Pecking Order and the Mob

When a redbelly comes by, everything else scatters
 (Margo D. Beller)

Not long after putting out the house-shaped feeder the other morning, a male cardinal came by for a few seeds. He was soon followed by three house finches, two of them male. They sat atop the feeder while the cardinal sat and ate. One of the male house finches found its way to the other side of the feeder and started to eat, until a female downy woodpecker showed up and chased him off. She grabbed her seed and flew off to either eat it or hide it somewhere for another time. The house finch tried again, only to be chased off by the returning downy.

Meanwhile, the cardinal stayed put and pecked at the other house finches if they tried to take a seed from his side. When he would grab a seed and jump up on top of the feeder pole to eat - his usual habit - he would quickly jump down and chase off the finches if they came down for seeds. It was only when the larger, more aggressive blue jay came in that the cardinal left, along with the finches. When the jay flew off, the finches returned. A female cardinal came to eat on the other side from where the jay had been. She, however, allowed the house finches to grab seeds and take off.

Titmouse about to be chased off by a white-breasted nuthatch
(Margo D. Beller)

Then the titmice started arriving, grabbing seeds and flying off between visits by the jay. Finally, a redbellied woodpecker flew in, scattering the female cardinal and the smaller birds, including some house sparrows and juncos that had been attracted to my yard by all the action.

Why am I detailing this?

Because it illustrates two different types of bird behavior - the pecking order and mobbing.

Cornell University's Ornithology Lab published an interesting article at the end of 2018 about which birds are "top dog" when many converge on the same feeder. (Pecking orders are also found within the same bird species, but that's a topic for another post.) Usually, size matters, as the example of the male cardinal chasing off the house finches shows. Sex might matter, too, as shown by the female cardinal that was not as aggressive toward the house finches as her mate.

Cooper's hawk looking for
birds at the feeder
(Margo D. Beller)

However, behavior is also important. Jays are more aggressive than cardinals and sometimes even woodpeckers, in my observations. Small titmice and chickadees will hang back but then zip in and grab a seed to take elsewhere when given an opportunity. The small white-breasted nuthatch will take a seed and go, but it will also chase out slightly larger birds and sometimes spread its wings and try to make itself look bigger to keep other birds away when it is trying to get a seed.

As for the feeder mobbing, to me it seems when a big, colorful bird - jay, cardinal, redbelly - comes to the feeder, this is when all the other, smaller birds in the area want to show up and then start mobbing the feeders once the bigger birds are gone. In my example, this is what happened when the house sparrows and juncos showed up. It is a sort of feeding frenzy where these birds may fear getting nothing with the big guys around and so rush in en masse once they get a chance.

At some point, when the cardinals, jays and woodpeckers must've had their fill, the house sparrows and house finches, which will sit and eat and do little else, must've come back because I found the feeder nearly empty when I took it in at night. It is the reason why, until this recent mild weather, I usually put out at least one other feeder that only small birds can use to let them eat when the bigger birds swoop in.

Of course, when the raptors show up for a meal they aren't looking for seed, they're looking for the birds at my feeder. Then the mob disperses and the pecking order is forgotten for the moment.

Feeding Time

Cardinal hogging the house feeder (Margo D. Beller)

Most mornings lately I have gone outside with the bird feeders around 7am when it is light but the sun hasn't risen high yet. Usually a male cardinal is sitting in the apple tree. When I prop open the screened door it starts to cheep to its mate, who cheeps back. It has figured out that when I open the door I will soon be out with the feeders - the suet on my right arm, the caged feeder in my right hand, the house feeder in my left. I go out and hang the house feeder on the first pole I pass, then walk to the other one and hang a feeder on each hook.

I go inside for the water cooler. By now the cardinal is on the house feeder but it flies off at my approach. I hang the water cooler on the pear tree and then walk back around the corner of the screened porch and close the door. Sometimes I stand outside and listen to the birds. Usually I hear white-breasted nuthatches and titmice nearby so I know they'll soon be at the feeder.

Titmouse at water cooler (Margo D. Beller)

Other times I go on the porch and sit in my corner and watch the feeders.

As usual, the first birds were able to somehow communicate that food was available. But once all those birds start coming, it is interesting to see what gets to feed first and what forces them away from the feeder.

One reason I have two seed feeders out is the more open house feeder will accommodate two larger birds, one on each side. The caged feeder allows smaller birds to come into the protective cage (the cage is to protect the feeder from squirrels but I have seen small birds protected from predators), perch and eat. Chicadees and titmice will come, take a seed and leave. House finches will perch and keep eating until something, or someone, prompts them to leave.

A cardinal will sit at the house feeder and, like the smaller finches, eat until it is sated or spooked off. When a house finch or sparrow attempts to sit next to it, the cardinal will force it away. But if a comparably large bird, say a jay or a redbelly woodpecker, flies at the feeder, the cardinal departs. Jays and woodpeckers will sit a while but not as long as the thicker-billed cardinal or finch. When the big birds leave, the smaller ones can grab a bite.

Hummingbird feeder with many portals (Margo D. Beller)

Within the group, there is a pecking order. A male house finch will come to the house feeder. It might allow its mate to sit next to him but if another male house finch approaches it will fight it off if it is not the alpha bird but it will leave if the approaching bird is the alpha bird. The top bird always gets to eat. The same is true for other birds. One particularly snowy winter we had four pairs of cardinals coming to the feeder. The alpha pair always ate. If another cardinal was in the vicinity, the male would fly at it to force it away. Later, one of the others would come eat only to have the alpha male chase it off.

The only other thing I've ever seen that forces a cardinal off the feeder is if it is besieged by a lot of smaller birds that will harass it until it leaves

I don't know if this fighting would be avoided if I had many more feeders of different types out. Unfortunately, I don't have many feeders and all but one are not designed to accommodate a large bird like a cardinal.

Hummingbirds have a pecking order, too. When I had two females coming to the feeder in 2016 the more dominant one would always chase off the other. When a male showed up the alpha female would battle it, too, sometimes winning but sometimes flying off. Mind you, the sugar water feeder has several portals so they all could've fed at the same time and even brought over friends. But that's now how the bird brain operates.

Redbelly dominating the house feeder (Margo D. Beller)

The suet feeder draws woodpeckers. If the small downy is on the feeder and sees the larger hairy or redbelliy woodpecker approaching, it leaves fast. If a female downy is on the feeder and a male downy approaches, she's out of there, even if it's her mate. If two male downys are interested in the feeder, the alpha will chase the beta off, feed and then fly off, allowing the beta to eat - presuming the alpha male doesn't chase it off just because it can.

How is it determined which male or pair is the alpha and which isn't? That's another mystery better left to others to figure out.