{"id":60228,"date":"2019-09-15T05:13:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-15T11:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60228"},"modified":"2026-03-24T13:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:17:17","slug":"douglas-firs-bird-food-grown-stored-and-served-in-handy-cones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/15\/douglas-firs-bird-food-grown-stored-and-served-in-handy-cones\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglas Firs – Bird Food Grown, Stored And Served in Handy Cones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DouglasDouglas Fir cone in morning light \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 1250, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Douglas Firs<\/span><\/a> are tall, long-lived evergreen trees that are native to Western North America and Pacific coastal areas. Here in Utah we have Rocky Mountain Douglas Firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca<\/em>) growing in many of our mountain ranges. The cones of Douglas Firs provide food for birds and mammals and the trees provide shelter and nesting areas too. I’ve been paying attention to the Douglas Firs we have here for several years because of the birds I know I can find eating the seeds of the trees from their cones.<\/p>\n

\"PinePine Siskin taking a break from eating sunflower seeds \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Pine Siskin eat the seeds of the firs and since they can easily be heard while they are foraging. I often rely on my ears as well as my eyes to find them. Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees also feed on the seeds and they are often as vocal as the siskins while foraging.<\/p>\n

\"RedRed Crossbill drinking at a puddle of water \u2013 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR at 400mm with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Red Crossbills have bills that are highly adapted to removing seeds from the cones of conifers including Douglas Firs.<\/p>\n

Clark’s Nutcrackers and Dark-eyed Juncos will also eat the seeds of the firs.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch on a Douglas Fir \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The seeds of Douglas Firs provide food for Red-breasted Nuthatches too which they will consume on the spot or cache for eating later. Like the siskins I listen for these nuthatches to determine when they are in the area.<\/p>\n

Right now this year’s crop of the female cones of these firs aren’t mature yet so I will keep checking on them and when they are mature I plan on parking near some Douglas Firs to photograph whatever birds come in to feed on the seeds.<\/p>\n

Paying attention to the natural food sources of woodland birds can make it easier to find them and once you find those food sources being patient comes into play because if the food is there, the birds will come but it might take time.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my flower, shrub and tree photos and here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cones of Douglas Firs provide food for birds and mammals and the trees provide shelter and nesting areas too. I’ve been paying attention to the Douglas Firs we have here for several years because of the birds I know I can find eating the seeds of the trees from their cones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,3464,1022,697,981,1210,7696,3700,1316,358,5345,26,1314],"tags":[970,4299,7708,7709,7710,6877,4136,7697,4927,4928,4104,3493,6878,7707,7698,3701,7706,6103,6104,3702,105],"class_list":["post-60228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-daggett-county","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-flaming-gorge-national-recreation-area","category-pine-siskins","category-red-crossbills","category-red-breasted-nuthatches","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-trees","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-autumn","tag-carduelis-pinus","tag-cone","tag-crossbill","tag-crossbills","tag-douglas-fir","tag-foraging","tag-loxia-curvirostra","tag-nuthatch","tag-nuthatches","tag-perched","tag-pine-siskin","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii-var-glauca","tag-red-crossbill","tag-red-breasted-nuthatch","tag-rocky-mountain-douglas-fir","tag-siskin","tag-siskins","tag-sitta-canadensis","tag-sunflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/douglas-fir-cone-mia-mcpherson-7231.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fFq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96636,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/24\/my-growing-concerns-over-this-years-crop-of-douglas-fir-seeds-because-of-our-drought\/","url_meta":{"origin":60228,"position":0},"title":"My Growing Concerns Over This Years Crop Of Douglas Fir Seeds Because Of Our Drought","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"My trip out into the sky island mountains of the West Desert last week caused my concerns about this years crop of Douglas Fir seeds to grow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch checking out a Douglas Fir cone in autumn, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"October 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The weather has kept me out of the field lately, so today I wanted to share a few Red-breasted Nuthatch memories since I\u2019ve been seeing and hearing them recently.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging in the Stansbury Mountains of Utah, West Desert, Tooele County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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