{"id":2783,"date":"2026-06-22T13:38:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T13:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2783"},"modified":"2026-06-22T13:38:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T13:38:55","slug":"what-do-orinda-brown-birds-find-so-attractive-in-spiderwebs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2783","title":{"rendered":"What do Orinda brown birds find so attractive in spiderwebs?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>DEAR JOAN:<\/strong> We have cobwebs across the outside corners of our windows.\u00a0 We\u2019ve watched little brown birds (not hummingbirds) fluttering at the windows where they appear to be pecking at the cobwebs.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2781\">Diddy invites 12-year-old \u2018The Ring\u2019 actress Daveigh Chase to party in resurfaced clip following her death<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Are they going after little bugs caught in the cobwebs? I\u2019ve been hesitant to clean the cobwebs from the windows because I don\u2019t want to take away a source of food for the birds.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 Anna, Orinda<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>DEAR ANNA:<\/strong> Several insect-eating birds take advantage of those morsels caught and stored in spiderwebs, as well as snacking on the spiders themselves if they can catch them. The most likely to be found around those cobwebby corners in California are Anna\u2019s hummingbirds, California scrub-jays, wrens, chickadees, warblers and bush tits.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not common for the birds to eat the silky webs, but they will use them to help fortify their nests.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DEAR JOAN:<\/strong> For the last six years or so, we have had orioles come to our feeder that has grape jelly. They usually arrive mid April and stay until early September.<\/p>\n<p>I heard a few around our neighborhood, and I put my oriole feeder out. We have only seen one oriole this year compared to approximately 10 that usually visit the feeder.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have any other people that have expressed this same situation to you? Just wondering why they haven\u2019t been showing up like clock work as they have in years past.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>\u2014 The Bossi Family, Hercules<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>DEAR BOSSI FAMILY:<\/strong> So far, you\u2019re the first to write to me about missing orioles. It\u2019s hard to know exactly what happened, but I have some possible explanations.<\/p>\n<p>The first is that the orioles that once visited you have found another source of grape jelly. I can tell you that if I was your neighbor and saw up to 10 orioles around your feeder, I\u2019d be trying to attract the same attention into my yard.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2780\">Warriors GM Dunleavy explains how he\u2019s approaching pivotal NBA draft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Because you heard other orioles in the neighborhood, there\u2019s probably nothing nefarious going on, but climate change is altering migration patterns for many birds. Birds are having to adjust their timing to make sure the plants and insects they rely upon are available to them, and in many cases that has meant arriving earlier and leaving sooner.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another explanation is that birds can be fickle. They might return to the same general area each year, but that doesn\u2019t always mean coming back to the same backyard. Changes in neighborhoods \u2014 trees and plants removed, predators moving in, disruptive construction \u2014 can also be to blame.<\/p>\n<p>And sadly, something might have happened to the birds. The average lifespan for orioles in the wild is 8 to 11 years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DEAR JOAN:<\/strong> Do hummingbirds pollinate fruit trees?\u00a0 If so, should I restrict putting out hummingbird feeders during tree-flowering season so as to encourage the birds to feed on the tree flowers?<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 Jeff, San Jose<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>DEAR JEFF:<\/strong> Hummingbirds can be excellent pollinators for stone fruits (peaches, cherries, plums) and citrus as well as some apples and avocados.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t need to bring in your feeders. When given a choice between the nectar we provided and the natural stuff in the blossoms, the hummers will choose Mother Nature\u2019s bounty first, eating at feeders as a supplement to their diets.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2778\">Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan dies at 100<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Various species of birds will essentially steal a spider&#8217;s dinner right of its web.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What do Orinda brown birds find so attractive in spiderwebs? - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2783\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What do Orinda brown birds find so attractive in spiderwebs? 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