Did You Know

Northern Flicker

Photo Credit: Jim Williams

Q. Why am I seeing a flicker at my suet feeder?

A. A number of people have reported seeing Northern flickers at their bird feeders this winter.
These may be birds from farther north that have migrated into our area, or local flickers that didn’t migrate at all. Although these birds, which are in the woodpecker family, subsist almost entirely on insects in spring and summer, they’re big fans of suet and wild fruit (including sumac berries) at this time of year.

Q. After a rain or wet snow, there are clumps in the seed in my feeders. Is this a problem?

A. Yes, it is. Those clumps mean the seed has gotten wet. This presents a problem for birds, because damp or wet seed is a breeding ground for disease. Please check your feeders after each storm and toss any clumps. It’s a good idea to completely clean out feeders every couple weeks and start over with fresh seed.

Q. The sparrow population seems to have exploded. They’re hogging the feeders and the other birds don’t seem to be coming in. What can we do to get rid of the sparrows?

A. House sparrows were busy breeders all summer, as you can see by their high numbers in your backyard this fall. Unfortunately, they are a fact of life around the home, but we don’t have to make it easy for them. Don’t toss seeds, cracked corn or crumbs on the ground, for starters, since they’re basically ground feeders. Try hanging a platform feeder suspended by a cord at each corner from a shepherd’s hook—since sparrows are fairly clumsy flyers, they seem to avoid this kind of arrangement. Try offering safflower seeds: sparrows will eat them but don’t seem to flock in for these seeds.

Q. Is it common for robins to eat suet? I’ve got a male coming to my suet two or three times a day.

A. I don’t think it’s common, but robins are fairly opportunistic feeders, willing to try new things while looking for food. Your robin probably observed other birds at the suet feeder, decided to try the suet and found that he liked the quick energy rush it gave him. He also may be stuffing some of that suet into his nestlings after finding it was a quick way to satisfy their noisy demands for food.

Q. Are birds color-blind?

A. Just the opposite, birds are highly sensitive to color, more so than humans. The fact that birds are so brilliantly colored is proof that color is important to them. They use color to discern which birds would make good mates, how healthy another bird is and which birds are youngsters needing some guidance. Birds see a broader spectrum of color than we do and they’re able to see some ultraviolet light, which we can’t.

Val Cunningham, who writes about birds for many publications, is also a field trip leader for St. Paul Audubon and conducts IBA and Breeding Bird Atlas surveys. A version of this piece appeared first in the Minneapolis StarTribune.