How Do Birds Find Food?

Birds are fascinating creatures with a diverse range of behaviours, including how they find food. From hummingbirds to eagles, each species has its own unique strategies for locating and capturing food. Let's explore some of the ways in which birds find food- including naturally occuring and feeders! 

Baltimore Oriole (female) on feeder. Photo by Kristen Martyn. 

1. Visual Cues

Many birds have keen eyesight, which they use to scan their surroundings for potential food sources. They can detect movement, shapes, and colours that indicate the presence of prey, such as insects, small mammals, or other birds. This visual acuity is especially important for birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles, which rely on their vision to spot prey from high above. This is typically the number one way that birds find food and is why our oriole feeders are often bright orange - it's a standout visual cue that helps the birds locate the feeder. 

2. Auditory Cues

In addition to their vision, birds also use their sense of hearing to locate food. They listen for sounds made by potential prey, such as the rustling of leaves or the calls of insects. Some birds, like owls, have particularly sensitive hearing. 

3. Olfactory Cues

While not as well-developed as they are in some other animals, birds do have a sense of smell that they can use to find food. They may use their sense of smell to locate fruits, seeds, or carrion, especially in dense vegetation where visual cues may be limited.

4. Memory and Learning

Birds are capable of learning from past experiences and remembering the locations of food sources. They may return to places where they have found food before or follow other birds to feeding areas. A lot of birds do return to known feeder locations year after year. 

Junco's are known to return to the same areas year after year. Photo by Kristen Martyn. 

5. Exploration

Some birds engage in exploratory behaviour, moving through their environment and investigating potential food sources. They may probe the ground with their beaks, peck at tree bark, or dig in the soil to uncover hidden prey. This is also helpful for attracting birds with feeders. Some of the most curious birds, like chickadees, are usually the first to explore new feeders or food sources and in doing so, they invite other birds to check it out too (see below). 

6. Social Behaviour

In many bird species, individuals forage for food in groups, which can increase their chances of finding food. They may also use calls or other signals to alert each other to the presence of food, further enhancing their efficiency as foragers. As mentioned above, certain species like chickadees are a little more brave and may make other birds feel more comfortable after exploring a food source for themselves. In non-breeding times many species will join flocks, sometimes including multiple species, which gives all of the birds a better chance of finding food sources. 

Flock of American Goldfinches at feeder. Photo by Kristen Martyn. 

Birds use a variety of strategies to find food, depending on their species and the environment they live in. These also play into how birds can find feeders, and they rely heavily on sight, social cues, behaviour, and exploration to do so. 

With orioles about to return, make sure to have your orange feeders ready! 

Happy birding! 

Heather