{"id":10232,"date":"2021-06-05T12:50:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T16:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/?p=10232"},"modified":"2021-06-15T14:15:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T18:15:38","slug":"cicada-activity-up-feeder-slowdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/cicada-activity-up-feeder-slowdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Cicada Activity Up, Feeder Activity Down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While cicada activity is peaking, activity at our feeders is slowing down. Birds are making the most of this once-in-a-lifetime (for them) event. Who could blame them?&nbsp;Brood X is delivering themselves to the birds&#8217; doorstep\u2014as efficiently as Dominos delivers pizza to ours.  Imagine free pizza appearing in a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/weather\/2021\/06\/07\/cicada-mayfly-dc-radar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> mind-boggling quantity that affects storm-tracking radar! See it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why This is a Good Thing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Although we miss seeing the birds at our feeders, there&#8217;s a huge benefit to this abundance of natural food:  <strong>Early broods should be more successfully fledged, increasing the number of surviving offspring.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Chickadees, Cardinals, Bluebirds, Robins and Wrens\u2014especially their babies!\u2014 say &#8220;<strong>Please don&#8217;t use pesticides or herbicides in your yard!<\/strong>&#8221; Montgomery County agrees and has passed a county-wide Pesticide Law. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montgomerycountymd.gov\/lawns\/law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the details on the MoCo government website here. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Meanwhile, Keep Up the Good Work!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep monitoring feeders with the same diligence as you would normally, even through this slowdown. Remember, mold can happen pretty quickly! Especially with the heat and humidity right now.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t wait for your feeders or seed to get noticeably (and dangerously!) icky before doing a little maintenance. We have some resources to help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How and When to Clean Your Feeders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/how-to-clean-a-bird-feeder\/\">How to Clean a Bird Feeder<\/a>. This resource includes:<ul><li>When to clean your feeders<\/li><li>What you will need to clean your feeders<\/li><li>How to clean feeders, step-by-step<\/li><li>Why, when and how to give feeders a &#8216;deep&#8217; cleaning<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/mold-alert-clean-feeders-today\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mold Alert! Check Your Feeders<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/resources\/best-quality-seed-wild-birds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Clean Feeders and Quality Food Matter<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Right Now, Bird Baths are Where It&#8217;s At<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This blast of summer heat makes your bird baths even more appealing! Yes, we&#8217;ve repeated this more than a few times, but still can&#8217;t say it too often:  <br><strong>All birds need water for drinking and bathing. A bird bath is an opportunity to attract birds that are not tempted by your feeders, like, a-hem, insect-eaters&#8230;<\/strong> Here are our best bird bath tips: <a href=\"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wild-birds-summer-water\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wild Birds, Summer and Water<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Juniors are beginning to explore bird baths for the first time. This is one of the highlights (and rewards!) of maintaining a bird bath. Don&#8217;t miss out on the fun! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happy Birding!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Debi &amp; Mike Klein and The Backyard Naturalist Team<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:44px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width:80%; background-color:#d4e7fd; padding:10px;\"> \n<div style=\"padding: 10px 20px;\">\n<h6 style=\"text-transform:uppercase;\"> Citizen Science<\/h6>\n<p><strong>Have you seen your backyard birds eating cicadas? Make a report!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>University of Maryland is documenting which bird species are foraging on Brood X for a publication in Maryland Birdlife. If you have observed your backyard birds eating cicadas, they want to know about it.  <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSdaK-W7hx_Flz3tB5iveM-Egr9nhX3PZeOhqwWwlDNsaH0D5w\/viewform\" style=\"text-decoration:underline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Participate by reporting here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While cicada activity is peaking, activity at our feeders is slowing down. Birds are making the most of this once-in-a-lifetime (for them) event. Who could blame them?&nbsp;Brood X is delivering themselves to the birds&#8217; doorstep\u2014as efficiently as Dominos delivers pizza to ours. Imagine free pizza appearing in a mind-boggling quantity that affects storm-tracking radar! See [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-backyard-naturalist-store"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10232"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10287,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10232\/revisions\/10287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}