Birdfeeders

Wood ducks are cavity nesting birds, but are not capable of creating or even enlarging a nesting hole in a tree. Therefore, they are entirely dependent on what they can find, so providing  wood duck houses is very helpful to the species. Their breeding period is generally April through June. After the females lay 11-14 eggs, the incubation period is about 27-30 days. The most amazing thing about these birds is that the nesting phase is about one day! After one day in the nest, the mother calls the ducklings to the nest entrance and urges them to jump. They fall through the air, usually bounce once off the ground, which doesn’t ever seem to hurt them, and are ready to follow the mother into the water. Be sure that the entrance to the wood duck houses is clear of branches, for ducks are big birds and need an open path to the nest hole.

Goldfinches are sometimes called wild canaries because of their summer colors, but they are indeed in the finch family. They are common visitors to a yard that has full thistle feeders. They love the small, black seed called nyjer that is best served in a thistle feeder which is designed specifically for this tiny seed. Goldfinches are so acrobatic that they often hang upside down of the thistle feeders. They usually lay 5 pale blue eggs that will hatch in about 12 days. The babies will fledge about 12 days later. During the winter, Goldfinches have a dull green coat of feathers that has an especially dense layer of soft feathers to provide extra insulation from the cold.

Once you have purple martins occupying your purple martin house, you should have them come back year after year, for they bond with their established nesting sites. Just be careful not to let any other bird nest in the house before martins have found it, for they probably will not occupy a house that has already been used. This means you need to check your purple martin house regularly and pull out any other nests before the martins arrive. The other great thing about attracting purple martins is that they like living near people. Place your purple martin house in the center of the most open spot available, 30-100 feet from your house. The farther from trees the better, but be sure there are no trees taller than than the purple martin house within at least 40 feet of it. This open space is a critical requirement for purple martins. Be sure to offer plenty of housing compartments in your purple martin house. It’s fine to start with a house that has 12 compartments, but 24 is ideal. It’s also a good idea to paint the house white.

I started feeding birds in our backyard simply because a good friend gave me a tube bird feeder for Christmas one year. After having it full of sunflower seeds for a few weeks, I was surprised to see all the birds that suddenly were regular visitors to our yard. After a while, I began to think of them as “my birds”. I began knowing their habits and watched for their daily visits. Soon, a tube bird feeder wasn’t enough. I added a thistle feeder to attract finches and was again surprised at how many arrived in our yard. Then a hopper bird feeder was added and then as spring arrived, it felt like a whole new world was opening before our eyes. We had lived in the same house for almost 10 years, but suddenly were discovering this world of birds that we had been almost completely unaware of. As the years have passed, we have continued to add feeders and native plants as well. What joy bird feeders have brought to our lives.

Cracked corn is a favorite food of many birds and is quite inexpensive. I buy it in bulk at the local feed store. It is eaten by larger birds such as blue jays, ducks, geese, quail and wild turkeys. Because cracked corn is resistant to water, it is perfect in platform bird feeders or even directly on the ground with little risk. Only put out enough for the day for the night creatures (raccoons, etc.) will clean up any leftovers. Finely cracked corn (sometimes called chicken scratch) will attract smaller, ground-feeding birds such as juncos, mourning doves and sparrows. This is also a perfect addition to platform bird feeders, although it is less resistant to water.

Having a kestrel occupy a nearby owl house will offer very interesting bird watching. One of their most conspicuous behaviors is the bringing of food by the male to the female. The female tends to remain near the owl house after the eggs have been laid and has most of food brought to her. This continues into the nestling phase which is a period of about 11 weeks. When the young leave the nest, they will perch together in a nearby trees, making short flights and waiting for either parent to bring them food. In the first days after leaving the nest, they often return to the owl house at night.

White proso millet is what many people think of when they think of food for birds, since it is a major ingredient in seed mixes sold for caged birds. Next to black-oil sunflower seeds, these tiny round white seeds are the food preferred by most birds. Millet is quite inexpensive so is good to feed to ground feeding birds. It is also the perfect seed to put in small window bird feeders. This seed is good for attracting ground feeders such as doves, juncos and sparrows as well as cardinals, pine siskins, purple finches, towhees, redpolls, etc. Red proso millet is basically the same as white. However, birds definitely prefer the white. This has certainly been true at our window bird feeders.

There are many varieties of seed mixes intended for your tube bird feeders. These mixes are sold in feed stores, garden centers, large hardware stores, etc. They are usually a combination of sunflower seeds, millet and many less desirable ingredients such as wheat, oats, peanut hearts, canary seed, rice or milo. These mixes are no bargain for some of these ingredients have very little appeal to birds. The birds will pick through the mixture and eat the sunflower seeds and millet and you will find most of the rest on the ground under your tube bird feeders. It makes much more sense to only offer what the birds will actually eat. If you want to offer a mix, it is much more economical to mix your own. A good general formula is 40% white proso millet, 40% black oil sunflower seeds and 20% safflower seeds.

Having bird feeders in the yard reminds me of eating jelly beans - one just isn’t enough. After you have put up that first feeder, be it a hummingbird feeder, tube feeder, or hopper feeder, you notice birds coming to your yard. What if I put up another kind of bird feeder? Ok, we have lots of hummingbirds coming to the hummingbird feeder, so now add a tube feeder filled with black-oil sunflower seeds. Soon you have finches, jays, etc. visiting. That’s pretty cool. Now if you add a low platform feeder and some millet - here come the quail, towhees, mourning doves, etc. The most inexpensive addition is suet feeders. They are also small, so adding a couple of them is easy. Now, how about a bird bath? See what I mean? It’s so much fun to see the variety of visitors that one is simply not enough.

Purple martins spend their winters in Brazil. The round trip and stopover take about seven months of the year. The first scouts usually arrive in North America by late March in order to look for housing for the entire colony. Be sure to have the purple martin houses up and ready before this time. The scouts fly back and escort the colony to the nesting site by late April when the nesting begins. By the middle of July the fledglings are out of the nest and by mid August the colony begins the long journey back to Brazil. If you are lucky enough to attract a colony to your purple martin houses, they will return year after year.