Monday, January 11, 2010

Don't Forget The Birds


This is the time of year that our feathered friends rely on well-stocked bird feeders the most. WSAW-TV gives us this timely reminder:

Wild birds are working to survive during the cold winter months.

If you want to help your backyard birds, you can give them peanuts.

The owner of Wild Birds Unlimited says birds love foods that are high in fat and protein during the winter.

Peanuts, black oil sunflower seeds, and sunflower chips will help them stay warm.

They also need access to water that isn't frozen.

"They need water to keep their feathers clean, otherwise they couldn't fly. And they need water to drink, and of course all the lakes and rivers and ponds are frozen, so if anybody has a heated birdbath, that helps a lot too," said Lori Schubring, owner of Wild Birds Unlimited.

There may be more migratory birds sticking around for the winter.

According to the Audubon Society, for unknown reasons, 60 percent of birds seem to be moving slightly northward.

Safflower seeds are also popular, but only with specific types of birds.

And don't be surprised if the squirrels will come visiting as well. They don't like the safflower seeds and sometimes mixing safflower seeds in with your other bird food is enough. If it isn't, I found that mixing in some ground cayenne pepper will do the trick. The birds can't taste it, so it doesn't bother them, but the squirrels can't stand the stuff.

4 comments:

  1. Saw 2 flocks of Canadian geese flying over our school today in Vegas. Long time Las Vegans have never seen that before.

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  2. Oh geez...now you have me worrying about the birds. I'll have my hubby stop after work for some seeds... :-)

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  3. Just a quick note about the Cayenne pepper. I have a friend who was using it and a group of kids were playing near the feeding station. One of the kids rubbed her eyes with her hands after touching the seed on the ground and has suffered permanent damage as a result. Be very, very careful using it.

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  4. Quick note to Dan. The geese do not carry Canadian passports. They're Canada geese.

    I'm also surprised cayenne pepper could cause permanent eye damage.

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