If you are a
birdwatcher and have ever tried to start a bird feeder in the backyard, you know there is usually a lapse between the day you put up the feeder and the day the birds actually find and use the feeder. Sometimes, you get lucky and it is just a matter of a few days. Sometimes, you just have to wait a bit longer and I have even heard of some folks who waited in terms of weeks, though that is an extreme case. It all boils down to how bird friendly your backyard is before you put up the feeder. If your backyard already has good habitat, then the birds are already using it and it won't take long for them to find the feeder. If your backyard is one of those manicured places without a blade of grass out of place, your wait is going to be much longer.
So, this weekend I put out my new birdfeeders at our home, then Bill and I sat back with our
birding binoculars and waited. Only a couple hours, later, that very Saturday morning, eight Chickadees discovered the feeder and went to work, charging in and out to grab black-oil sunflower. They were soon joined by a pair of Cardinals and then … I was not prepared for the invasion. By Sunday morning, only twenty-four hours later, my birdfeeder list read like some folks complete winter list. Last I looked, I had Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-Breasted Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Junco, American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Hose Sparrow, Blue Jay, and Starling. Those were the birds that visited the feeder, but, since our backyard is such great habitat, I also spotted many birds that did not visit the feeder. These included a Fox Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler and American Robin. I also spotted a Cooper's Hawk, high overhead, as I sat in my kitchen. The hawk did not visit the feeder, but I have no doubt it will, soon.