Published in Exit Zero, 12/22/11
The other day I got a call from a person who wanted to know, “Where do all the birds go in the winter?”
“Can you narrow down the field?” I proposed.
“Can I what?” she countered.
“Can you be a bit more specific? There are a lot of birds and they do different things?
“Well,” she huffed, “if you don’t know the answer why not just say so and be done with it. I don’t want this double-talk mumbo jumbo. I just want to know where all the birds go in the winter.”
Okay, now.
“They hibernate under the mud,” I told her. Except for the ones that fly to the dark side of the moon.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I knew they had to be somewhere because they sure aren’t in my yard.”
Presumably the caller’s yard wasn’t on the moon. Mars maybe. But not the moon. At least, not the dark side.
Why relate this discussion at all? Because while the caller evidenced a disappointing dearth of patience (I was prepared to tell her the truth), she did show an elevated element of discernment. She’d noted that there were fewer birds about than there used to be. She deduced that this must have something to do with the season. She was about half right.
The full truth is that there are lots and lots and lots of birds around. They just aren’t in her yard where she was used to seeing them during the warmer months.
If she wants to see birds, in Cape May, in winter, she had two choices.
1. Go where the birds are.
2. Bring something into your yard that will entice birds to visit.
Let’s start with going to where the birds are. Right now, in Cape May, you will find more American Robins than you will find in summer. In fact, millions of robins. Feasting on holly berries; roosting in white cedar stands and reed.
You can find ducks, too. Thousands. Ducks of every stripe and hue. There is a whole bird hatchery (called the Arctic) that had the whole of last summer to crank out ducks. In winter, the Arctic is not a hospitable place for birds that like unfrozen water. So they fly south to someplace where water remains in its liquid state.
One of those places is Cape May. So if you love ducks, you’ll love Cape May in winter. The trick to finding them is simple. Just add (open) water.
Now the other side of the equation. Getting birds to come to you. Just south of the tundra there is another big bird hatchery. It’s called “the boreal forest.” It is this great big woodlot that stretches from Alaska to New Brunswick. It too, had a whole summer to crank out a crop of birds and many of these birds think that Cape May is a great place to spend the winter, too.
What? Oh sure, they like open water, too. A bird bath with a heating element in it is a great attractive mechanism. But more than this, what these winter birds want and need is food.
Many are seed eaters. If you put out seed, seed eating birds will respond by showing up in your yard.
Providing your yard is not on the dark side of the moon.
Yep. Seed. Sunflower seed. Millet. Thistle. Different seed for different bird species. The more variety in your offering, the greater the number and diversity of birds you will attract.
There’s lots of books on the subject of bird feeding. There is even one book dedicated to bird finding. But if you want to watch, not read, then I suggest you stop by the Cape May Bird Observatory shop and ask about bird feeding do’s and don’t do’s from one of the experts on staff.
Or, if you like, you can just watch the birds coming to the CMBO feeder. Cheep entertainment.
Just head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory, THE place for all your nature needs – but don’t do it between Friday, December 23 and Tuesday, January 3 because there won’t be anyone there to open the door. The one time of the year that CMBO isn’t open is the week between Christmas and New Year’s. But they’ll be open 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Wednesday through Monday (still closed on Tuesdays in the winter) after that. CMBO is located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking Lake Lily in Cape May Point (609.884.2736). Check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, pick up a free map and schedule of daily walks and programs for the season – yes, even though we might be closed there is still info available and there are walks throughout the year – even some in December and January. If you can’t make it in person, you can also visit us online www.BirdCapeMay.org – where birding Cape May is only a click away!
Pete Dunne will be leading a 3-day workshop in January on Wintering Hawks, Eagles, and Owls; a weekend of raptor-watching and learning (probably some ducks in there as well). Past years have featured a Golden Eagle hunting Snow Geese in the company of several Bald Eagles, plus point-blank Eastern Screech Owls, Rough- legged Hawks of both color morphs, and hunting Short-eared and Great Horned Owls. If you are interested, contact Chris at 609.861.0700 for details and to reserve your spot!