Spotted a Northern Mockingbird recently at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh. He was snacking on berries while keeping a close eye on a rival bird nearby.

Northern Mockingbirds are yet another example of a species of bird which preys on insects during the summer but switches to eating mostly fruit in fall and winter.
In fact, there are several kinds of birds here in North Carolina that will change their diets so they have enough to eat during the cooler months.
When insects are scarce, many birds will eat more seeds, fruits, berries or nuts.
A few of these species will even store their cache for later consumption.
Like squirrels, some will bury their food into the ground or even hide it under leaves and bark so they’ll have an backup supply if their normal winter food source becomes scarce.

If you’d like to help the birds along through the diet changing process, here’s a few things you can do.

For the fall and winter…
For your feeders, make sure that you’re providing plenty of seeds and nuts for birds to store.
It’s also important to put out other high energy cooler weather foods such as sunflower seeds, suet and peanut butter.
Making sure that your feeders are filled is a good idea too. Our winter birds will need those calories in an effort to build up a layer of fat for seasonal insulation.

For next spring…
Plant berry bushes in your yard and try leaving some fruit on the trees so that the birds have natural food source options to visit next winter.
Another great option is to plant seed-bearing flowers and leaving seed heads intact for winter birds our winter birds to enjoy.

Photos by @sally_siko
Canon 5DS