2017 Blue Jay Status

January weather typically includes a bout of cold temperatures and snow cover. These conditions bring an increase in activity at the Blue Jay Barrens birdfeeders and give me an opportunity to assess the local Blue Jay population.

Blue Jay numbers are running at about their normal level this year. Except for one or two birds that have a distinctive marking or unique behavioral trait, I can’t tell the individual birds apart, so I don’t know for certain how many are year-round residents of Blue Jay Barrens and how many have just moved in for the winter. The general behavior of the flock makes me think that the majority of individuals are here all 12 months of the year. In particular, I don’t believe that a new arrival would automatically know to sit in the apple tree and yell when the feeder goes empty.

As always, the almost constant movement between the feeding area and the nearby trees makes it nearly impossible to get an accurate count. I spotted 29 Blue Jays in the previous photo, including the one in the air. I know there were at least 47 here at one time, but at that same time I could see several more moving in the trees at the edge of the field a few hundred feet away.

The feeder on the post contains black oil sunflower seed. The area at the base of the tree in the upper right-hand corner of the photo gets a few cups of cracked corn scattered out each morning.

Second to the Blue Jays in producing consistently high numbers in the feeder area are the Cardinals. In between trips to the feeder, the Cardinals tend to hang out in the dry stalks of Giant Ragweed and Wingstem adjacent to the feeder.  The smaller feeder visitors also seem to prefer this area for feeding and loafing. The large crop of seeds produced by these plants has now been nearly consumed.

The tall plant stalks have been battered by rain, wind, and snow, but they continue to remain upright.

It’s not uncommon to count 30 or 40 Cardinals in the feeder area at one time. Most take their seed from the ground instead of directly from the feeder.

Mourning Doves typically arrive a couple hours after sunrise. There are usually 25 or 30 individuals in this flock.

Most of the doves in the area spend the winter gleaning seed from nearby harvested crop fields. A deep snow can make that source of food inaccessible, and the result is a substantial increase in Mourning Doves at the feeder.

These two Blue Jays demonstrate how so much sunflower seed gets on the ground beneath the feeder. They scrape seed up and over the edge of the feeder tray until they find just the seed they want. This also explains why my feeder sometimes so rapidly runs out of feed. I thought for a while that they were searching for the few shelled seeds that could be found in the mix, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. When they start to load up with seed, it’s just the standard seed in a shell. Maybe they just want to be sure that their friends down below have plenty to eat.

Cardinals - The Evening Birds

The composition of species at the bird feeder progressively changes through the course of a day.  I think of Blue Jays as the morning birds, because they make their most concentrated visits shortly after sunrise.  At the other end of the day are the Cardinals, the last birds to leave the feeders in the evening gloaming.  With an intensified twilight appearance at the feeders, Cardinals are definitely the evening birds.

The Cardinals are as difficult to count as the Blue Jays.  There is a constant coming and going from the seed scattered beneath the Apple tree.

The tree itself is packed with resting Cardinals.  The blue of the morning Blue Jays is now replaced with the red of the evening Cardinals.

Cardinals usually fill the feeder to capacity.  A Tree Sparrow, trying hard to maintain its place at the feeder, is about to be displaced by a Cardinal.

Fallen sunflower seed in the vicinity of the feeder is quickly cleaned up by the Cardinals.  Rarely do they forage alone.

A mob typifies their more normal foraging behavior.  Many of these birds, in the company of their parents, made their first journey to the feeder this past summer.  Each year, I find a few Cardinal nests tucked away among thick cedar branches.

The glare of the setting sun sometimes makes it difficult to view the birds, but it also makes the Cardinals shine that much brighter.  I haven’t seen many unusual birds at the feeder this year, but the residents have been here in strong numbers.

Cardinal Nest

I know that Northern Cardinals can extend their nesting season into September, but this is the first time I’ve found a nest with eggs this late in the season. Of course, this hasn’t been a typical year. I think the rainy spring weather disrupted the nesting attempts of many species. I have found a lot of late nests, but I’ve not seen many young birds.

I was hurrying through this field yesterday evening when I flushed a female cardinal from a cedar tree. The way she carried on told me that there was probably something in the tree worth taking a look at. I stopped to investigate.

Far out on some side branches was a nest. Located about six feet off the ground, it looked like a typical collection of debris that you’re likely to find stuck in the branches of any old cedar.

For nests that are within easy reach of predators, I guess it’s best not to look too much like a nest.

Considering the violent storm that came through here early Sunday morning, these eggs are lucky to be intact. A cluster of large cedars to the west of the nest site must have been enough to provide a wind break sufficient to keep the nest tree calm. I watched some more exposed cedars get whipped and bounced in a way that would have dislodged anything held in the branches. I wish these eggs continued good luck.

The female Cardinal continued to circle and scold as I photographed her nest. I finished up as quickly as I could, so she could get back to her duties.