No Birds in Your Backyard? 

During the winter months we get this question almost on a daily basis. There were birds at the feeders, having drinks at the heated birdbath, foraging through the shrubs and leaf litter and then suddenly they are gone and do not return. WHY?

Raptors

The visit of a raptor to your area is often the number one reason your birds leave your yard to forage elsewhere. What is a raptor? - it is a bird of prey. Raptors eat other animals for food, including birds. The raptors most often seen in suburban backyards are part of the accipiter family, the Sharp-shinned Hawk or the Cooper’s Hawk occasionally a Red-tailed Hawk which is part of the buteo family. That is not to say other raptor species will not visit your yard. We have had reports of an American Kestral (a falcon) in a backyard and just recently a Broad-winged Hawk (a buteo - our smallest). But no matter which raptor it is the results are the same, no songbirds!

You will not always see the raptor. We have some customers, who even after we go through all the possible reasons for no birds, and the raptor scenario seems the most likely still doubt raptors visit the city. They do. And it's not that the raptors are not in the city year round, many nest in local parks, (we have Cooper's Hawks who nest in our local park, West Deane Park on an annual basis) but it is in winter that they tend to show up in your yard more often.

Winter is a time period that all birds need more food to generate energy (body heat) to survive the cold days and nights. Songbirds will start to visit backyard bird feeders more frequently. Up to 30% of their diet will be provided food in winter versus as low as 5% to not required in the summer and autumn. Accipiters hunt songbirds in the forest, that is what Mother Nature designed them to do, so when the songbirds have to leave the forest to find additional food for survival at backyard bird feeders, the raptors follow.

How can you tell if a raptor was in your yard? Have you seen a scattered pile of feathers in the yard? This is a sure sign of a raptor, they pluck their prey before and while eating. When looking for the raptor check out tall trees near the top (a good place to start), the raptor will sit and check out the area for prey. Maybe you have noticed a big dark shape in a tree. The raptor will also just come and sit on your fence or maybe even on top of the feeder pole.

If it was a raptor that scared your birds away it can take a long time (weeks to months – the first winter we had a raptor in the yard we lost our birds for almost three months) for the birds to return with regular frequency. Now when a raptor arrives in our yard, our songbirds return within days. We made some changes.

Make sure the feeders are within 10 feet of cover. This allows the birds a quick location to escape to. Conifers (trees that do not lose their leaves - pine, spruce etc) are great, the basic cedar hedge is fantastic and brush piles are amazing! I think the best thing we ever did for our songbirds to help keep them safe was the addition of a brush pile. We have seen the hawk sit on top of the brush pile while our songbirds burrow themselves into the tangle of branches and stay safe.

A brush pile is made up of pruned tree/shrub branches, branches knocked down by storms and the ultimate brush pile add-on, your old Christmas tree (real of course). Our brush pile has about three years of old Christmas trees, re-purposed and re-used, they work great!

Is a raptor in the yard the only reason for no birds at the feeders? No, there are other reasons but this is the one we find most people have trouble accepting. If you would like to talk to us about this problem come and visit us at the store and we can review all of the possibilities.