Feeding birds can be a rewarding and enjoyable hobby
More importantly, you’ll be giving them much-needed nutrition during the chilly winter months when it can be challenging to find natural food sources. Here are some pointers and ideas to make bird feeding more enjoyable for you and safer for the birds before you run out and purchase a feeder. Additionally, we’ve included a couple recipes that are only meant for birds. But be carefulfeeding birds can become compulsive, and before you know it, you’ll find yourself needing to purchase “one more feeder.” .
In October, if you haven’t been providing year-round bird food, now is the perfect time to start. Natural food supplies are running low, and any nuts or fruit that remain on shrubs will be consumed over the winter.
Take time to find the right location for your feeders. Place them close to trees or shrubs that will offer shade so they can flee from predators with ease. Don`t put feeders on or near windows. Because the glass reflects the surrounding foliage, birds become confused and fly into windows, which frequently results in fatalities. Hawk decals and hanging items can help, but they can’t stop these kinds of accidents completely.
Once you begin feeding birds, continue doing so until spring arrives. Birds will rely on the food you provide for them, so if you stop feeding them, they might have trouble finding other food. This is especially true if yours is the neighborhood’s only feeder. It’s crucial to keep feeders stocked during extremely cold temperatures. It’s also crucial to make sure the feeders are stocked at dawn (you can do this the night before), as birds require food after a long, chilly night.
Keep your feeders clean. Wet seeds spoil quickly and can become poisonous. Every so often empty, dry, and air out feeders. Commercial cleansers are extremely toxic to birds, so never use them to disinfect feeders. Use hot water and scrub well.
Black-capped Chickadee at hopper feeder; photo Christine Hanrahan
In cold weather, birds’ feet can become stuck with metal, tearing the flesh. Use plastic-coated products on seed and suet feeders instead of metal ones. Make sure you use tape to bind the edges of any hard plastic container feeder you create.
Instead of using their teeth to chew their food, birds’ strong gizzards crush berries, seeds, and nuts. But they need grit to help them with digestion. You can provide it by setting out clean sand, very fine gravel, finely ground egg shells, or packaged canary grit.
Limit the use of bakery products (bread, muffins, etc. ). When consumed in excess, they can lead to malnutrition in birds due to their low nutrient value.
Peanut butter warning. A lot of books recommend peanut butter as a healthy food for birds. But because it’s so sticky, they risk choking on it. If you do use itwhich we do not advisemix it with melted beef fat or wheat germ in a 50/50 ratio. Overindulgence in peanut butter may also pose health risks to birds.
Seed: A variety of seeds are available, and certain birds have preferences for particular kinds of seeds. Below is a list of birds along with the seeds that they prefer. Sunflower seedsboth the striped and black-oil varietiesare the most widely used. Feeder enthusiasts also favor mixed seeds, although the amount of wasted seed varies based on the type of mix. The best place to purchase a high-quality mix is from a retailer that specializes in bird food. Finches, especially goldfinches and redpolls, love thistle or nyger seeds, and many other birds also find white proso millet to be very tasty.
Fruit: If you place fresh fruit like oranges, cranberries, currants, and berries as well as soaked dried fruit, you’ll draw birds like robins that don’t frequently visit feeders.
At the suet feeder are Hairy (left) and Downy Woodpeckers; Christine Hanrahan took the photo.
Suet: This draws a lot of insect-eating birds, forcing them to switch to fruit and seeds for the winter. Steer clear of bacon fat, which has an excessive amount of toxic chemicals, and substitute beef suet. You can either make your own using butcher-sourced suet or purchase premade packages that may contain seeds. Melting the suet helps remove impurities. Spread the suet into the holes of a suet log or place it in a suet holder coated in plastic. Avoid tying it with string as the birds’ feet could get entangled in it. Here are a few recipes and serving suggestions.
- Combine melted suet and seeds, then pack the mixture into a plastic flower pot or a clean cardboard milk or juice container with the top cut off. Insert a long stick along one side. Install the container sideways outdoors once the suet is hard (a birdbox with the front removed is a good site) As they eat the suet, birds will perch on the stick.
- Heat to boiling: 1 part suet and 6 parts water. Add one part brown sugar, half part flour, and two parts cornmeal. Cool, pour into a cupcake pan and allow to harden.
- In a saucepan, melt half a pound of freshly ground suet. In the meantime, combine 1/8 cup canary seed, chopped peanuts, cooked rice, cooked oatmeal, and 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds, finely cracked corn, raisins, or currants in a big bowl. Once the suet has cooled down and begun to thicken, add the dry mix and stir until it is evenly distributed. Transfer the entire mixture into a pie plate or stuff it into suet feeders. NOTE: You can also use chopped berries, dried fruit, millet, or other birdseed. (From: How to Attract Birds. Ortho Books, 1983. food, create caverns or holes that serve as small mammals’ and other birds’ nesting places.
Although there are many varieties of feeders available, the majority belong to a few basic kinds.
- The most popular type of feeders are hoppers, which hold a large amount of seed that is released as it is used. They can be suspended from branches or fixed on platforms or poles.
- Tube feeders have multiple feeding outlets with perches and are shaped like cylinders. They work best for chickadees, finches, and other small birds and can be hung from clotheslines, poles, or branches. Nyger or thistle feeders function similarly, but their apertures are just tiny slits that let one tiny seed be taken at a time.
- In addition to attracting larger birds like jays, platform feeders can also be used to store fruit and nuts. They can be mounted on poles at varying heights. Solid wood or, better yet, mesh covered in plastic that allows rain to pass through and keeps seeds dryer can serve as their base.
- Suet feeders are discussed above.
White-breasted Nuthatch at tube feeder; photo D. Gordon E. Robertson
Maintain the bird at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) in a quiet, dark area. The bird shouldn’t be domesticated, and the surroundings should be as free of human interference as feasible. It is helpful to cover the cage partially with a sheet so that the uncovered end is exposed to daylight. Provide sufficient space. Small birds should be kept in cages that are big enough for them to fly in, complete with suitable perches and food. Meat eaters need special rehabilitation techniques. Water birds need a body of water and flight space.
Before releasing the bird, check with the nearby Audubon Society or Wildlife Rescue organization. The location must be a natural habitat, contain other birds of the same species, not be overcrowded with them, allow the captive bird to be reasonably tame, and be free of predators.
The best tools for hand feeding are a piece of cardboard or the rounded end of a chopstick. To form the food mixture into swallowable-sized pellets, it should have the consistency of thick paste. All wild birds should have a vitamin and mineral supplement that contains vitamins D2 and D3. A dish of mineral-iodized salt grit should be present in the cage of self-feeders. While most mature birds will eventually eat willingly, some will initially require force feeding. If too much food or liquid is given at once, suffocation will result.