By Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal
The first to arrive are two chickadees, flitting from one perch to the next as if they can’t believe their luck. Next come three House Finches, followed by a Northern Mockingbird, a Downy Woodpecker and a Tufted Titmouse as word seems to be getting around.
Within a full day of putting bird feeders on the back porch of the house where we’re staying in Tennessee, a clamorous and colorful parade of sparrows, cardinals, doves, woodpeckers and warblers find their way to the yard that until then seemed mostly devoid of birds.
For years, we couldn’t be part of one of the most popular birder’s experiences. For the past two decades, we lived in apartments first in Washington, D.C., and then in Raleigh, N.C., during a stretch when our interest in birds grew into an obsession. Even the smallest feeders were forbidden in both places.
That changed this winter with a move to Nashville, where we immediately put up two feeders, one a suet basket and the other a tall feeder with six perches on it. It’s been an absolute joy – as well as a full education – to sit for hours watching these birds come and go on the other side of the window panes.
At times, especially in the morning and toward the end of the day, the feeders turned into a riotous circus for these busy acrobats:
During the holiday season each year, we republished the most popular posts from the past 12 months. Readers seemed to love this story about the joys of bird feeders, which is a vital part of the birdwatching world. This story originally ran at the height of the spring migration, but feeders, of course, play an important role throughout the year. Watch this space the next several weeks for our favorite stories from 2025.
What feeders teach us
We both grew up with feeders, but our perspective is entirely different after the past decades of chasing, studying and writing about birds. Feeders let you to detect personalities and tricks of the avian trade as you watch many of the same birds day after day. You can pick up on the hierarchy in the birding kingdom and tune into the differences in species.
The House Finches sit the longest at our feeders, seemingly unbothered by other birds or the threat of predators. The Tufted Titmice and Black-capped Chickadees, on the other hand, come and go in seconds, constantly keeping an eye out for trouble while grabbing a few bites like fast food.
Many of the birds wait patiently for their turn to feed, as if following some sort of etiquette. Others chase off competitors, sometimes even though there are plenty of open perches. But by and large they seem to recognize there’s enough to go around and are willing to share the feast.
The lessons these birds share at the feeder are harder to detect in the wild, where mixed flocks don’t come together as they do on a feeder – and so much of the antics are hidden away in the high canopies and leafy trees.
How we benefit
It’s a reminder of how helpful feeders are – not just for birds, which obviously benefit from extra feed especially in these winter months. The more meaningful benefits, though, may be for people, who, like us, cannot help but be captivated by these little miracles. Feeders provide a window into a slice of nature that ebbs and flows with the seasons but almost never stops. It’s hard not to come away with a deep affection as well as concern for birds in general.
We’ve been staying at our son’s house as we make a move to our new place in Nashville. We’ll now be seeing birds from a new flyway – trading the Eastern Flyway for the mighty Mississippi, the busiest of them all. That means we’ll be getting to see a slightly different collection of resident as well as migratory birds. Soon we’ll be moving to a place of our own – and the first thing we’ll do is put up as many feeders as we can.
There’s no shortage of guidance on feeders, various types of bird feed and how to keep your feeders heathy and most useful for birds. Here’s an extensive collection of advice from the National Audubon Society’s rich and well-kept-up website. And here’s the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s index page of bird feeding links on its “All About Birds” site.
Bird feeders come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Here’s a good piece from The New York Times on what its Wirecutter staff found are the best feeders. And here’s a well-research article from Wired about new technologies in feeders that includes cameras, solar power and other trappings that help you learn about the birds and watch them close up. Finally, this Audubon article explains the issues surrounding bird flu and bird feeders. Well managed and clean feeders do not pose a threat to the spread of bird flu, but people who raise poultry are advised to take down their feeders and to follow the latest guidance from government agencies and bird nonprofits as they track the spread of bird fly.
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