Disorderly queues form at the bird table

THE latest news from the bird table is that the goldfinches are back. In accordance with the latest theories, I kept on feeding the birds all through the summer.

There were plenty of customers but the mix of species was different. Goldfinches never disappeared completely but they were rare and only came in ones.

They love niger seed and this is so small you have to use special feeders. Mine only accommodates two birds at a time. But recently, for the first time since March, there has been a disorderly, quarrelsome queue for the feeder. This was to be expected. Goldfinches, like many other small birds, form flocks in the winter but lead less gregarious lives in family units during the summer.

I wondered was wondering why this should be. What advantage did the birds gain from flocking together in the winter? Then I decided I was probably asking the wrong question. The winter flock is probably the default mode, their natural way of life. It’s only the more personal business of mating, nesting and rearing young that causes a departure from the norm.

There are probably other factors as well. Robins were infrequent visitors to the bird table during the summer and one of the most common species during the winter.

Many resident small birds have quite different summer and winter diets.

In summer, they mostly eat insects and other invertebrates and this high-protein food gives them the energy to rear a brood. When the weather gets colder and there are fewer insects they revert to a vegetarian diet of seeds and fruits which are richer in carbohydrates.

The food I put on my bird table is mostly vegetarian so it’s more likely to appeal to the tastes of a bird such as a robin in the winter.

One excellent piece of news is that my local colony of house sparrows, which appeared to be on the verge of dying out, has flourished. There are now so many they can empty a small feeder of mixed bird seed in less than a day. I don’t begrudge this, because the species is under pressure. And I believe, though I can’t prove it, that my decision to keep feeding through the summer helped this local population to pull back from the verge of extinction.

There have been great tits hanging out of the peanut feeder all day every day. The blue tits abandoned it for a short time during the breeding season when they were busy bringing caterpillars to their young but soon came back. The coal tits disappeared until a few weeks ago.

I was pleased to see a small but steady increase in greenfinch visits. They’re not as common as they were years ago but they seem to have had a reasonable breeding success this year despite the awful weather.

The chaffinches puzzle me a bit. They’re one of the most common birds around here — in fact they’re one of the most common birds in Ireland. My bird table and feeders are stuffed with things they love to eat and they will happily hop around on the ground and pick up stuff that gets spilled. But they’re reluctant, particularly the males, to land on the bird table or use the feeders.

Now that the goldfinches are back I’m looking forward to the arrival of some other winter species. The siskins and linnets should be here soon and if it gets really cold there might be redpolls. And maybe this year I’ll be able to add something new to the list — perhaps there’ll be a brambling or even a visit from a flock of long-tailed tits.

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