Does anyone (other than me) wonder how birds know when the feeders are full? The red squirrels certainly seem to have figured it out! Last year there were very few red squirrels munching at the trough of life. This year, it’s a bumper crop! It’s like, “Your order is ready” at FAT BOYS! They are aggressive and numerous. Fortunately we have one of those spring loaded feeders that the squirrels can’t climb. But they sure can chew their way to stardom trying. Traffic control at our feeders is overwhelming!

But the real puzzlement for me is still, “How do the birds know?” Do you think they actually are waiting in the trees to see the old bald guy, with his feed bag and suet, loading up the feeders. At which time, said feathered friends shout, “Chow time. Come and get it.” Then, just as I am putting the lids on everything, there is a sudden low roar as the local feathered residents dive on me and the new food. It’s uncanny.

So, I tried a little experiment. I let the feeders go empty. No seeds, no suet, no nothing. No birds! Then I went out with a crinkled up a bag of bird feed and faked feeder fill. I made sure the bag made lots of noise and went through the replenishment motions. No birds.

Aha! Not a sound. No flutters of delight, no wild chirps, no activity. Even the red squirrels, inquisitive as they can be, were absent, looking elsewhere I guess. So ... I switched gears.

With a full bag of feed and a suet block, I returned to the feeding station and worked diligently to refill all. Before I could get the door closed on the suet cage, a blue jay landed on the power line that overhangs the feeders. A chickadee, my favorite, grazed my hand and two red squirrels chirped on an adjacent log. Now you tell me, how do they know? Before I could get back inside the house the feeding area was alive with mourning doves on the ground, squirrels, chickadees, a woodpecker on the suet, and other birds queuing up in surrounding trees.

I want to know who spilled the beans. But, I guess, like us, critters know that food is on the table when they see it. Duh.