Backyard bird watching is mostly connected with feeders. Birders love to place the feeder in their yard or even sometimes on their windows to attract those beautiful creatures.
But, If you are a newcomer in this society, you might think about how do birds find bird feeders? Even I am seeing thousands of queries on the bird community that how birds find the new feeder.
Here, In this article, I will explain the process that they use to find a feeder.
Vision and memorizing
Except for some seabirds and vultures, Most birds don’t have any strong sense of smell. So, They use their sense of vision to find out the feeder seeds. If they watch a feeder with seeds or food sources on their eyesight, they will eat there. Sometimes, before landing on the feeder, they haven’t any idea whether there are seeds on it.
Karen Wiebe, professor of the University of Saskatchewan in saskatoon, said about this topic on CBC that “birds use their learning and memory to find seeds. They have an exceptional ability to find foods source even years earlier. Also, They have the ability to remember the particular feeder.”
Sound
Birds have excellent and well-developed sound senses. Many birds use a wide range of calls, songs, and even non-vocal sounds to communicate with their community. Also, They use this sound to find food and water.
Birds are trying to trace the freshwater using the sound source. Therefore, Placing a birdbath and water source near the feeder also helps birds to discover the feeders.
Feeder Itself
A large amount of the population in America is directly connected with briding. A recent survey was issued in 2019 from FWS where 39 million people were “ around the home birder” ( according to 2016 data). Surely, The number of birders increases those years dramatically.
So, Surely Plenty of bird feeders is available in birders’ backyards. I already mention that birds have strong memorizing abilities. Therefore, When they find a feeder they can remember the feeder and its location which also increases the chance of birds’ presence of feeders.
Also, In the market, various types of feeders are available for specific birds. So, When birds take their food from a specific feeder, they remember the feeder. When they see the same type of feeder in other yards, they can match this with the previous one and land on the feeder to inquire if there is any food available for them.
Feeder placing location and type also play a vital role in whether birds can find feeders or not. Because Every species doesn’t follow the same way of finding feeders and taking food, you can check out your local Audubon society or birding groups which species are most common in your local area. According, that information, you can select feeder types that are popular among local birds.
In addition, birds like orioles have a strong attraction to orange color. So, The color of the feeder also helps birds to find the feeder.
