Winter Wild Bird Care

By Deborah S. Tukua
www.hollycreekbooks.com

With sleet falling and the temperatures dropping we notice more wild birds in our outdoor feeder than usual. The presence of lovely birds livens up the bleak landscape. The brilliant red feathers of the male cardinal stand out gorgeously against his snowy surroundings. We count six cardinals in the yard near the feeder. Wild birds seem to eat more when it’s colder outside. There are things that we can do to keep the wild birds in our yard healthy through winter when it’s a little harder for them to find food.

Wild birds have favorite foods. A variety of bird feed will enable you to feed more bird species. If you’d like to attract a particular species of bird to your feeder it helps to know what that bird eats.

Black oil sunflower seeds attract cardinals, chickadees, finches, grosbeaks, nuthatches, tufted titmice, and scrub jays.

Cracked corn attracts blackbirds, buntings, blue jays, cardinals, crows, grackles, mourning doves, purple finches, sparrows, and woodpeckers. Although this is an inexpensive bird food option when purchased in bulk from a farm feed store, cracked corn doesn’t stay fresh long once wet.

Orange, fresh, halved attracts northern orioles.

Peanuts, unsalted and halved attract chickadees and scrub jays.

Suet attracts blue jays, Carolina wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, northern orioles, starlings, thrushes, and warblers.

Thistles placed in a hanging tube feeder will attract goldfinches, purple finches, sparrows, chickadees, titmice and pine siskins.

White Proso millet attracts mourning doves, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, and towhees.

Although dog food is on the list of things not to offer, there is the persistent wren in the dog dish. Using his long pointed beak, the wren pushes hard dog food out of his way, first to the left, then to the right and onto the porch, making a real mess for such a tiny creature. The wren finally settles on a piece of hard dog food. Since it’s too large to swallow, he pecks at it on the porch until chiseling a small enough portion for himself. We excuse the mess on the porch for the opportunity to watch this cute little creature through the window.

Remember to change the water every couple of days in the birdbath, especially after a freeze. In colder regions, empty the birdbath at night and refill on days above freezing.

©Deborah Tukua, author of Pearls of Garden Wisdom. This hardbound book yields a great wealth of ideas for planning and planting a lovely garden to attract wild birds and butterflies. It’s on sale now at the FATV shop.

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