---

**Due to the ongoing port strike we are unable to get roasted peanuts until further notice. **

We do have raw peanuts in stock at this time!

---

The Canada Post strike has affected our online delivery timelines.

If you are in the Vancouver area and are able to pick up your purchase, we appreciate your consideration!

Our store owners Mark and Laura will continue to deliver orders around the Vancouver lower mainland, but you may experience slight delays.

Thank you for your support! 

---

Project FeederWatch

**  November 1st 2024 - April 30th 2025!  **

 

What is Project FeederWatch?

For those unfamiliar with this initiative, it’s operated by The Cornell Lab and Birds Canada. Wild Birds Unlimited has officially sponsored PWF and the associated BirdSpotter Photo Contest since 2016. The program allows birders of all skill levels and backgrounds the chance to track birds that visit their backyards. This tracking information further contributes to advancing the understanding and protection of wild birds.

 

Why Are Programs Like FeederWatch Important?

PFW and other citizen science programs benefit societies, municipalities and local communities as a whole. The results of the research or observations gained through citizen science projects have been used to inform local policies, enhance formal and informal education initiatives, conserve natural resources and support environmental sustainability.

 

How Does This Tie Into Save the Song Birds?

Participating in citizen science projects like PFW helps researchers gain access to thousands of participant’s bird and bird behavior sightings that would have otherwise been too restrictive to collect. It helps scientists study timely data on bird population, migration, behaviors and more. Encouraging and promoting citizen science opportunities like PWF is a critical aspect of our Save the Song Birds commitment.

>> Find out More Here <<

 

---

Fall Brings Changes for Your Backyard Birds

As fall arrives, it brings a season of change for us. Summer vacations are over, the school year starts, and the air becomes crisper. At the same time, our backyard birds are going through even greater changes in their lives. They may change the foods they eat, their social arrangements, plumage and even where they live. Most of our backyard birds have been eating protein rich insects in summer and feeding them to their young. In fall, they may change to feeding on the ripening seeds and berries, partly because of the abundance but also because insects are becoming scarce as winter approaches.

As autumn deepens, the activity at your feeders will increase as jays, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches begin caching seeds for the winter by the hundreds. In a behavior called “scatter-hoarding”, each seed is individually hidden in a unique location. Common storage sites include under tree bark, dead leaves, knotholes, and even house siding and shingles.

Most birds also change their social behavior in fall. With breeding over, many abandon individual territories and paired relationships and roam more widely in flocks. Chickadees form small flocks of young and adults that roam over several breeding territories. They will also team up with White-breasted Nuthatches, titmice and Downy Woodpeckers to forage together in a group known as a foraging guild. They all benefit from the teamwork of multiple birds looking in different locations for food…many eyes makes the success rate increase.

In addition, backyard birds undergo a complete molt of their feathers each fall. For some, like cardinals, this is just a replacement of the same colors of feathers they had all year. While other birds change into different colors just for winter, as in the case with male goldfinches which replace their bright yellow feathers with a duller plumage that resembles their female counterparts.

Many birds move to new areas in fall. Sometimes it is just a shift to a nearby location with a better winter food supply, such as your bird feeders. Others, like bluebirds, will move from open areas where they had a nesting cavity to locations rich with berries. Then there are birds such as House Wrens, which leave northern areas and migrate south where they can continue to eat insects through winter.

Fall is a time of tremendous change in the bird world.

Take some time this fall to look for and enjoy these changes as you watch your backyard birds at the feeders!

---