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Top 10 Backyard Signs of Spring

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Most people can't wait for spring to arrive, and backyard bird watchers seem especially eager for the earth, spinning on its invisible axis, to lean closer to the sun. This subtle planetary shift creates warmer weather for those of us in the northern hemisphere. Warmer weather brings us many of our favorite things: birds, flowers, butterflies, and best of all, an end to being cooped up inside the house during cold, wet, nasty winter days.

When the winter weather breaks, it's time to get outside to look for other hopeful signs that spring is on its way. In honor of those first tentative steps we take out the ice-battered door, squinting skyward at the bright yellow orb we thought had deserted us, here are my Top Ten Backyard Signs of Spring. Please forgive me if your backyard does not have all 10 of these signs. Look on the bright side: Winter is almost over! Spring is nearly here!

10. There are starlings trying to fit into the openings on your bird houses. Being a responsible landlord to the birds, however, you have erected housing that features entry holes no larger than 19/16-inches in diameter (too small for the broad-shouldered starlings to squeeze through) but large enough for bluebirds and other small, cavity-nesting birds.

9. The ground under your bird feeders is extremely disgusting. Spring is a good time to relocate your feeders. If the seed hulls have piled up, the grass under your feeders may need some help to recover. Rake up the seed hulls and spread some grass seed on the bare spots. If you move your feeders a short distance, your birds won't mind the change.

8. Robins are once again seen on your lawn prospecting for worms. Robins aren't always the best sign of spring's arrival because in many areas these birds don't leave in winter. Robins merely change their foraging habits in winter-leaving the open lawns and gardens where they hunt for worms and moving to woodlands where their diet shifts to berries and fruits. On the first warm days of spring, you may find robins once again prospecting your lawn for earthworms.

7. Woodpeckers are drumming. The spring courtship and territorial behavior of our woodpecker species involves lots of drumming. To drum, a woodpecker (both the male and female do this!) finds a likely tree within its territory (preferably a hollow branch or trunk that will make a nice deep sound) and drills its beak against it in rapid succession. Among the species especially active at drumming during courtship are the downy and hairy woodpeckers, the flickers and the yellow-bellied sapsucker. Some birds even use metal chimney flues, gutters, and even aluminum siding for drumming surfaces.

6. There's lots more singing going on during sunny days. It's not just the woodpeckers that are making noise trying to attract a mate. Most of the birds in your yard on a warm spring morning will do at least some singing, especially members of the finch family.

5. You no longer need to dress in layers to fill your feeders. Imagine being able to do the morning refill of your bird feeders without having to spend 15 minutes suiting up against the cold. You may still need to wear your boots, though (see #9).

4. You can unplug the birdbath heater during the day. Birds need water all year long, so it's a good thing to keep the water in your birdbath from freezing by using a birdbath heater. Once warm weather comes, the heater can go back into storage. While you're at it, clean the bath with a light bleach-water solution (two tablespoons of bleach to a couple gallons of hot water). You may need to scrub a bit if you have an especially scummy bath. Rinse the bath well before refilling it with fresh water.

3. Your male American goldfinches are beginning to sport patches of bright yellow spring plumage. Now this is a true sign of spring. Even though American goldfinches don't nest until late summer, they begin getting "dressed" for romance as early as late February. By May most of the males will be in their gorgeous canary yellow, black, and white breeding plumage. And the females will be brighter looking, too.

2. There is non-bird evidence of spring. Crocuses are sprouting and blooming, buds are swelling in the trees, chorus frogs and spring peepers are calling, and there are butterflies flying on warm afternoons.

1. There is solid bird evidence of spring. The first phoebe appears, cardinals are at your feeders doing the courtship "kiss" (the male passing a seed to a female), the first purple martin scouts arrive, and bluebirds are popping in and out of nest boxes.