Finch, and once you learn to spot these, identification is a breeze. First and foremost, the coloration is different. Where House Finches are much redder in hue, Purple Finches are a distinctive raspberry color with coloration further down their belly than their relatives. Last, but certainly not least, look for a darker band of coloration behind the eye of the Purple Finch. Like their introduced cousins, female Purple Finches lack the coloration of males and are instead a streaky brown. However, female Purple finches have a darker brown band from behind the eye that female House Finches lack entirely.
Due to the aggressive actions of the invasive House Sparrow, the thought of sparrows visiting a feeding station can elicit a groan. However, we have a number of native winter resident sparrows that we always look forward to seeing! The mnemonic of “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody” ringing out on a frosty morning is one of our favorite calls to hear in late fall and winter, because it signals the arrival of the White-throated Sparrow. Ground feeders by nature, look for these birds underneath feeders scratching around in the grass for fallen seeds. There is a good chance that you have seen them at some point, as they are quite the common visitor. There are actually two color forms to look for, white-crowned and tan-crowned! This is where having a good pair of binoculars handy can be helpful.
Perhaps one of our most widely recognized winter visitors is the Dark-eyed Junco. Long known as “Snowbirds” due to their appearance in late fall, if you have feeders up in the winter than you have likely seen these slate gray members of the sparrow family. These striking birds have slate colored backs and wings with white undersides, and pinkish bills adapted for cracking seeds. Along with the aforementioned White-throated Sparrows, look for Dark-eyed Juncos hopping around underneath feeders eating fallen seeds. A fun fact; according to Cornell University’s All About Birds, Dark-eyed Juncos will sometimes breed with White-throated Sparrows despite looking very different and not being especially closely related resulting in an odd hybrid of the two that is described as a “dully marked grayish White-throated Sparrow.”
Dark-eyed Junco
Photo credit: Eli Haislip
Continued Caching of Seeds
In the woods of Cheatham County, John has been putting his binoculars to good use and observing an interesting phenomenon in action. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is one of several species of woodpeckers known to store, or cache their food for later and it is this species that is responsible for the peanut placement in the photo. Certain other backyard feeder birds are known to exhibit this behavior too, such as Red-headed and Downey Woodpeckers, as well as White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Chickadees, and Tufted Titmice.
A Blend for Winter Ground Feeders
Did you know we have a blend specifically for the ground feeding species that call our backyards home in the fall and winter? Our Wood Thrush blend is made up of 50/50 black oil sunflower seed and white and red millet, and while we never recommend this blend for use in feeders, (feeder birds will kick the millet out in favor of the sunflower seeds) as a ground feeding blend in the winter it works great. Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Eastern Towhees and Cardinals will all happily search through the grass (or snow) for this blend. Available in 40 Lbs. ($36) 20 Lbs. ($24) and 8 Lbs. ($13)