During last fall’s bird migration in Westchester County, NY, I discovered the obvious “secret” of “find the food, find the bird.” Certainly, this applies the rest of the year, too, but I’ve found that in mid-to-late fall and over the winter, locating food sources, particularly berries, is very important. Again, this is obvious to more experienced bird photographers, but it was new to me.

Once I figured this out, I searched for food sources and noted the birds attracted to this food. Now, during the summer, I’m trying to locate more bushes that will yield berries during the fall bird migration through early spring. Some of my favorite pictures are from these times of the year when I’ve seen flocks of robins, mockingbirds, cedar waxwings, and other birds busy at work devouring berries.

This picture of an American robin eating berries was taken on a very cold, windy winter day. This robin was one of the only birds I saw that day, and despite the weather, it was focused on getting berries from this bush.

Another picture of an American robin was taken in early winter, contrasting the gray winter day and the red berries. You might notice a cedar waxwing’s tail blurred in the background. Flocks of both species of bird were at this bush that day.

This photo of cedar waxwings feeding on berries was taken in early January. While taking pictures of another bird, a flock of waxwings and robins converged on the area and began feeding on these bushes. 

Cedar waxwings are eating red berries again in early January. A flock was working on this bush, grabbing berries and then flying up to a tree branch over my head to eat them. I had leftover berries (and who knows what else) on my hat.

A few things I’ve learned.

• Timing is everything. Birds can clean off a bush of berries in no time, so watch how the berries progress, heading by the bushes often to see if the birds have started eating from the bush.
• If possible, come back the following day. The photo immediately above of the cedar waxwings was taken on the second day of photographing these birds. On the third day, the berries were gone. The same thing happened with a serviceberry tree this spring; birds took about two days to clean off several large trees in the park I visited. There was a very short window for getting some great pictures.
• Scout out food sources during the summer. Cedar waxwings, for example, like hawthorn berries and winterberries, so I’m working with the app PlantSnap to find these bushes and track them through fall and winter.
• Keep an eye on what the birds do outside of feeding. In one case, I captured some great photos of a flock of robins and waxwings bathing in a stream next to the berry bushes on which they were feeding.

Summary

Finding food to photograph birds has been one of my most successful methods for getting some good shots of various bird species, especially species that feed in groups over the winter, like robins and waxwings. When hiking in your favorite park during the spring and summer, keep track of areas that have bushes and trees that appeal to birds during the fall and winter.