We’ve seen worse, but this winter has been particularly tough for birds and mammals in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Due to the dry conditions of late summer and fall in 2024, the wild food crop of seeds, nuts, berries, and other fare has been less than average. The cold temperatures make insects hard to come by. Let’s have a look at how some of our local generalist and specialist species are faring this winter.
House Sparrows (bottom) and House Finches (top) are generalists. To survive and thrive, they are adapted to a variety of habitats and types of food. House Sparrows live almost anywhere man-made structures are found. They are true omnivores and will eat almost anything, especially if they see something else try to eat it first. The House Sparrow’s close association with humans has allowed it to become the most widespread and successful living avian dinosaur. On a cold night, they’ll take shelter either within dense vegetation alongside a building or within the structure itself. Though not nearly as cosmopolitan, the House Finch has successfully colonized much of the eastern United States after escaping from captivity as a cage bird in New York during the middle of the twentieth century. Upon being trans-located here from the arid southwest, they adapted to suburbs and farmlands consuming primarily a granivore diet of seeds supplemented with seasonally available berries. They quickly became accustomed to offerings at bird-feeding stations as well. To survive the harsh winters in the northern sections of their range, eastern populations of House Finches are developing a pattern of migration. These movements are most evident in late fall when dozens or sometimes hundreds can be seen heading south over regional hawk-counting stations.Though they require dead trees for nesting and as places to find the grubs and adult insects upon which they primarily feed, woodpeckers including the Northern Flicker are generalists, seldom passing by a supply of fruits like these Poison Ivy berries as a source of winter food. Flickers regularly visit suburban areas where they’ll drop by at bird-feeding stations for suet. During the warmer months, they are the woodpecker most frequently seen on the ground where swarms of ants garner their full attention.The Pileated Woodpecker is seldom found outside of mature forests where it digs relentlessly to remove grubs and other infestations from dead wood. But it is not a true specialist……it too finds a supply of Poison Ivy berries to be indispensable during a cold winter day.The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a generalist, feeding mostly on insects, but also consuming small seeds and some berries, including those of Poison Ivy. It nests well to our north in tall spruces and other evergreens. During migration and in winter, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet may be found in deciduous trees, brush, and tall grass in habitats ranging from forests to parks and suburbia. This male is displaying its seldom-seen red crown.The Golden-crowned Kinglet, seen here on a Poison Ivy vine, is more of a specialist than the Ruby-crowned species, though the two will often occur in mixed groups during the winter. The Golden-crowned Kinglet nests in Spruce-Fir forests and in conifers within mixed woodlands. Even during migration, and particularly in winter, these birds are seldom found far from a stand of large evergreens within which they find shelter for the night.The Hermit Thrush’s generalist lifestyle allows it to survive cold season weather in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. During summer, it breeds in coniferous and mixed woods from the northern parts of our valley north into Canada and feeds primarily on worms, insects, and other arthropods. During migration and in winter, the Hermit Thrush becomes a regular visitor to deciduous forests, woody parks and suburbs, particularly where a supply of wild berries is available to supplement its diet.Iconic as it pulls earthworms from lawns during the warmer months, the generalist American Robin is fully dependent upon a crop of berries to survive winter conditions in the lower Susquehanna valley. The drought afflicted wild food crop of 2024 has led to fewer robins spending the season here and has delayed the northward push of migrating birds until the ground thaws and the earthworms make the ground rumble once again.It’s insects for the nestlings during spring and summer, then berries through the winter for the cheerful Eastern Bluebirds, another generalist species.American Crows are an excellent example of a generalist species. They’ll go anywhere to find food and they’ll eat almost anything. Like the House Sparrow and several other generalists, they adapt very well to human activity and actually thrive on it. Garbage anyone?Another career generalist is the widely worshiped White-tailed Deity, a species adapted to nearly all man-made landscapes with adequate vegetation upon which to browse. Pushed to the limit during severe weather, some individuals will consume carrion and even resort to cannibalism.You might think the Great Blue Heron is a specialist. Nope, it’s an accomplished generalist. Great blues will live, feed, and breed on almost any body of fresh or brackish water. And their diet includes almost anything that swims. In winter, you’ll even see them in fields hunting mice and voles.The Red-shouldered Hawk is a generalist with a diet ranging from amphibians and reptiles to small rodents and large insects. Mostly regarded as a species of bottomlands, they’ll frequent woodland edges, roadsides, and suburbia during the winter months.During its periodic winter visits to the region, the American Tree Sparrow feeds on seeds among the grasses and forbs of semi-open country with scattered short shrubs and trees. A generalist species, it will show up at backyard bird-feeding stations, particularly during periods of inclement weather. In summer, the American Tree Sparrow nests in tundra with growths of stunted willows and spruce and their diet includes insects as a source of protein for themselves and their young.The White-crowned Sparrow has similar winter habitat preferences to the tree sparrows……it becomes adaptable and something of a generalist when searching for food during bad winter storms.The Savannah Sparrow is an omnivore favoring insects in summer and seeds in winter. Though very closely tied to its grassland habitat year-round, snow cover can push these birds to enter woodier environs to consume fruits like these rose hips.Dusk and dawn during the short days of winter are the prime hunting times of a mammal specialist, the Short-eared Owl. Its presence in the lower Susquehanna valley is dependent on two dominant factors: extensive grassland habitat and an adequate population of the owl’s favored food, the Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus). The Short-eared Owl’s requirements as a specialist species make finding a suitable place to live difficult. Unlike the generalist birds and mammals that often adapt to the widespread man-made disturbances in the region, populations of specialists frequently become fragmented, reduced in abundance, and subject to extirpation.The Meadow Vole is a generalist rodent that can be abundant in grasslands, early successional growth, fallow fields, marshlands, and, of course, meadows. They are primarily herbivores, but will occasionally consume insects and other arthropods. Usually nocturnal, some individuals venture out along their surface runways during daylight hours becoming vulnerable to diurnal raptors including kestrels, harriers, and buteos.A Short-eared Owl in near darkness patrolling a grassland for Meadow Voles.The eastward expansion of the Coyote (Canis latrans), a species of western North America’s grasslands and scrublands, and its progressive mixing with the Wolf (Canis lupus) in these eastern extensions of its range, has produced an expanding population of very adaptable generalists we call Eastern Coyotes (Canis latrans var.). These omnivorous canines colonized the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed during the last four decades to replace extirpated wolves as the top-tier natural predator in the region. Their primary diet includes Meadow Voles in grasslands and other small mammals along woodland edges and in successional habitats. Seasonally, they consume the berries of numerous wild plants. Slightly larger than their western ancestors, Eastern Coyotes with the admixture of Wolf genetics can subdue small ungulates. Like other apex predators, they are attracted to vulnerable prey and thus play a crucial role in culling the weak and diseased among their potential quarry species to assure the health and potential of populations of these species as long-term sources of food energy. The benefit to the prey species is however largely diluted in populous areas of the northeast; most venison consumed by Eastern Coyotes here is in the form of road kill. During periods of extended snow cover when small rodents and other foods become inaccessible, Eastern Coyotes, particularly young individuals, will wander into new areas seeking sustenance. Sometimes they venture into cities and suburbs where they explore the neighborhoods in search of garbage and pet foods placed outside the home. (Video clip courtesy of Tyler and Grace Good. Click image to view.)
Wildlife certainly has a tough time making it through the winter in the lower Susquehanna valley. Establishing and/or protecting habitat that includes plenty of year-round cover and sources of food and water can really give generalist species a better chance of survival. But remember, the goal isn’t to create unnatural concentrations of wildlife, it is instead to return the landscape surrounding us into more of a natural state. That’s why we try to use native plants as much as possible. And that’s why we try to attract not only a certain bird, mammal, or other creature, but we try to promote the development of a naturally functioning ecosystem with a food web, a diversity of pollinating plants, pollinating insects, and so on. Through this experience, we stand a better chance of understanding what it takes to graduate to the bigger job at hand—protecting, enhancing, and restoring habitats needed by specialist species. These are efforts worthy of the great resources that are sometimes needed to make them a success. It takes a mindset that goes beyond a focus upon the welfare of each individual animal to instead achieve the discipline to concentrate long-term on the projects and processes necessary to promote the health of the ecosystems within which specialist species live and breed. It sounds easier than it is—the majority of us frequently become distracted.
Being an individual from a population of a very successful generalist species is no guarantee of survival. This Eastern Gray Squirrel fell from a tall tree when the limbs became ice covered during a storm earlier this month. Just a freak accident? Maybe, but mistakes like this are often fatal in the natural world. This squirrel’s passing may seem brutal, but it provides a better opportunity for other squirrels and animals that share its food and cover requirements to make it through the winter. And those survivors that didn’t suffer such a fatal mistake or, more importantly, don’t possess a vulnerability that may have contributed to such a mishap will have a chance to pass those traits on to a new generation. This squirrel as an individual is gone, its species lives on, and may be stronger for its passing.Pennsylvania Game Commission crews maintain a grassland ecosystem for Short-eared Owls and other specialists using prescribed fire to prevent succession beyond its earliest stages. Among the additional specialist species benefiting from this management tool are Monarchs and other butterflies whose host plants survive early-season fire, but not competition with woody vines, shrubs, trees, and invasive herbaceous growth.
On the wider scale, it’s of great importance to identify and protect the existing and potential future habitats necessary for the survival of specialist species. And we’re not saying that solely for their benefit. These protection measures should probably include setting aside areas on higher ground that may become the beach intertidal zone or tidal marsh when the existing ones becomes inundated. And it may mean finally getting out of the wetlands, floodplains, and gullies to let them be the rain-absorbing, storm-buffering, water purifiers they spent millennia becoming. And it may mean it’s time to give up on building stick structures on tinderbox lands, especially hillsides and rocky outcrops with shallow, eroding soils that dry to dust every few years. We need to think ahead and stop living for the view. If you want to enjoy the view from these places, go visit and take plenty of pictures, or a video, that’s always nice, then live somewhere else. Each of these areas includes ecosystems that meet the narrow habitat requirements of many of our specialist species, and we’re building like fools in them. Then we feign victimhood and solicit pity when the calamity strikes: fires, floods, landslides, and washouts—again and again. Wouldn’t it be a whole lot smarter to build somewhere else? It may seem like a lot to do for some specialist animals, but it’s not. Because, you see, we should and can live somewhere else—they can’t.
The Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma magister), a threatened species in Pennsylvania and a critically imperiled species in Maryland, is a habitat specialist requiring the forested rocky slopes, talus-flanked ridgetops, and caves of the Ridge and Valley Province for its nest sites and survival. Isolated populations survived within similar environs in the lower Susquehanna River valley’s Piedmont Province and on South Mountain through at least the first half of the twentieth century, but have since been extirpated. Human encroachment that fragments their habitat and promotes exposure to parasite-hosting mammals including the Raccoon (Procyon lotor), carrier of the Raccoon Roundworm (Baylisascarius procyonis), could prove fatal to remaining populations of this native mammal. (National Park Service image by Rick Olsen)The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) is a specialist species that uses its highly adapted bill to feed on marine invertebrates including mollusks, few of which are actually oysters. Reliant upon tidal ecosystems for its survival, many of the seashore animals that make up this wader’s diet are themselves specialist species. Oystercatchers spend nearly their entire lives in tidal marshes or within the intertidal zone on beaches. They also frequent rocky jetties, particularly during high tide. This individual was photographed near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay in Northhampton County, Virginia, a location that, when the waters of the Atlantic started rising over 10,000 years ago, was the lower Susquehanna valley about 60 miles from the river’s mouth at present-day Norfolk Canyon along the edge of the continental shelf. Get the drift?
While trimming the trees and shrubs in the susquehannawildlife.net garden, it didn’t seem particularly unusual to hear the resident Carolina Chickadees and Carolina Wrens scolding our every move. But after a while, their persistence did seem a bit out of the ordinary, so we took a little break to have a look around…
A scolding Carolina Wren……keeping an eye on something in the tree overhead.There, just ten to twelve feet away, was this juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, perched quietly and having a look around.Hatch-year Cooper’s Hawks have yellow eyes that darken to red as the bird matures. The blood stains reveal that this bird, despite its young age, is a successful hunter.This individual seems to be particularly well nourished, showing early growth of a gray-and-black adult tail feather.Despite their continuous pestering, this Cooper’s Hawk showed little interest in the small wrens, juncos, and chickadees that harassed it. Larger birds, particularly non-native House Sparrows, are its quarry. Moments after this photo was taken, the pursuit was underway. To conserve energy and protect themselves from injury, predators target the vulnerable. The unwary, the injured, the diseased, and the weak among its prey species are the most likely to be seized. And thus, these raptors, while in the near term providing for their own sustenance and safety, assure the long-term existence of their species by helping to maintain a healthy population of their prey species.
Here at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters, we are visited by Cooper’s Hawks for several days during the late fall and winter each year. The small birds that visit our feeders have plenty of trees, shrubs, vines, and other natural cover in which to hide from raptors and other native predators. We don’t create unnatural concentrations of birds by dumping food all over the place. We try to keep our small birds healthy by sparingly offering fresh seed and other provisions in clean receptacles to provide a supplement to the seeds, fruits, insects, and other foods that occur naturally in the garden. With only a few vulnerable small birds around, the Cooper’s Hawks visit just long enough to cull out our weakest individuals before moving elsewhere. While they’re in our garden, they too are our welcomed guests.
Despite being located in an urbanized downtown setting, blustery weather in recent days has inspired a wonderful variety of small birds to visit the garden here at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters to feed and refresh. For those among you who may enjoy an opportunity to see an interesting variety of native birds living around your place, we’ve assembled a list of our five favorite foods for wild birds.
American Goldfinches in drab winter (basic) plumage visit the trickle of water entering the headquarters pond to bathe and drink. In addition to offering the foods animals need to survive, a source of clean water is an excellent way to attract wildlife to your property.
The selections on our list are foods that provide supplemental nutrition and/or energy for indigenous species, mostly songbirds, without sustaining your neighborhood’s non-native European Starlings and House Sparrows, mooching Eastern Gray Squirrels, or flock of ecologically destructive hand-fed waterfowl. We’ve included foods that aren’t necessarily the cheapest but are instead those that are the best value when offered properly.
Bread, “bargain” seed mixes, and cracked corn can attract and sustain large numbers of House Sparrows and European Starlings. Both are non-native species that compete mercilessly with indigenous birds including bluebirds for food and nesting sites. Though found favorable for feeding Northern Cardinals without attracting squirrels, the expensive safflower seed seen here is another favorite of these aggressive House Sparrows. Ever wasteful, they “shovel” seed out of feeders while searching for the prime morsels from which they can easily remove the hulls. Trying not to feed them is an ongoing challenge, so we don’t offer these aforementioned foods to our avian guests.
Number 5
Raw Beef Suet
In addition to rendered beef suet, manufactured suet cakes usually contain seeds, cracked corn, peanuts, and other ingredients that attract European Starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels to the feeder, often excluding woodpeckers and other native species from the fare. Instead, we provide raw beef suet.
Because it is unrendered and can turn rancid, raw beef suet is strictly a food to be offered in cold weather. It is a favorite of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and many other species. Ask for it at your local meat counter, where it is generally inexpensive.
Raw beef suet is fat removed from areas surrounding the kidneys on a beef steer. To avoid spoiling, offer it only in the winter months, particularly if birds are slow to consume the amount placed for them. If temperatures are above freezing, it’s important to replace uneaten food frequently. The piece seen here on the left was stored in the freezer for almost a year while the rancid piece to the right was stored in a refrigerator at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for just two months. You can render raw beef suet and make your own cakes by melting it down and pouring it into a form such as cupcake tin. But do it outdoors or you’ll be living alone for a while.A female Downy Woodpecker feeds on raw beef suet stuffed into holes drilled into a vertically hanging log. Because they can’t be cleaned, log feeders should be discarded after one season. Wire cage feeders though, can usually be scrubbed, disinfected, dried, and reused.Pesky European Starlings might visit a raw beef suet feeder but won’t usually linger unless other foods to their liking are available nearby.This male Downy Woodpecker has no trouble feeding on raw beef suet packed into holes drilled into the underside of this horizontally hanging log. Starlings don’t particularly care to feed this way.Unusual visitors like a Brown Creeper are more likely to stop by at a suet feeder when it isn’t crowded by raucous starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels. This one surprised us just this morning.Below the feeders, scraps of suet that fall to the ground are readily picked up, usually by ground-feeding birds. In this instance, a male Eastern Bluebird saw a chunk break loose and pounced on it with haste.
Number 4
Niger (“Thistle”) Seed
Niger seed, also known as nyjer or nyger, is derived from the sunflower-like plant Guizotia abyssinica, a native of Ethiopia. By the pound, niger seed is usually the most expensive of the bird seeds regularly sold in retail outlets. Nevertheless, it is a good value when offered in a tube or wire mesh feeder that prevents House Sparrows and other species from quickly “shoveling” it to the ground. European starlings and squirrels don’t bother with niger seed at all.
Niger seed must be kept dry. Mold will quickly make niger seed inedible if it gets wet, so avoid using “thistle socks” as feeders. A dome or other protective covering above a tube or wire mesh feeder reduces the frequency with which feeders must be cleaned and moist seed discarded. Remember, keep it fresh and keep it dry!
Niger (“thistle”) seed is very small, so it is offered in specialized feeders to prevent seed from spilling out of oversize holes as waste.An American Goldfinch in winter plumage feeding on niger seed from a wire mesh feeder. By April, goldfinches are molting into spectacular breeding feathers. Niger seed can be offered year-round to keep them visiting your garden while they are at maximum magnificence.American Goldfinches in August. This tube feeder is designed specifically for goldfinches, birds that have no difficulty hanging upside down to grab niger seed from small feeding ports.During invasion years, visiting Pine Siskins favor niger seed at feeding stations.Like goldfinches, Pine Siskins are quite comfortable feeding upside down on specialized tubes with perches positioned above the seed ports. Seeds dropped to the ground are readily picked up by ground-feeding birds including Mourning Doves and Dark-eyed Juncos. Periodically, uneaten niger seed should be swept up and discarded.
Number 3
Striped Sunflower Seed
Striped sunflower seed, also known as grey-striped sunflower seed, is harvested from a cultivar of the Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the same tall garden plant with a massive bloom that you grew as a kid. The Common Sunflower is indigenous to areas west of the Mississippi River and its seeds are readily eaten by many native species of birds including jays, finches, and grosbeaks. The husks are harder to crack than those of black oil sunflower seed, so House Sparrows consume less, particularly when it is offered in a feeder that prevents “shoveling”. For obvious reasons, a squirrel-proof or squirrel-resistant feeder should be used for striped sunflower seed.
Striped sunflower seed.A male House Finch and a Carolina Chickadee pluck striped sunflower seeds from a squirrel-resistant powder-coated metal-mesh tube feeder.An American Goldfinch in winter plumage finds striped sunflower seeds irresistible, even with niger seed being offered in an adjacent feeder.A Tufted Titmouse visits a feeder stocked with striped sunflower seeds.Northern Cardinals readily feed on striped sunflower seeds, especially those that fall from our metal-mesh tube feeders.An Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) has no choice but to be satisfied with striped sunflower seeds that spill from our wire-mesh tube feeders.
Number 2
Mealworms
Mealworms are the commercially produced larvae of the beetle Tenebrio molitor. Dried or live mealworms are a marvelous supplement to the diets of numerous birds that might not otherwise visit your garden. Woodpeckers, titmice, wrens, mockingbirds, warblers, and bluebirds are among the species savoring protein-rich mealworms. The trick is to offer them without European Starlings noticing or having access to them because European Starlings you see, go crazy over a meal of mealworms.
Dried mealworms can be offered in a cup or on a tray feeder. Live mealworms need to be contained in a steep-sided dish, so they don’t crawl away. Unless you’re really lucky, you’ll probably have to place your serving vessel of mealworms inside some type of enclosure to exclude European Starlings.A male Eastern Bluebird tossing and grabbing a dried mealworm.A female Eastern Bluebird with a dried mealworm.A pair of Eastern Bluebirds. The value of mealworms is self-evident: you get to have bluebirds around.
To foil European Starlings, we assembled this homemade mealworm feeder from miscellaneous parts. The bluebirds took right to it.It frustrates the starlings enough to discourage them from sticking around for long.If you’re offering dried mealworms, a source of clean water must be available nearby so that the bluebirds and other guests at your feeder don’t become dehydrated.
Number 1
Food-producing Native Shrubs and Trees
The best value for feeding birds and other wildlife in your garden is to plant food-producing native plants, particularly shrubs and trees. After an initial investment, they can provide food, cover, and roosting sites year after year. In addition, you’ll have a more complete food chain on a property populated by native plants and all the associated life forms they support (insects, spiders, etc.).
In your garden, a Northern Mockingbird may defend a food supply like these Common Winterberry fruits as its sole means of sustenance for an entire winter season. Having an abundance of plantings assures that in your cache there’s plenty to eat for this and other species.The American Goldfinches currently spending the winter at our headquarters are visiting the feeders for niger and striped sunflower seeds, but the bulk of their diet consists of tiny seeds from the cones on our Eastern Hemlock trees. At night, birds obtain shelter from the weather by roosting in this clump of evergreens.While the Eastern Bluebirds visiting the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters are fond of mealworms, the bulk of their diet here consists of these Common Winterberry fruits and the berries on our American Holly trees.Cedar Waxwings are readily attracted to red berries including Common Winterberry fruit.Migrating American Robins visit the headquarters garden in late winter each year to devour berries before continuing their journey to the north.
Your local County Conservation District is having its annual spring tree sale soon. They have a wide selection to choose from each year and the plants are inexpensive. They offer everything from evergreens and oaks to grasses and flowers. You can afford to scrap the lawn and revegetate your whole property at these prices—no kidding, we did it. You need to preorder for pickup in the spring. To order, check their websites now or give them a call. These food-producing native shrubs and trees are by far the best bird feeding value that you’re likely to find, so don’t let this year’s sales pass you by!
Thoughts of October in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed bring to mind scenes of brilliant fall foliage adorning wooded hillsides and stream courses, frosty mornings bringing an end to the growing season, and geese and other birds flying south for the winter.
The autumn migration of birds spans a period equaling nearly half the calendar year. Shorebirds and Neotropical perching birds begin moving through as early as late July, just as daylight hours begin decreasing during the weeks following their peak at summer solstice in late June. During the darkest days of the year, those surrounding winter solstice in late December, the last of the southbound migrants, including some hawks, eagles, waterfowl, and gulls, may still be on the move.
The Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), a rodent-eating raptor of tundra, grassland, and marsh, is rare as a migrant and winter resident in the lower Susquehanna valley. It may arrive as late as January, if at all.
During October, there is a distinct change in the list of species an observer might find migrating through the lower Susquehanna valley. Reduced hours of daylight and plunges in temperatures—particularly frost and freeze events—impact the food sources available to birds. It is during October that we say goodbye to the Neotropical migrants and hello to those more hardy species that spend their winters in temperate climates like ours.
During several of the first days of October, two hundred Chimney Swifts remained in this roost until temperatures warmed from the low forties at daybreak to the upper fifties at mid-morning; then, at last, the flock ventured out in search of flying insects. When a population of birds loses its food supply or is unable to access it, that population must relocate or perish. Like other insectivorous birds, these swifts must move to warmer climes to be assured a sustained supply of the flying bugs they need to survive. Due to their specialized food source, they can be considered “specialist” feeders in comparison to species with more varied diets, the “generalists”. After returning to this chimney every evening for nearly two months, the swifts departed this roost on October 5 and did not return.A Northern Parula lingers as an October migrant along the Susquehanna. This and other specialist feeders that survive almost entirely on insects found in the forest canopy are largely south of the Susquehanna watershed by the second week of October.The Blackpoll Warbler is among the last of the insectivorous Neotropical warblers to pass through the riparian forests of the lower Susquehanna valley each fall. Through at least mid-October, it is regularly seen searching for crawling insects and larvae among the foliage and bark of Northern Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) trees near Conewago Falls. Most other warblers, particularly those that feed largely upon flying insects, are, by then, already gone.The Blue-headed Vireo, another insectivore, is the last of the vireo species to pass through the valley. They linger only as long as there are leaves on the trees in which they feed.Brown Creepers begin arriving in early October. They are specialist feeders, well-adapted to finding insect larvae and other invertebrates among the ridges and peeling bark of trees like this hackberry, even through the winter months.Ruby-crowned Kinglets can be abundant migrants in October. They will often behave like cute little flycatchers, but quickly transition to picking insects and other invertebrates from foliage and bark as the weather turns frosty. Some may spend the winter here, particularly in the vicinity of stands of pines, which provide cover and some thermal protection during storms and bitter cold.Beginning in early October, Golden-crowned Kinglets can be seen searching the forest wood for tiny invertebrates. They are the most commonly encountered kinglet in winter.The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a woodpecker, is an October migrant that specializes in attracting small insects to tiny seeps of sap it creates by punching horizontal rows of shallow holes through the tree bark. Some remain for winter.The Yellow-rumped Warbler arrives in force during October. It is the most likely of the warblers to be found here in winter. Yellow-rumped Warblers are generalists, feeding upon insects during the warmer months, but able to survive on berries and other foods in late fall and winter. Wild foods like these Poison Ivy berries are crucial for the survival of this and many other generalists.American Robins are most familiar as hunters of earthworms on the suburban lawn, but they are generalist feeders that rely upon fruits like these Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) berries during their southbound migration in late October and early November each year. Robins remain for the winter in areas of the lower Susquehanna valley with ample berries for food and groves of mature pines for roosting.Like other brown woodland thrushes, the Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) is commonly seen scratching through organic matter on the moist forest floor in search of invertebrates. Unlike the other species, it is a cold-hardy generalist feeder, often seen eating berries during the southbound October migration. Small numbers of Hermit Thrushes spend the winter in the lower Susquehanna valley, particularly in habitats with a mix of wild foods.Due to their feeding behavior, Cedar Waxwings can easily be mistaken for flycatchers during the nesting season, but by October they’ve transitioned to voracious consumers of small wild fruits. During the remainder of the year, flocks of waxwings wander widely in search of foods like this Fox Grape (Vitis labrusca). An abundance of cedar, holly, Poison Ivy, hackberry, bittersweet , hawthorn, wild grape, and other berries is essential to their survival during the colder months.Red-breasted Nuthatches have moved south in large numbers during the fall of 2020. They were particularly common in the lower Susquehanna region during mid-October. Red-breasted Nuthatches can feed on invertebrates during warm weather, but get forced south from Canada in droves when the cone crops on coniferous trees fail to provide an adequate supply of seeds for the colder fall and winter seasons. In the absence of wild foods, these generalists will visit feeding stations stocked with suet and other provisions.Purple Finches (Haemorhous purpureus) were unusually common as October migrants in 2020. They are often considered seed eaters during cold weather, but will readily consume small fruits like these berries on an invasive Mile-a-minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) vine. Purple Finches are quite fond of sunflower seeds at feeding stations, but often shy away if aggressive House Sparrows or House Finches are present.
The need for food and cover is critical for the survival of wildlife during the colder months. If you are a property steward, think about providing places for wildlife in the landscape. Mow less. Plant trees, particularly evergreens. Thickets are good—plant or protect fruit-bearing vines and shrubs, and allow herbaceous native plants to flower and produce seed. And if you’re putting out provisions for songbirds, keep the feeders clean. Remember, even small yards and gardens can provide a life-saving oasis for migrating and wintering birds. With a larger parcel of land, you can do even more.
GOT BERRIES? Common Winterbery (Ilex verticillata) is a native deciduous holly that looks its best in the winter, especially with snow on the ground. It’s slow-growing, and never needs pruning. Birds including bluebirds love the berries and you can plant it in wet ground, even along a stream, in a stormwater basin, or in a rain garden where your downspouts discharge. Because it’s a holly, you’ll need to plant a male and a female to get the berries. Full sun produces the best crop. Fall is a great time to plant, and many garden centers that sell holiday greenery still have winterberry shrubs for sale in November and December. Put a clump of these beauties in your landscape. Gorgeous!
Inside the doorway that leads to your editor’s 3,500 square foot garden hangs a small chalkboard upon which he records the common names of the species of birds that are seen there—or from there—during the year. If he remembers to, he records the date when the species was first seen during that particular year. On New Year’s Day, the results from the freshly ended year are transcribed onto a sheet of notebook paper. On the reverse, the names of butterflies, mammals, and other animals that visited the garden are copied from a second chalkboard that hangs nearby. The piece of paper is then inserted into a folder to join those from previous New Year’s Days. The folder then gets placed back into the editor’s desk drawer beneath a circular saw blade and an old scratched up set of sunglasses—so that he knows exactly where to find it if he wishes to.
A quick glance at this year’s list calls to mind a few recollections.
The 2019 bird list included 48 species, the 47 on the board plus Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which was logged on a slip of paper found tucked into the edge of the frame.
This Green Frog, photographed on New Year’s Day 2019, was “out and about” along the edge of the editor’s garden pond. Due to the recent mild weather, Green Frogs were active during the current New Year’s holiday as well.On a day with strong south winds in late February or during the first two weeks of March, there is often a conspicuous northbound spring flight of migrating waterfowl, gulls, and songbirds that crosses the lower Susquehanna valley as it departs Chesapeake Bay. These Tundra Swans were among the three thousand seen from the garden patio on March 13, 2019. A thousand migrating Canada Geese, 500 Red-winged Blackbirds, numerous Ring-billed Gulls, and some American Herring Gulls were seen during the same afternoon.This juvenile Cooper’s Hawk was photographed through the editor’s kitchen window. From its favorite perch on this arbor it would occasionally find success snagging a House Sparrow from the large local flock. It first visited the garden in November, the species being absent there since early spring. Unlike previous years, there was no evidence of a breeding pair in the vicinity during 2019.Plantings that provide food and cover for wildlife are essential to their survival. Native flowers including Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) and Partridge Pea provide nourishment for the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that visit the editor’s garden, but they really love a basket or pot filled with Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea) too. The latter (seen here) can be grown as a houseplant and moved outdoors to a semi-shaded location in summer and early fall. But remember, it’s tropical, so you’ll need to bring it back inside when frost threatens.A Swamp Sparrow is an unusual visitor to a small property surrounded by paved parking lots and treeless lawns. Nevertheless, aquatic gardens and native plants helped to attract this nocturnal migrant, seen here eating seeds from Indiangrass. It arrived on September 30 and was gone on October 2.
Before putting the folder back into the drawer for another year, the editor decided to count up the species totals on each of the sheets and load them into the chart maker in the computer.
Despite the habitat improvements in the garden, the trend is apparent. Bird diversity has not cracked the 50 species mark in 6 years. Despite native host plants and nectar species in abundance, butterfly diversity has not exceeded 10 species in 6 years.
It appears that, at the very least, the garden habitat has been disconnected from the home ranges of many species by fragmentation. His little oasis is now isolated in a landscape that becomes increasingly hostile to native wildlife with each passing year. The paving of more parking areas, the elimination of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous growth from the large number of rental properties in the area, the alteration of the biology of the nearby stream by hand-fed domestic ducks, light pollution, and the outdoor use of pesticides have all contributed to the separation of the editor’s tiny sanctuary from the travel lanes and core habitats of many of the species that formerly visited, fed, or bred there. In 2019, migrants, particularly “fly-overs”, were nearly the only sightings aside from several woodpeckers, invasive House Sparrows (Passer domesticus), and hardy Mourning Doves. Even rascally European Starlings became sporadic in occurrence—imagine that! It was the most lackluster year in memory.
The Tufted Titmouse was a daily visitor to the garden through 2018. This one was photographed investigating holes in an old magnolia there during the spring of that year. There were no Tufted Titmouse sightings in the garden in 2019. This and other resident species, especially cavity nesters, appear to be experiencing at least a temporary decline.Breeding birds including Northern Cardinals may have had a difficult year. In the editor’s garden, a pair were still feeding and escorting one of their young in early October. The infestation of the editor’s town by domestic house and feral cats may have contributed to the failure of earlier broods, but a lack of food is also a likely factor.
If habitat fragmentation were the sole cause for the downward trend in numbers and species, it would be disappointing, but comprehensible. There would be no cause for greater alarm. It would be a matter of cause and effect. But the problem is more widespread.
Although the editor spent a great deal of time in the garden this year, he was also out and about, traveling hundreds of miles per week through lands on both the east and the west shores of the lower Susquehanna. And on each journey, the number of birds seen could be counted on fingers and toes. A decade earlier, there were thousands of birds in these same locations, particularly during the late summer.
At about the time of summer solstice in June each year, Common Grackles begin congregating into roving summer flocks that will grow in size to assure their survival during the autumn migration, winter season, and return north in the spring. From his garden, the editor saw just one flock of less than a dozen birds during the summer of 2019. He saw none during his journeys through other areas of the Susquehanna valley. Flocks of one hundred birds or more did not materialize until the southbound movements of grackles passed through the region in October and November.
In the lower Susquehanna valley, something has drastically reduced the population of birds during breeding season, post-breeding dispersal, and the staging period preceding autumn migration. In much of the region, their late-spring through summer absence was, in 2019, conspicuous. What happened to the tens of thousands of swallows that used to gather on wires along rural roads in August and September before moving south? The groups of dozens of Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) that did their fly-catching from perches in willows alongside meadows and shorelines—where are they?
Several studies published during the autumn of 2019 have documented and/or predicted losses in bird populations in the eastern half of the United States and elsewhere. These studies looked at data samples collected during recent decades to either arrive at conclusions or project future trends. They cite climate change, the feline infestation, and habitat loss/degradation among the factors contributing to alterations in range, migration, and overall numbers.
There’s not much need for analysis to determine if bird numbers have plummeted in certain Lower Susquehanna Watershed habitats during the aforementioned seasons—the birds are gone. None of these studies documented or forecast such an abrupt decline. Is there a mysterious cause for the loss of the valley’s birds? Did they die off? Is there a disease or chemical killing them or inhibiting their reproduction? Is it global warming? Is it Three Mile Island? Is it plastic straws, wind turbines, or vehicle traffic?
The answer might not be so cryptic. It might be right before our eyes. And we’ll explore it during 2020.
A clean slate for 2020.
In the meantime, Uncle Ty and I going to the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg. You should go too. They have lots of food there.
