Q: I’m happy that the juncos are back, and want to put out foods they like. What do you recommend?
A: You could attract dark-eyed juncos in a couple different ways. One would be to plant native plants to provide seeds in fall and winter. For example, I have a small raingarden planted with several kinds of native grasses, and the juncos and other sparrows seem to like to land on top of a grass stalk and “ride” it to the ground to pick off its seeds. Another way to attract juncos is to provide the small seeds they relish. With their small beaks they can’t open larger shells, so they prefer small foods, including millet, cracked corn and sunflower heart pieces. They primarily feed on the ground, but if you provide these seeds in a tray, they’ll learn to visit it.
Shouting sparrows
Q: When I visit a relative at her senior center we often sit outside, near a brick wall covered in vines. Toward evening, a bunch of sparrows comes to sit inside and outside of the vine’s foliage, making a big racket. It’s quite entertaining to listen to them, but I wonder what they are doing, flying in and out and making all that noise at that time of day?
A: I’m betting that these are house sparrows, social birds that like to spend time around each other. They tend to feed in groups, then perch in a tree or shrub and loudly cheep and chirp, possibly to share information. I call these “sparrow shout fests,” and scientists speculate that they’re exchanging information about good sources of food, good places to shelter or whatever else sparrows might want to chat about. I often hear my local sparrows engaging in this activity around noon, then again later in the day, before heading to places to roost for the night. The sparrows at the senior center like the vines because these allow them to perch without being seen by predators (but their loud chatter does catch attention).
Turkey trot
Q: A turkey was scratching the soil underneath an oak tree in my local park, and I’m wondering what it was searching for?
A: One of the most sought-after natural foods in autumn is the acorn, and wild turkeys are wild for these oak tree nuts. Acorns are also prized by gray and red squirrels (and flying squirrels), white-tailed deer, raccoons, mallards and wood ducks, crows and blue jays, and others.
What’s up with robins?
Q: What’s going on with robins? It seems that their pattern is changing, some winters there are flocks of them, other winters just a few. This spring they disappeared in early summer and I haven’t seen them since. Is this because of global warming?
A: There may be two different factors affecting whether you see robins in your neighborhood. For starters, the robins that usually nest around you may not have returned this spring, or they may have raised one brood and then moved to a different site for their second nest. As for robins in winter, some — primarily males — do stick around all winter, and this has been true for decades. Because they’re not bound to a nesting territory, these winter robins are fairly nomadic, going where they can find fruit to eat and open water to drink. They don’t need to defend a territory in winter, so they join up in large flocks to make foraging easier. And sometimes thousands of robins will flock in to share a nighttime roost, often in a stand of conifers.
