By Dan and Barbara Gleason

Summer always brings change to bird activity and the variety of birds in your backyard. 

Bird activity in yards, especially at feeders, often slows in summer, for two reasons: Many birds rely more heavily on insects for food in summer, and even birds that normally eat seeds initially feed their chicks insects. 

Why are insects preferred? Insects provide baby birds with soft, easily digestible protein and other nutrients, along with moisture, and insect larvae are much more readily found in summer. These factors mean fewer birds need human-provided food, like seeds in feeders. Additionally, the digestive systems of many newly hatched birds are not yet well-developed and find seeds hard to digest, so insects are the perfect “baby food” for bird babies. 

Adult birds are looking for “baby food” in weedy areas of your yard where a variety of plants of different heights exists, as this is where an abundance of insects can be found. Consider letting weediness benefit nature in your summer yard, providing pollinator and baby bird food! Fall can be a time to clean up then-unwanted weeds, but leave some for overwintering insect larvae, too. Butterfly, moth and beetle larvae are important food resources, as larvae are easier for young birds to digest than adult insects, as they are naturally softer.

However, many birds will continue to come to your feeders. Black-capped chickadees may visit feeders less this time of year, but seeds are still an important part of their diet, so they won’t vanish completely. 

The kind of birds in your yard will also change this time of year. Dark-eyed juncos, for example, a common backyard bird in winter, retreat to wooded areas at higher elevations to breed. 

You may also see some unfamiliar birds, but these could be young birds in newly fledged plumage. Young American robins don’t have red breasts yet; it is speckled until fall. Spotted towhee babies can be confusing, with brown speckles and no rusty head or black hood yet, that is prominent in adults.

Some birds are here throughout the year: American goldfinches and house finches are two species that are present year-round. Both need seeds all year and unlike other bird species, adults do not hunt insects in spring and summer to feed the young. They usually feed a partially-digested mass of seeds from day one. They are strictly seed-eating, even the young birds immediately after hatching. 

The American goldfinch is one of the latest-nesting of all birds. However, here in the southern Willamette Valley, many goldfinches do nest in the late spring or early summer, unlike in the rest of the country, where they don’t breed until July. Goldfinches depend heavily on small seeds such as thistle, small sunflower or dandelion seeds, and the downy plant parts that attach seeds are important in constructing their nests. So, they tend to wait until there’s a good crop of seeded dandelions and other plants with tufts of down on top.

It’s important to provide a source of water for wildlife, as birds must find a water source. Open sources of water are a necessity for all creatures, so anything you can do to help provide that is a benefit. Offer clean, fresh water and refresh it often to keep it cool. Placing birdbaths in shaded areas is ideal, and consider adding a dripper or mister to attract birds. Hummingbirds will fly through mist on hot days, a treat to watch! Consider providing water for insects, too, in shallow pans with a few rocks in them, for bees and other pollinators to stand on so they don’t drown.

As the weather becomes warmer, most feeding activity will be in the early morning and again near dusk. These are important times, not only because the temperatures are cooler, but because young birds in nests need plenty of food after a night of rest, and then they need plenty of food to get through the night, so birds often feed late in the day.

And maybe you’ll be lucky and get to watch parent birds bring their youngsters to your feeders or birdbaths!

Barbara and Dan Gleason are local owners of Wild Birds Unlimited, at 2510 Willamette Street and Green Acres Road, Suite 104 in the Delta Oaks Shopping Center. EugeneWBU@gmail.com or 541-603-9294. Kim Kelly coordinates The Garden Palette, Gardening@EugeneWeekly.com.