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SEASON’S EATING’S FOR BIRDS
Snow in the mountains will bring many winter birds down to warmer climates and lower altitudes. We have many garden friends such as the ladybug and praying mantis, but the birds are the most important insect destroyers of all. It is time to prepare so that we may help them survive the winter.
There are many simple and inexpensive ways to feed the birds when food is scarce and the ground is covered with snow.
One of the best things you can do is provide water for the birds - in the winter when we are not irrigating in our arid climate birds must sometimes go a long way for water. When you put out water, place it near a low hanging limb because birds with wet feathers do not fly well and need protection until they dry off. Have water in the open so that cats cannot pounce on them. When the water is frozen you may need to heat some water for the bird bath in the morning.
There are many kinds of bird feeders - you may purchase as large or small as you need. Place the feeder over a lawn area rather than the garden or you’ll be weeding out birdseed all summer. Bird seed is almost all annual seed and can be mowed down with the mower. Fasten the feeder on a post or hang from a tree. Hollowed gourds, coconut shells, etc., make good small feeders for small birds.
Place the feeder near the house so you can go out in a storm to fill it - that is when it is most needed. Bread crumbs, pie crust, cake and other crumbs are welcome. Wild bird seed may be purchased. Chicken scratch is very cheap and can be purchased from a feed store. If it has corn it will attract some bigger birds as well as crows. Ground feeders, such as juncos, robins and finches will appreciate their food thrown out each day on a bare spot. Sunflower seeds are more expensive, but will attract the red finches because they have a large beak and can crack the seeds. Another favorite food of the finches is apples. Spear an apple on a coat hanger and hang it from a tree - they will hollow it out completely.
Suet is a good energy food and may mean a quick lunch when a quick lunch can mean life in a storm. Simply hang it in a tree with a strong cord or tie it in the crotch of a tree. Hang it in the shade and a big piece will last the winter.
Once a feeding program is started, do not stop because the birds become dependent and won’t be able to find food in a storm.
by, Marie Torrens
Another kindness for our feathered friends.
Every spring my garden is populated with mourning doves, robins, sparrows, hummingbirds, swallows and other feathered creatures. One object that they enjoy besides the food and water and safety from neighborhood cats and dogs is a spiral of wire filled with the combings from my Persian cats. a friend of mine, Ellen, got me started doing this as she had only short haired cats so she requested some of the combings that she then hung in her fruit tree. Her birds would soon pull all the hair out of the spiral and use it to make the inside of their nests cozy for their developing young. . Now, I save the cat hair for her and also for myself.
02/01/2009