The Fall Slowdown

Full feeder - no birds. Must be fall!

“My birds don’t like me anymore. They all left.”

“I haven’t had to fill the bird feeder for days.”

“The last bag of seed I bought must have been bad because the birds won’t eat it.”

I will be hearing these comments from our customers a lot over the next two months. We are officially entering the season I call the “fall slowdown”.

While I see this pattern every fall, I am still surprised by the decline in activity at my feeders as the slowdown builds. Not everyone notices a big drop in feeder activity, but most of us are affected. I won’t pretend to know all the reasons for this phenomenon but I do understand two of them.

By mid summer, the wild bird population dramatically increases because of all the young birds leaving their nests and exploring the territory. The result of this population explosion is a lot of birds at your feeders. We soon become accustomed to the large number of birds we are seeing. Then Nature, working the way it does, begins reducing the swollen bird population. Only the healthy, quick, smart and lucky birds will survive.  Disease and predation will eliminate the rest. Fewer birds mean fewer sightings at the feeders.

Fall is also a time of plenty for the non migratory birds that stay in our area. While we are seeing the signs of color in the leaves and are thinking, "winter is coming - let’s feed the birds", the birds are actually finding an abundance of natural foods. All of the weeds and larger plants now have ripe seeds and berries. The insect populations are still very high and the temperatures are not too low. While this seasonal bounty lasts, don’t expect to see as many birds on your feeders. They just don’t need them as much. The fall slowdown has begun...and it will continue until either the natural food supply runs out or we have some consistent cold temperatures. Just don't take it personally. And there's nothing wrong with the bird seed!