by: Bob Bancroft
FALL 1990
Winter's blustery chill will soon surround us. W. 0. Mitchell characterized Canadians as travellers from heated boxes, in heated boxes, to other heated boxes. Another author, whose name escapes me, concluded that Canadians endure 10 months of cold followed by two months of tough sledding.
Wild animals cope with winter without the aid of heated boxes. While some escape by hibernating or flying south, others stay, seeking shelter from freezing winds and always searching for food. With no monthly heating bill, the furred and feathered often find winter "tough sledding".
Feeders permit watchers to entice birds to areas outside our heated boxes. Besides helping our feathered neighbours weather the winter, feeders offer home dwellers learning opportunities and five entertainment with a cast of characters that changes as the season unfolds.
Before acquiring a bird feeder, consider the environment outside your home. Are there trees and bushes? If so, what kinds? Wild animals seek out hedges, thickets and other natural places offering seeds, nuts and berries, as well as shelter from cold and protection from predators. Feeders in urban or suburban wastelands rarely attract birds. Create some natural habitat, and reduce your lawn mowing and watering duties at the same time!
Information about planting for wildlife may be found at local libraries and bookstores. A brochure entitled Shrubs for Wildlife is available at Lands and Forests offices.
Place feeders outside windows, on hard wood trees, or on posts in open areas away from evergreen hedges. Providing 10 feet (three metres) or more of lawn area around feeders creates a "cat alert" zone. Cats consider these spots as places for feeding on birds. Ground feeding birds are the most vulnerable. Putting some thought into locating the feeder will prevent it from becoming a trap.
Commercial bird feeders are offered in many creative designs. Some are more effective than others. 'Me design offered with this article will serve the birds very well, and can be easily built from wood scraps. Once acquired or built, it can be installed on its own post or on a deck raifing where it can be seen from a living room or dining room window.
Note that the ends of this design are solid wood. One end should be located so that it faces the normal wind. Ibis allows an open side to face the viewing window, while birds feed in it sheltered by the ends. Prevailing winds usually come from the west or north west, but around a house these winds are often diverted. Lips on the open sides of the feeding tray help keep seeds from blowing out. Seeds that do fall will be found by ground feeding species.
The "cardinal" rule of birdfeeding is to feed consistently during the severe part of the winter, when feathered friends become dependent. The interruption of a month-long southern vacation in January could spell starvation for them. If someone is house sitting while you are away, add a daily feeding to their duty list.
Birdseed purchased in little bags at grocery and department stores is costly. Instead, buy it in bulk at seed or feed stores. The cost savings may encourage you to continue feeding year-round - or to finance part of a vacation.
Some birds are selective about the seeds they eat. For example, goldfinches prefer niger (thistle) and sunflower seeds. Begin feeding with a commercial mix of wild bird seed. It usually contains millet, grain, cracked corn, and sunflower seeds. Watch the kinds of seeds your birds consume. In the countryside, we discovered black (oil) sunflower seeds to be a favourite with chickadees, evening grosbeaks, Ameiican goldfinches and purple finches. 'Resolution came easily - continue with the mix, and buy an additional bag of black sun flower seeds.
Suet, a type of hard fat from cattle or sheep, will attract insect-eating winter residents such as nuthatches, chickadees and woodpeckers. It can be kitchen leftovers or a grocery store purchase. Suet may be hung from trees and feeders in mesh bags.
Feeding brings up another subject gluttony. Dedicated bird watcher-feeders can rhyme off species noted for their food-raiding ability. Besides feathered hoarders Eke the bluejays and flocks of imports such as starlings, red squirrels can take over and plunder a day's ration in minutes. Filling the feeder at dusk to satisfy the early morning crowd may also attract an after-dark rendezvous of mice, rats, flying squirrels and raccoons.
We divert - but feed - the bluejays by placing kitchen scraps outside in the morning. llis lessens and recycles kitchen waste. Leftovers become compost under trees and shrubs. To keep a supply of sunflower seeds available during the day for the friendly chickadees, we modified a nest box for them. By using a sloping roof with a full-length rubber hinge from an old inner tube we created an easy-to-open, rain-resistant feeder box that is bluejay-prool If the sides of this feeder are made of plexiglass, chickadees will enter it with more confidence, since they can see the sunflower seeds and detect predators such as squirrels that may be lurking inside.
Red squirrels are considered the "Attila the Huns" of bird feeding stations. I confess to feeding them. My mother knows hers all by name, has raised orphans, and has hand-fed even the blue jays at our family home. Unfortunately a squirrel will occasionally chew its way into a home, and five-trapping must be considered.
You can protect feeders from squirrels by adding frisbee-like metal or plastic disks to the pole at three foot (one metre) heights to discourage climbing. Alternatively, place feeders high on metal poles to stop climbing and jumping from the ground. Often the combination of disks and metal poles are needed. Squirrels and bluejays will consider these evasive tactics and display considerable ingenuity in their efforts to regain the food supply. It took our jays at Pomquet one year to figure their way into one commercially-built feeder.
One last word about new feeders - be patient if yours is ignored. Wintering birds may not have it noted on their food inventory for the area. Jays might arrive immediately, but many wild birds need time to find it. Once the feeder is located, flocks of evening grosbeaks and others will return about the same time each year, guided by individuals who visited the year before.
In the spring new species such as fox sparrows will spend a few days around the feeder before they continue to migrate north. Others, like song sparrows, arrive, set up breeding territories and camp for the summer.
Young sparrows, chickadees, and jays are later introduced to the feeder by their parents.
Once people get hooked on this hobby, they tend to add new and different feeders to attract species such as the ruby-throated hummingbird, and even to design flower beds to attract them. It's easy for humans to find interest, happiness and pleasure in sharing the property outside their heated boxes with wildlife.