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A flock of snow geese

White-breasted nuthatch

Today my dad and my aunt and I got up early to do the
Christmas Bird Count. This is an initiative of the Audubon Society that’s coordinated by Bird Studies Canada north of the border.

While it was freezing rain, and thus rather slippery out, we braved the weather in the Frontenac Arch region to track down as many little chirpers as possible. By going out bird watching for several hours, we were adding puzzle pieces to the entire picture of bird health in North America. This is nothing new — the bird count’s being going on since 1900 when people began to notice changes in bird populations. It’s great to be able to help experts see the trends in bird populations across North America.

In spite of the drizzle keeping most birds hidden in the treetops or huddled among the bushes, we saw some of the usual suspects around my parents’ house, such as the common mergansers, chickadees, a white-breasted nuthatch, but there was also a silhouette a shady high-fliers, a bald eagle early in the day and a raven. My dad even spotted a “v” formation of 17 snow geese.

Some people make the bird count a little easier by topping up their bird feeders the day before and doing the first part of the Christmas bird count out the kitchen window, and I don’t blame them, especially on days like today.

Even if you’ve missed the bird count, it’s worth keeping a log of the birds that visit your area from year to year, to get your own idea of the health of local bird populations (not to mention a few priceless photos). You can spot the birds, but you can also listen for them to identify them. Here’s a site of bird calls to help you figure out who’s who.

Have you seen any interesting birds at your feeder this year?

While the snow was pretty much blanketing my neighbourhood in February, I made an effort to feed the native birds flitting around the area. The ROM online field guide was pretty handy in helping me identify them.

These little guys never cease to amaze me. They have incredible memories, and most return to the same area every time they migrate. They can fly for hours, covering hundreds of kilometres in a day.

Somehow large groups of them make it through a shrinking food supply from habitat loss, large-scale factory farms, pesticides and other toxins… by the time they’re here they’re like little miracles in my books. This winter in my Toronto backyard, I had male and female cardinals, a blue jay, a downy woodpecker, juncos, purple finches, house swallows and a few little guys I have yet to identify.

So far I’ve been using wild bird seed mix and a seed cone, which works well hanging on my clothesline. My dad’s a biologist; he mentioned that I should put out water for them whenever I can, since they have a hard time finding water sources in winter. Clean water (not salty puddles) is likely a rare treat for them right now, so I put a black water dish out — the dark colour heats up in the sun, keeping the water from freezing even when it’s below zero.

I’d love to get even more feather traffic in my yard. Do you have any bird food tips or any other tricks to attract birds to your yard? If so, please share!