Robins are doing just fine in our winters

Q: I’m worried about the robins I’m still seeing in winter’s cold weather. I worry that our warm fall made them miss migration, and now they’re in for a shock.

A: You don’t need to worry that the robins you see in December and later are going to succumb to the cold, en masse. Winter nights have been on a warming trend for decades now, and this is allowing many robins to make it through our winters, as long as they can find sources of food and water. Dried fruit and hackberry tree berries are major menu items for them, and heated bird baths and natural areas with seeps and springs, like Crosby Farm Regional Park in St. Paul, draw them in. At night they tend to roost in dense evergreens with other robins, sometimes by the thousands.

Q: I finally found out what animal has been emptying my feeder overnight: Looking out the other morning I spied a deer licking up the seeds at the feeder. No more filling it up in late afternoon.

A: Glad you solved your mystery, and your solution is a good one. Another approach might be to take in the feeder at night, so late-feeding birds like cardinals can feed just before dark.

Q: A recent column about downy woodpeckers hacking into seeds reminded me of what happens each fall at my home in a wooded area. Every year when I go to wash the crank-out windows on the lower level, I find that some industrious bird has stuffed bits of food in the crack between the window and the lower sill. Just went to check and, sure enough, there are chunks of suet and shelled acorn bits in there. Chickadees and nuthatches are my prime suspects because I’ve caught them doing this, but downies might also be suspected. I find this behavior hilarious and heartwarming.

A: Thanks for the interesting tale, and what fun for you to find a wild creature’s food cache. Before looking at the photo you sent, I’d have guessed a blue jay was doing this, because of the hard-to-open acorn bits, but such a large bird wouldn’t fit into that gap. Since you’ve seen cachers adding to their hoard, I’ll have to revise my ideas about which birds hide what foods.

Q: Can owls really turn their heads all the way around?

A: Nope, but this zombie assertion seems to never die. Owls and other birds with fixed eye sockets must turn their heads to see to the side and up and down, unlike humans. But owls can only swivel their necks about 270 degrees, which is still impressive.

Q: How do you tell male chickadees from females?

A: You don’t: Both genders look so much alike that even researchers who’ve studied them for years can’t tell them apart.

Q: I like to feed birds but I’m concerned that there’s not enough shelter in my backyard to help them survive the cold, especially on windy days. Should I put up a roost box, or what else can I do for them?

A: That’s an excellent question, and you’re so right, our winter birds need a great deal of food to make it through each day, but they also need to be able to get out of winter’s cutting winds.

There’s some question about whether birds will use a roost box — I had one for several years and no birds ever went inside, as far as I could tell. A brush pile is a great idea (the National Audubon Society can guide you on this; check audubon.org/news/build-brush-pile-birds). So many ground-feeding birds, from sparrows to cardinals to mourning doves, seek shelter in brush piles, either those made by nature or by humans.

Evergreens offer shelter year-round, but especially in winter. You don’t have to plant towering spruce or pines; instead, think of dense shrubs clustered together. In my backyard, I have false cypress, white pine, yews and juniper shrubs and these are very popular with winter’s birds. They rush into the shrubbery when a Cooper’s hawk wings through, and they rest there after eating seeds from the feeders.

Q: I prefer not to stock my feeders with black oil sunflower seeds because of the effect on my lawn. Are there other seeds that my backyard birds will enjoy?

A: I understand your wish not to have the grass under your feeders killed off by the mild toxin in black oiler hulls. There certainly are other foods to offer to birds, including safflower seeds. Most of my backyard birds, from cardinals to house finches to chickadees, relish these seeds, especially the brown variety that’s now available. An added benefit: House sparrows are not fond of safflower seed. Birds are also big fans of shelled sunflower seeds and these lack hulls that could damage the lawn beneath feeders.

Q: Why do cardinals sing in the winter?

A: Good question. Cardinal songs accomplish two things: They establish and maintain their territory, and strengthen a bond with their mate before the breeding season. One of winter’s cheeriest sights is a bright red cardinal on the top of a leafless tree, singing “what-cheer” over and over. He’s signaling to other male cardinals that he owns the surrounding territory and to his mate that she should stick with him because he will be a good provider at the nest.

Note to readers: The Minnesota DNR has a new eagle cam, a web camera trained on a bald eagle nest, sharing live scenes from an existing nest somewhere in the metro area. An older nest developed a global following until the nest blew down in a storm in 2023. You can tune in at dnr.state.mn.us/features/webcams/eaglecam.

St. Paul resident Val Cunningham, who volunteers with bird organizations and writes about nature for local, regional and national newspapers and magazines, can be reached at valwrites@comcast.net.