Birdfeeders

There always seems to be debate on whether to fill bird feeders year around or only during the cold winter months when food for birds is scarce. We have found that even though there are seasonal fluctuations in the number of birds visiting our bird feeders, there are always visitors to our yard. From season to season, there are different visitors, depending on migration, availability of natural food available and number of species who stay all year long. Many people who fill bird feeders all year claim there is little or no difference in the amount of seed they use from one season to another. Besides, if you only have feeders out during the winter, you might miss the thrill of seeing the mating rituals and babies emerging from nests to find bird feeders for the first time. And what about the migrating birds that only appear at bird feeders for a short time as they are passing through? And what about those species that are only in your area during the summer? Without year around bird feeders, we would entirely miss the beautiful orioles that are only in our area from March to Sept.