Five birds show up in nearly every American yard east of the Rockies, and most yards west of them: the robin, the cardinal, the chickadee, the goldfinch and the blue jay. They’re the ones a beginner learns first, and they’re also the ones that change the most over a year, which is why the same yard looks different in January and June. Here’s what each of the five is doing in each season, and what it means for the feeder.
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American robin
Spring: the famous “first robin” is often a bird that spent the winter a mile away in a berry thicket. Males arrive on lawns in March, singing before dawn, and pairs build mud-and-grass nests on ledges, in crotches, and on porch lights by April. Summer: two or three broods, worms and caterpillars for the young, and a lawn covered in spotted-breasted juveniles by July. Fall: they leave the lawn, switch to fruit, and gather in flocks that can number in the hundreds. Winter: most stay in the U.S., in loose flocks in holly, crabapple and juniper. They ignore seed feeders all year; a bird bath and a fruiting tree are what bring them.
Northern cardinal
Spring: the male sings from February, the female sings too (rare among songbirds), and the pair nests low in dense shrubs from March, three or four broods a year in the South. Summer: the male feeds the fledglings while the female starts the next nest; the young are brown with dark bills. Fall: molt, then flocks of a dozen or more at feeders at dusk. Winter: the same pair at the feeder every dawn and dusk, all winter, as they’ve been for years; cardinals don’t migrate and mated pairs often stay together for life. Sunflower and safflower, on a tray or hopper rather than a tube. Not present in the Northwest or most of the mountain West.
Chickadee
Black-capped in the North and West, Carolina in the Southeast; the same behavior. Spring: the winter flock breaks up into pairs that excavate a nest in rotten wood or take a nest box with a 1-1/8 inch hole. Summer: one brood of six to eight, fed thousands of caterpillars; the parents mostly ignore the feeder. Fall: chickadees cache food, hiding one seed at a time in bark and remembering each spot; their hippocampus actually grows in autumn to hold the map. Winter: the flock re-forms, leads the mixed flock of titmice, nuthatches and kinglets through the woods, and is the first bird at any new feeder. Sunflower and suet.
American goldfinch
Spring: the males molt from olive-brown to bright yellow in April, one of the few songbirds that changes color twice a year. Still in flocks. Summer: the late nester; see our finch nesting guide. Nyjer feeders are busiest in July and August. Fall: streaky juveniles at the feeder, then the molt back to brown, and people think the goldfinches left. Winter: still here, in the same flocks, brown, at the nyjer feeder. Northern birds shift south a few hundred miles; Southern yards get more in winter than summer.
Blue jay
Spring: quiet, secretive nesting in April and May, so quiet you’d think they’d left. Summer: family groups of screaming juveniles, and the jays’ real job: they plant oaks, carrying acorns a mile and burying more than they recover. Fall: the loud season. Jays gather peanuts and acorns by the hundred, and some (not all, and nobody knows why) migrate in loose flocks along the coasts and lakeshores. Winter: the alarm system of the yard; the jay’s hawk scream sends every other bird for cover, and the jay sometimes fakes it to clear the feeder. Peanuts in the shell and sunflower on a tray. West of the Plains, the Steller’s and scrub-jays fill the same role.
The year at a glance
| Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin | Lawn, dawn song, first nest | 2–3 broods, spotted young | Fruit, flocks | Berry thickets; bath, not feeder |
| Cardinal | Both sexes sing; low nest | Serial broods | Flocks at dusk | Same pair, every dawn |
| Chickadee | Pairs, nest box | One big brood, caterpillars | Caching seed | Leads the winter flock |
| Goldfinch | Turns yellow | Nests late; nyjer peak | Turns brown | Still here, brown |
| Blue jay | Silent nesting | Family groups; plants oaks | Loud; some migrate | Alarm system |
Seasonal routines are only part of the picture. Our guide to 10 backyard bird behaviors explains more of what you will see in the yard, including the broken-wing act.
What it means for the feeder
Sunflower all year, suet and peanuts from October to March, nyjer from March to October, and a bird bath always. Fill less in summer, more in winter, and don’t take the feeder down in May because “the birds left”; the chickadees and cardinals are nesting fifty feet away and will be back with the kids in June. The full schedule is in our seed-by-season guide, and the winter birds by region guide has the rest of the winter cast for your part of the country.
Related: The best bird seed for each season · Winter backyard birds by region · Identifying birds by song
For the odder things these birds do, see 10 backyard bird behaviors explained.
