Birdfeeders

If a bird were to avoid bathing for even a few weeks, it may not survive. Personal hygiene in birds, although quite different than in humans, is truly a matter of life or death. Feathers that are not clean do not function efficiently either in flight or in protecting the body from weather conditions. The most common means of bathing include bathing in water, in dust and sunbathing. Water bathing is the most common and the easiest for us to watch. All that is required is a shallow source of water that a bird can wade into and splash water onto its body until thoroughly soaked. They use puddles, ponds, shallow streams, sprinklers and of course our bird baths. After getting wet enough, a bird will fly to a safe perch to preen. This preening smoothes down feathers, removes dirt and parasites as well as distributes natural oil to condition the feathers. Having bird baths in the yard will draw even birds who don’t visit our bird feeders. Some species such as quail, pheasants and grouse, prefer a dust bath to keep their feathers clean. We often find indentations in the dirt in our garden where the quail have been busy with their bathing. If you see a bird sitting all fluffed up and appears to be in a daze on a sunny day, it is most likely just sunbathing.

Birds have specific behaviors to deal with different circumstances. If we understand some of these behaviors, we have a better chance of attracting them to our yards by furnishing things that they need. Keeping this in mind, how do birds survive in cold, wet or freezing weather? The answer is that they must change their behavior to help them survive. The first thing they do is move around less in order to save energy. This means finding a sheltered place to protect them from predators as well as the elements. Therefore, if we have trees, bushes and shrubs in the yard for birds to use, there is a better chance of them staying nearby. They also need to spend more time eating high fat food, hopefully from a reliable food source. That can easily be a tube bird feeder filled with black oil sunflower seeds. During bad weather, it is extremely important to keep the tube bird feeder filled for local birds will need the calories. The other behavior birds have to keep warm is to puff up their feathers to trap and retain body heat.

With the great variety of bird feeders on the market today, how do we choose? First, start with the basics. Make sure any bird feeder you purchase is easy to fill and easy to clean. This sounds simple, but believe me, if you buy a feeder that needs to be filled using a funnel, it won’t take long to get tired of the process. Plastic seed feeders should be reinforced with metal around the feed ports to discourage chewing squirrels. Perches should be metal or replaceable. A well constructed bird feeder can last 10 years or more. Of course, consider how the appearance of a feeder will fit into the decor of your yard. We love our copper top bird feeders for they are built to last and feed a wide variety of birds. Beware of the many very cheap bird feeders around. Your feeders will be out in the elements and must be constructed to stand up to the sun and weather. If you are willing to replace a bird feeder every couple of years, the inexpensive plastic will be fine for you. I choose the more expensive models, either for size and ease of filling, such as hopper feeders or for attractive practicality such as copper top bird feeders.

I came across an amazing statistic this week. There are an estimated 80 million people in North America who say they are bird watchers! That makes bird watching the number one spectator sport in North America. Most of these people are watching the birds that visit their yards. This of course can be as simple as just looking out the window to see what birds are there, or can be a hobby that includes multiple feeding stations offering multiple food sources to attract as many species as possible. For most of us, the reality is somewhere in between these two extremes. Most people begin by just throwing seed on the ground. This certainly will attract the ground feeders, but not the birds who prefer to feed higher up. The other problem with this technique is that the creatures of the night (raccoons, rats, etc.) are encouraged to eat all available seed. Hanging feeders at different levels is the best solution. An attractive copper top bird feeder filled with sunflower seeds is a very busy place in our yard. There are hundreds of types and styles of bird feeders available. If you are new to this hobby, keep it simple until you see what kinds of birds visit your yard. Offer one or two bird feeders with one or two different kinds of seed. Try scattering some seed on the ground. Then see what happens. I’m confident you will be adding more types of feeders before long!

Do you remember the first birds that caught your interest? I have always loved hummingbirds and had hummingbird feeders in the yard, but it was only a few years ago that I watched finches zipping around the back yard and wondered what they were and how I could attract them more often. It took very little research to discover they were goldfinches and house finches and I could keep them around the yard for most of the year if I had a thistle feeder. And so it began. My thistle feeder became so popular that I tried adding a birdbath and what a joy that was! The finches loved it. Of course, as time went on, more and more bird feeders have been added to the yard, identification books now are permanently near the windows, as are binoculars. One of the first lessons I needed to learn was the difference between a family of birds and a species of birds. A species of birds is a specific group of individuals that have similar appearance, behavior and vocalizations and breed together to produce young. A family of birds is made up of similar species that do not interbreed. For example, gold finches are a species that is part of the finch family, as are house finches and purple finches.

During the warm summer months, we seem to use more eggs than during the winter. I guess it’s all the macaroni salad and potato salad that we make for barbeque parties and picnics, etc. Instead of throwing away all those egg shells, we put them to good use. We rinse them thoroughly and dry them. Even let them sit for a while to be sure they are good and dry. Then we crush them into tiny pieces. If we only have a few, it is easy to crush them by hand. On the few occasions that we have lots (the family loves deviled eggs at a picnic!), it is easier to crush them with a rolling pin. Eggshells are not only good roughage to help a bird’s digestion, but they are very high in calcium so provide extra nutrition. I scatter the crushed eggshells in the hanging platform feeder and they sure don’t last long! The platform feeder is the perfect place to put crushed eggshells for they are easily visible, many birds can approach and the eggshells don’t have to be kept out of the rain. 

What kinds of food a bird eats depends quite a bit and size, shape and strength of its beak. A hummingbird has a long, thin beak that is perfectly suited for getting nectar out of tube-shaped flowers. Grosbeaks and cardinals have short, quite thick beaks that are similar to nutcrackers for they easily crush the shells of sunflower seeds. Smaller birds such as chickadees also love sunflower seeds, but because their beaks are smaller and not as strong, they pick open one sunflower seed at a time. You are more likely to see a grossbeak sit on a feeder eating for they can crush and eat a sunflower seed quickly. Smaller birds often grab a seed and fly off to a nearby perch to eat it. So, how big should your bird feeder be? The most important consideration is how often you are willing to fill it, for an empty bird feeder just encourages birds to go to someone else’s yard! I prefer a hopper feeder or tube feeder with a fairly large capacity so I only need to fill it every few days during most of the year. Of course, during the busy spring and fall periods, even a large hopper feeder needs to be filled frequently.

We know that fall migration takes extra energy and the best way for birds to get it is by eating lots of sunflower seeds. Another important need is water. Migrating birds need water not only to drink but also to maintain their flight feathers. Providing a good source of water will draw birds to your yard who wouldn’t ordinarily visit. A shallow birdbath will be greatly appreciated. If you live in an area that freezes regularly, consider adding a birdbath that can be heated when temperatures drop below freezing. There are many heaters available designed just for birdbaths so they don’t injure birds. Planting evergreens nearby will offer protection from predators as well as provide safe roosting sites during cold winter nights. In the north, winter feeding needs to be only seed and suet because all the birds that eat insects and fruit have gone south for the winter.

I know it’s only the middle of August and we are all still enjoying summer, but the days are growing shorter and we should be thinking about preparations for the fall bird migration. As birds begin their travels, they will require greater energy. Sunflower seeds offer the greatest amount of energy for migrating and also for keeping warm in the winter, so be sure to stock up. As the traffic in our yards increases with migrators, we want to attract as many as possible, so this is a good time to add another seed feeder like a large hopper feeder or tube feeder. Suet feeders will also be appreciated throughout the fall and winter. Now is also a good time to thoroughly clean all of our backyard bird feeders and do any repairs that may be necessary. If you are still using an old tired and worn out feeder, maybe it’s time to toss it and replace it. My oriole feeder is old and leaky so the bees are getting more out of it than the orioles are. I was hoping it would last until the end of the season, but I finally gave up and replaced it. Now the yard looks much nicer. While I was at it, I also added a tube feeder and a slick new hummingbird feeder.

This is the time of the year that is fun to watch for juvenile birds. They are large enough that it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between an adult female and a juvenile for usually their coloring matches the female adult. Parents feed these young birds for several weeks after they have left the nest. For us, the best part is that the youngsters will follow their parents to bird feeders to learn this feeding method. After a few days, they are expected to feed independently. This is a good time to make sure the hopper feeder is full of goodies that will keep them coming back. Maybe add some hulled sunflower seeds to the mix just to make the initial feedings at the hopper feeder a little easier. I have also been offering chicken scratch (finely chopped corn) that I bought at the local feed store. I have been rewarded by many young towhees, jays, finches and orioles.