It’s hard to believe, but 63,000,000 of us feed the birds.
You could say, that’s a lot of bird lovers.
So what do you feed?
Well, a good all-purpose food is black-oiled sunflower seeds.
The seeds are full of energy, very popular with the birds, and affordable. I buy them in 50-pound bags.
Now, if you want to attract birds like chickadees and finches (as my wife does outside our kitchen window), go for thistle seeds.
They’re pricey, but if you choose a feeder designed for thistle seeds (one with small holes) it will keep waste to a minimum, with fewer of the tiny seeds falling out and possibly going to waste.
There’s quite a smorgasbord of food out there for the birds.
But, if you buy a bag of mixed seed, you might want to find out what’s in it.
Some mixes are made of fillers that birds just won’t eat.
Most of the birds only seem to want certain seeds, pushing the rest aside.
It’s kind of like going through a can of mixed nuts and picking out your favorites.
We normally use four or five different feeders, but my favorites are the ones that are attached directly to a tree limb not too far away from a window, so that we can watch to see when the unit runs out of seeds.
Back a few years ago, some friends of mine reminded me that I should include a portion of suet near our backyard feeders.
My spouse is dedicated to her bird feeding program most of the year. She takes an active interest in songbirds.
She knows that birds can consume up to three-fourths of their body weight in food each day. Birds have a high metabolism rate and require foods of high-calorie value during winter months.
Suet supplies the energy that birds need to survive the harshest weather.
During winter, birds sometimes experience difficulty in locating sufficient nutritious food to survive the ravages of snow, sleet, rain, and freezing winds.
Measures can be taken to relieve birds from the bitterness of winter while attracting them for entertainment.
Food, water, and cover are essential if birds are to be attracted, according to wildlife biologists with the DNR in Beckley.
Winter cover can be obtained by planting a variety of shrubs, as well as hemlocks, dogwoods, blue spruce, elderberry, and blackberry.
Clumps of rhododendron and mountain laurel improve landscape aesthetics while providing cover.
During autumn and winter months, songbirds and game birds consume large quantities of grapes as well as the fruits of bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, and several species of wild roses.
Bird feeders should be positioned in a manner that reduces a feeding bird’s vulnerability to predators and adverse weather.
Grains, such as corn, sorghum, wheat, and sunflower, may be planted in backyard gardens to provide additional foods, according to biologists.
Nearly all of these grains, plus specially prepared songbird food mixes, can be purchased from feed and/or hardware dealers in economical quantities.
Sunflower seed, wheat, oats, corn, millet, rye, buckwheat, and soybeans attract mourning doves, cardinals, and several other seed-eating birds. Nuts usually attract grosbeaks, nuthatches, woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, tufted titmice, and blue jays.
Birds often suffer when they become accustomed to a food source that is suddenly discontinued, one biologists warned.
“It’s important that feeding continues until spring when natural foods become more available,” he added.
“In addition to maintaining a proper amount of food, frequent cleaning of the feeders is necessary to prevent the spread contagious diseases among birds. Feeders should be cleaned and disinfected every few months with warm, soapy water.”
The reward of maintaining bird houses, bird feeding stations, flowers, and fruit bearing trees and shrubs is endless fascination.
The iridescent colors and cheerful chirps of songbirds can dazzle the spirit on the bleakest and coldest day of winter and provide a bonus to spring’s warm and sunny charm.
If you don’t believe that, just try hanging a feeder or two on your property, and watch the hungry little creatures start eating you out of house and home.
Bird feeders, however, occasionally attract other creatures besides the feathered variety. Some of these intruders are hungry little animals who cannot resist the prospect of an easy meal.
Folks who feed our feathered friends should continue well into late spring and even early summer, according to biologists with the DNR in Beckley.
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Top o’ the morning!