Keep An Eye Out for New Visitors

Fall and Winter are moving in, but that isn’t the only thing new around here. You may have spotted a few feathered out-of-towners that may be sticking around for winter.

Winter is a great time to look for uncommon bird species. Juncos and other sparrows and finches may be making a repeat appearance in your yard this winter as many of them come back to the same exact location each year.

Some common Fall/Winter visitors include:

White-crowned Sparrows

California & Spotted Towhees

Bewicks & House Wrens

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Woodpeckers such as Nutalls, Downey, Hairy, as well as the Northern Flicker and Red-naped Sapsucker

Black-capped Chicakadee

White and Red Breasted Nuthatches

Cedar Waxwings

Western Scrub-Jays

Ruby-crowned Kinglets

Bushtits

Anna's, Rufous/Allens, & Costas Hummingbirds (Here year-round in Southern California so keep your feeders up!)

 

Keep your feeders full and look for birds associated with “irruptions.” When natural winter food supplies are scarce in northern Canada, numerous bird species “irrupt,” migrating south in search of food.

 

Offer a Variety to Get a Variety!

Not all birds eats the same thing. To get a variety offer a variety. 

Some great offerings include:

Peanuts (with shell and without)

Nyjer

Suet Cakes, Cylinders, & Stackables

Bark Butter

Live Mealworms

Nectar

Millet

Black Oil Sunflower

 

The most common irruptive birds are Pine Siskins and Purple Finches

Be a seasonally savvy bird feeder by offering the right food (in the right place), to better your chances of attracting some of these birds.

Juncos

Lovers of millet, you can attract Juncos to your yard by offering WBU Deluxe Blend in a ground feeder or hopper feeder. They’re persistent foragers and have been known to burrow through snow in search of seeds.

Pine Siskins & Purple Finches 

These “winter finches” are attracted to WBU Finch Feeders filled with Nyjer® or WBU Finch Blend. You can also attract them to your Seed Tube Feeders by offering blends with sunflower chips like our WBU No-Mess Blend.