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
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These are exemplary FeederWatchers!
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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
Joan Wiitanen
Tear Lake, Stanton Township, MI, United States
Blackbirds & Thrushes
I observed a male grackle pick up food from a birdfeeder, fly to the branch of a ginko tree and feed a female grackle beak to beak. Earlier today I observed the same behavior between a male cardinal and female cardinal. That is considered mating behavior according to GOOGLE. Is this the same for the Grackles?
Hi Judy, Common Grackles don’t typically participate in courtship feeding like cardinals. Given the time of year, you’re most likely seeing adults feeding recently fledged young. Immature birds will follow parents around for several weeks after they leave the nest. Immature birds are a dull brownish overall, while adults are more iridescent brownish-black, with dark blueish-green iridescent heads. You can see examples of their plumages on this page.
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