Loftwings and Demons

We found that species that use bird feeders the most tended to be doing just as well as, or better than, species that use feeders more sporadically. For example, Red-bellied Woodpeckers visit feeders regularly and are thriving, whereas Pinyon Jays visit feeders more sporadically and are showing declines. The feeder species that showed declines seem to be faced with non-feeder–re­lated pressures, such as habitat loss. For Pinyon Jays, the most pressing problem is the destruction of pinyon pine hab­itat. We are still working to refine this analysis, but the take-home message so far is that species that visit bird feeders a lot tend to be doing very well.