Birds at Your Feeder?

 If you feed wild birds through the winter, you may have noticed that you are not seeing the numbers that you may have in past years.  There may be various reasons for this decline in feeder birds, from fewer birds to more natural food available after the past couple of mild winters.  One thing that has affected the numbers of certain species in some areas locally is the loss of particular habitats for one reason or another.  It seems that no one really knows where the birds are or why they are not visiting our feeders.  This situation is not unique to our area.  It seems that while some of us were concerned and questioning the lack of birds late this past fall and early winter, so were hundreds of people along the east coast.  If you are interested in participating in the Michigan Audubon Society’s feeder survey which tracts species and numbers of birds at feeders statewide, call 616-381-9738 or email radams@naturecenter.org.

Good Time to View Birds

birds at our feeders, the cold and snowy weather has made for good viewing of some other birds.   Not only is winter a good time to enjoy birds while walking in the woods, it is also a great time to visit open water in the rivers and lakes near Lake Michigan.  On my annual New Year's day bird outing this year, a friend and I sited 35 different species, including two Bald Eagles and several ducks.  It was well worth the drive to Grand Haven!  Three good places to visit within a reasonable distance from Hudsonville are the Grand River in down town Grand Haven, Pigeon Lake, and Lake Macatawa in Holland.

 Species Profile

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Regulus satrapa

top of the head that is difficult to see and stands erect when he is agitated.

Although the Golden-crowned Kinglet is mainly a migrant and winter resident in lower Michigan, a few have been recorded as far south as Ottawa and Kalamazoo counties.  The main breeding habitats are the cool coniferous forests of North America, most of which are from Michigan’s upper peninsula north and extending both east and west.  Their nests can be difficult to locate as they construct a hanging nest that is well concealed in the branches of a pine or spruce tree.  The nest, which is up to four inches deep and made of mosses, lichens, twigs and feathers, can take up to a month to build and will be home to 8 or 9 eggs during incubation.

In winter these kinglets can be found in various woodland types, but prefer those with at least some conifers.  These little birds can be difficult to identify as they move around quite quickly and often forage for insects in the tops of trees.  Although they are very hardy little birds, hard winters such as in the 1970’s can dramatically decrease the numbers, which fortunately rebound in milder years.

NABA Local Chapter

 Are you interested in butterflies?  If you are, you may want to consider attending the first meeting of the West Michigan chapter of the North American Butterfly Association, which will