Since filling the feeder and hanging up the suet block last week, the usual cast of characters have made their appearance. Chickadees, small yet courageous and ever-optimistic, were the first to arrive, followed closely by tufted titmice, their reliable feeding companions. Industrious white-breasted nuthatches soon stopped by, storing most of their larder in bark crevices for later consumption. Downy and red-bellied woodpeckers led the assault on the suet block while mourning doves, cardinals and white-throated sparrows have scoured the ground beneath the feeder, taking advantage of seed scattered by house finches, blue jays and house sparrows.
But one common visitor has not yet arrived in central Missouri (or at least not on our modest parcel of earth). Dark-eyed juncos, commonly known as snowbirds, usually appear by mid October, just as the last of the summer residents are departing for the south. Most abundant along country roads where they feast on the seeds of grasses, wildflowers and so-called weeds, juncos are also common in suburban areas where they forage beneath shrubs and feeders.
Perhaps the conditions in their Canadian homeland are too mild to send them southward but, unlike waterfowl and raptors, their travels are dictated by the solar cycle, not by the weather. Maybe they're already in town but have not yet visited our property; then again, migrant songbirds tend to zero in on the same wintering area each year. One thing is certain: the hardy and attractive juncos will soon join our backyard residents, take advantage of our handouts and brighten my winter.
