Bird migration and feeding birds quote=185978 That's not how bird migration works, but it's a humorous suggestion. The goldfinches migrated from our yard in October despite having plenty of thistle seed at our feeders because migration is instinctively engineered into their brains. Birds detect changes in daylight length, which trigger their movements. The first juncos arrive in our yard in late October. I'm guessing that some othey don't stick around The so-called starving juncos that are "still" here in our yard only arrived about 10 days ago.