Find out what Project FeederWatch is, its history, and more
Find out how you FeederWatch, when you can FeederWatch, and what you'll need to do to get started
Review these instructions carefully before you count and enter data
Find out about types of feeders and types of foods, and where to place your feeder
Feeding Birds FAQs
Explore the winter distribution, food, and feeder preferences of common feeder birds.
Find out about color and plumage variations, bald heads, and deformed bills
Unusual Birds Gallery
Find out about bird disease and identifying the signs of bird disease
Sick Birds Gallery
Find out how to identify birds and download identification tools
Learn how to help birds as they seek out food sources, nesting habitat, protection, and more
Find educational resources for teachers, group leaders, and families
Find an article archive packed with lots of great bird study information
Learn about house finch eye disease
Review content from current and past BirdSpotter photo contests
Keep up to date with the latest FeederWatch happenings
These are exemplary FeederWatchers!
Send us your photos! Show us your count site, your birds, or you watching your site with loved ones!
Visit our live FeederWatch feedercams!
Cornell Lab of Ornithology feeders
Ontario (winter only)
See what birds occur the most by region
Explore species by state/province
See where FeederWatchers are
Graphs of regional population trends and distributions
Explore papers that have used FeederWatch data
Lab scientists analyze the data submitted by FeederWatch participants.
See birds well outside their winter range submitted to Project FeederWatch.
Start here for data entry and personal data review and exploration
Keep live track of your counts using the FeederWatch mobile app
Kim Dunphy
St. John's, NL, Canada
Putting out seed and suet to feed the birds that feeders attract is an engaging way to pass time especially in the winter. I often spend hours every day watching the birds feed and interact from the comfort of my living room window. Birds such as Black-capped chickadees, Red-breasted nuthatches, Dark-eyed juncos, American goldfinches and of course Northern Flickers are the standard fare through the wind, snow, sleet, hail and blizzards that winter brings. I’ve also come to accept that where I create a place for birds to gather and feed, so too does it provide a place for predatory birds to hunt and feed as well. It’s taken me a little while to get used to losing one of “my birds” to predation, but this is the cycle of life that I am reminded of when that happens. Now when I witness a Sharpie swoop in and catch himself a meal, I don’t only mourn for the finch, I cheer for the hawk too. All of our winged creatures need to eat and it as a good thing that the hawk has caught himself another warm meal on a cold winter’s day.
Predatory birds
A Sharp-shinned hawk enjoys a free meal of AM Goldfinch. While sometimes it is difficult to see this happen at your feeders, I've come to accept that all birds need to eat, whether it be seed, suet or another bird.
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