January 9th takes an exciting look at the bustling activity around bird tables during the winter months. From the acrobatics of tits and the antics of grey squirrels to the rare sightings of nuthatches and woodpeckers, this article will delve into the fascinating behaviours and interactions of garden visitors. Discover the pecking order, the clever food-stashing habits, and the surprising dynamics of bird table life. Don't miss out on this captivating exploration of winter wildlife right in your backyard!
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Bird Tables
Activity around bird tables is now at its peak. The acrobatics of tits, the pecking order as to who can have the first peck at a fat ball as well as the antics of grey squirrels trying to get into nutfeeders can all be enjoyed now.
Rarer visitors to bird tables, especially on the edge of London, may include nuthatches, lesser redpolls, jays, greater spotted woodpeckers and siskins. The most likely visitors are blue tit, robin, great tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit, chaffinch and greenfinch. Shy hedge sparrows have now returned to gardens and may already be pairing. They are seen more often searching for scraps beneath the feeders
Rarer visitors to bird tables, especially on the edge of London, may include nuthatches, lesser redpolls, jays, greater spotted woodpeckers and siskins. The most likely visitors are blue tit, robin, great tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit, chaffinch and greenfinch. Shy hedge sparrows have now returned to gardens and may already be pairing. They are seen more often searching for scraps beneath the feeders. They can be joined by hungry thrushes and blackbirds who may now be finding much of their usual diet elsewhere unavailable.
Thrushes steal from hedge sparrows and woodpeckers steal from starlings. The behaviour patterns shown by birds at the bird table is well worth closer inspection. Coal tits often fly away with food to secrete it on leaf litter and then return for more. Jays do the same, although they prefer to hide their cache in crevices.
Male song thrushes are said to drive away female blackbirds but not males and starlings in groups can even unnerve a much larger mistle thrush. When robins arrive, they stand with their legs slightly apart and sway from side to side before chasing off any rival.
The arrival of a great spotted woodpecker with its fearsome beak usually completely clears the decks. At the end of the day it is always worth looking for birds at the bottom of the pecking order that may be dining alone in the half light.
Nests
The bare branches conceal little now and what was a perfectly hidden nest last summer is now blatantly obvious. Nests differ radically in their construction and January is a good time to speculate which bird made which nest. However, caution has to be exercised when investigating as some are still being used for roosting.
Some birds occasionally start a new nest this month. After a very mild December mistle thrushes, song thrushes, collared doves, blackbirds, feral pigeons, tits, robins, wrens, dunnocks, house sparrows, chaffinches and starlings have all been known to build them. Consequently all these birds may be seen with nest material in their beaks. If sparrows are seen with feathers it is thought to be for their roosts, if seen with straw they may be building nests.
Herons may be seen re-arranging large snapped off twigs in their enormous shallow nests which are usually constructed in a strong fork of a tall tree. By the end of the month rooks may be seen returning to rookeries and jackdaws starting to congregate around old buildings.
Magpies and rooks may also be seen rearranging nest material. In an exceptionally mild January, even eggs have been found in blackbird and hedge sparrow nests. They have one small advantage which may explain this. Both prefer to feed in among leaves under bushes looking for insects and invertebrates.
Even after frost or snow, this is one of the few places where food is still available. This also could account for their relative absence around bird tables.
The rarest nest of all to find is that of the harvest mouse. Last year’s nests would be at their most visible now in cornfields but few if any are to be found nowadays.
