Our Blog
Methods Behind the Madness: Why Only Count the Most Birds Seen at Once?You’ve just sat down in your living room under a cozy blanket with a steaming mug of fresh coffee to begin your FeederWatch count. You watch for an hour as chickadees race back and forth to your feeder from deep…
Keeping House Sparrows away from feedersAn invasion of House Sparrows almost caused FeederWatcher Bill Kampen in Leavenworth, Washington, to stop feeding birds. A few sparrows appeared at Bill’s feeders one day, and soon there were so many House Sparrows that they crowded out other species….
Methods Behind the Madness: Why shouldn’t I start a count when I see an exciting species?Why shouldn’t I start a count when I see an exciting species? If you see a new or uncommon bird species, it’s completely understandable to want to report it on a FeederWatch count. It’s great to notice rare birds, but reporting counts only when you see exciting species misrepresents the birds at your feeders and makes it seem as if rare species are more common than they really are.
Preventing disease: What’s the best way to clean your bird feeders?Feeders can increase the risk of disease transmission in birds if they are not cleaned adequately. New research shows ideal cleaning methods to prevent the spread of disease among the feeder birds we love.
House Finch Eye Disease: Increased virulence as disease progressesRecent findings indicate that the pathogen that causes House Finch eye disease – Mycoplasma gallisepticum – is becoming stronger and more dangerous than earlier versions of the pathogen.
Reasons why we should keep our seed dryTrichomonas gallinae, a harmful parasite to birds, may have the ability to survive outside of its host. New research, however, has found that we may not have to worry. Find out what you can do to protect your feeder birds by keeping seed dry.
Who is the toughest bird?You may have an intuition about which species is the toughest bird at your feeder and which species is the most peaceful. Now you have the data to find out, thanks to Project FeederWatch participants collecting behavioral observations for the past two winters. Read our blog to learn who is the toughest bird (Hint: it’s not doves!).
Inspiring story of FeederWatch in a classroomAt a time when technology inundates our lives, it can be difficult to connect with the natural world. Jennifer Ford, a teacher at Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland, New York, has put FeederWatch to use in her classroom to do just that: connect students with nature and science in a very tangible way.
10-year FeederWatch Lifetime AwardCongratulations to Diane Cherbak of Mancos, Colorado! Diane has been involved with FeederWatch for ten years; however, she began bird-watching many year ago. Diane lives in the Piñyon-Juniper woodland, which is home to a wonderful diversity of birds including this Clark’s Nutcracker that she photographed.