Advantages of Backyard Bird Feeding Part 1 - Behavior

Bird feeding is the second most popular hobby in the United States, right behind gardening. Watching birds at the feeder can be really fun but is under appreciated by many. What they likely don't realize is watching birds at the feeder can help you better understand bird identification and behavior. 

Today we'll tackle behavior.

There are two main kinds of behavior that you can observer, inter and intraspecific. Don't let the oddly similar words (that continue to confuse me) worry you. The meaning behind them is simple..

Interspecific competition is where individual birds of different species compete

Intraspecific competition is where individual birds of the same species compete.

So same species, or different species.

Like when a Blue Jay flies in and scares off the other birds. That is interspecific communication between that Blue Jay and those other individuals. The Blue Jay competing with those other individuals and influencing their behavior.

Boat-Tailed Grackles posturing in South Carolina 
(Ron Cogswell)

I spent a lot of time growing up watching Common Grackles interact in my backyard. These birds, which are found in large flocks across a lot of the eastern and central U.S., are scorned by many. If you can get past the noise they really are comical to watch. They spend a lot of time throwing their heads up and trying to intimidate each other. They call, puff up, and show off. If you watch them long enough you can start to see the social structure, who is above who on the social scale. 

You can see similar behavior in many species of birds from Brown-headed Cowbirds to Blue Jays and sparrows. 

This kind of competition can be really easy to observe, especially between birds of drastically different size or disposition (aggressive Blue Jays versus passive sparrows). Watching the behavior of birds of the same species takes more careful observation. Despite these challenges it can be very interesting.

Many species of birds live in flocks and have complex social structures which dictate who can eat when and with whom. If you watch a flock long enough you can start to identify individuals and understand how they all interact.

Having a bird feeder makes this a lot easier since food is one of the big things that birds compete over. Watch and see which birds spend most of their time feeding, which sit above each other on the feeder, or which chase each other off. The birds that win these interactions are often more dominant, or may be making a move up the social ladder.

If you don't have the space for a bird feeder of your own many parks and nature centers have feeders you can watch as well, either in person, or via web cam. (Check out this great South Texas webcam at Sabal Palms!) Its a good way to meet other birders as well!

How to start birding - Christmas Bird Counts

My dad on our local CBC back in 2007;
Clearly not a serious affair

Birding can be intimidating when you want to stop just watching the birds at the bird feeder and tagging along on a local birding trip might be too much, especially during migration when there is so much going on.

One way I have seen lots of people get into birding is by helping out with their local Christmas Bird Counts. Winter is a more low key time of year for birding. Plus the people who volunteer with Christmas Bird Counts (or CBCs are they are sometimes called) are really friendly and often more then willing to take a newbie or two along for the ride.

Christmas Bird Counts often don't actually happen on Christmas, but sometime between December 14 and January 5th. Counts happen all over the country, check out the Audubon Society's website to find one near you.

The Christmas Bird Count has been going on for over one hundred years and helps provide a great snap shot of the distribution of birds during the winter months. While many of the species who call North America home aren't around during the winter those who are are really unique ecologically.

Depending on where you live, make sure to dress for the weather appropriately and if you have binoculars bring them and be prepared to become more familiar with the birds who live around you all the time. One of the best ways to gain confidence as a new birder is to learn the birds who you'll see all the time so you know whats new and what isn't.

Some of my fondest CBC memories are of watching Brown Creepers forage on tree trunks and watching Bald Eagles soar over the Sandusky Bay. These are birds who are around Ohio year round but often we don't pay them any mind but getting to know these resident birds can be really useful. If you know what is around all the time it helps you be better prepared for when the migrants come through or the rare birds show up and the more time you spend studying your resident birds the more you can enjoy them all the time and get to know them in a way you likely won't know the beautiful warblers of spring.

So if you have some free time over the holidays, or need to escape the chaos this time of year I'd really encourage you to check out your local CBC and see if you can help out for a day, or even half a day and meet some local birders, learn about your local birds!