Jan Lyons has been feeding birds in her Antioch yard for more than 25 years, but it was just a few winters ago that she saw two Carolina wrens at her peanut feeder for the first time.
The species, rare in Northern Illinois in winter — especially in Lake County — even stayed that summer to nest in her garage.
Surprises like those, plus the delight of seeing typical birds, like dark-eyed juncos, that spend winter in Illinois motivate Lyons to keep her dozen or so feeders full during the cold months.
She offers sunflower hearts, peanut pieces, suet, dried mealworms and other foods to attract birds. She also tosses corn on the ground for squirrels — to keep them away for the feeders — and provides a heated bird bath.
Her sightings over the years fit into the complicated tale of how global warming, bird feeding and other factors are changing the wintering patterns of some birds, according to Doug Stotz, an ornithologist and conservation biologist at the Field Museum in Chicago.
“Climate change is affecting birds wintering in Illinois,” he said. It’s being documented by annual Christmas bird counts, as well as what bird watchers see at their feeders, he said.
“For example, by examining Christmas bird count data you can see that Carolina wrens have shown an increase overall in the last 30 years,” he said.
And even in Canada, those who feed birds have reported higher numbers of Carolina wrens than ever before, according to Cornell Lab, which has conducted Project Feeder Watch for nearly three decades to gauge records of bird life in winter at bird feeders.
Seeds that attract birds in winter and provide good nutrition include black oil sunflower, white proso millet, nyjer (often called thistle) seed and sunflower chips, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
Winter birds that spend time at feeders can survive more easily when it’s warmer, Stotz said.
“It’s just that simple,” he said. “In the short term, they may benefit from that. But, in the long term, warmer winters could affect the trees, the insects,” that are feeding on the trees and other factors, which could change what’s available to eat for birds, which all have different food preferences.
Carolina wrens, which are susceptible to cold snaps, might not make it through the winter if they’ve ventured to Northern Illinois, he said. In fact, their numbers tend to rise and fall based on how extreme winters are throughout the state.
Lyons feeds birds in winter for precisely that reason, she said.
“I feel it’s important,” she said. “It helps them, especially when we get bad winters. This is the fourth winter Carolina wrens have been here. I heard the male sing the other day.” She also puts dried mealworms out for the wrens.
Another bird that’s more common farther south in winter, which Lyons has seen this season, is the northern flicker, a type of woodpecker.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen a northern flicker in winter,” she said.
Downy woodpeckers visit her feeders year-round, but northern flickers tend to move south for the winter.
One of the birds most expected in Illinois yards in winter is the dark-eyed junco, a type of sparrow with a slate grey body and white breast. It breeds in the northern coniferous forests and comes south for the winter, visiting backyards to eat seeds from the ground dropped from feeders.
“There’s a certain bittersweet quality to juncos,” Stotz said. “When they show up in fall, you think, ‘Oh no, winter is coming.’ Then when they leave in spring, it’s kind of sad.”
Other birds that come sporadically in winter are called winter finches. They live and breed in the north and come south if food isn’t easily available.
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A winter finch, the common redpoll, is rarely seen some years in Northern Illinois, but occasionally in large numbers, Stotz said.
“When the redpoll comes to my feeder, it’s really great,” he said. “It doesn’t happen all the time, not by a long shot.”
Lyons said she’s never seen a redpoll at her feeders in winter. But she has another winter finch using her peanut feeder this winter — the red-breasted nuthatch. She sometimes hears its high-pitched “yank, yank, yank” call on cold winter days.
“They’re so darned cute,” she said. “When they come from the north and choose my yard and feeder, I feel fortunate. I don’t see them every year.”
White-breasted nuthatches, which are related to the red-breasted nuthatches, visit her feeders year-round.
Winter finches like red-breasted nuthatches and common redpolls could start declining in Northern Illinois, “but because their movements are so erratic, it will be very hard to know what’s happening until they’re basically gone,” Stotz said. “That’s what happened with evening grosbeaks,” another type of winter finch that used to come to Northern Illinois feeders in winter.
“They basically are gone” from Illinois in winter, he said.
Another species that is nearly gone from feeders in Northern Illinois is the purple finch, said Joel Greenberg, who has coordinated the Evanston North-Shore Christmas Bird Count, the Chicago Lakefront Christmas Bird Count and the Waukegan Christmas Bird Count annually for decades.
“A Christmas Count bird compiler truly values the contributions made by feeder watchers because they do allow us to get a much more complete portrait of winter bird populations,” he said.
Those who document birds at their feeders on Jan. 1 for the Waukegan count have shown that the purple finch has been replaced by the introduced non-native house finch, though reasons are unclear as to why the purple finch numbers have declined, he said.
What people like Lyons, who feed birds, do know is that by providing food in winter, they can see birds that aren’t around in winter as well observe interesting behavior.
One phenomenon Lyons experiences regularly in winter is when a Cooper’s hawk visits her yard to catch a meal.
The hawk was once on the endangered species list in Illinois, but its numbers are rising.
A few weeks ago, Lyons noticed a hawk wing imprint in the snow with bird feathers scattered nearby.
“I knew a Cooper’s hawk had taken a mourning dove,” she said. “It’s a part of nature. The Cooper’s hawks are amazing to watch.”
Sheryl Devore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.