Birds DunRite

Southward migration time is here which makes it very important to have your hummingbird feeder ready and available for your current residents and also the many visitors that will stop by to refuel before continuing their journey south.  If you live in an area that stays warm year-round, the hummingbirds may not migrate at all.

Use the same area to hang your hummingbird feeder and make sure it has shade during the day to keep the solution from evaporating.  A reachable bottom branch of a backyard tree or under your patio is perfect.  A constant food source in the same location of your backyard will ensure many hummingbirds.

Hummingbird feeder maintenance is very important.  Any mixture of sugar and water will ferment and host the growth of mold spores.  To avoid these problems the mixture must be discarded at least every 3-4 days — more frequently in high temperatures.  Always clean a feeder thoroughly before refilling.  A wash of vinegar and water using a bottle brush will do this job.

Never use honey in attracting hummingbirds.  The use of honey can cause a fatal fungal infection on the hummingbirds’ tongues.  Do not use red coloring in the sugar water solution.  Some red on the hummingbird feeder will adequately attract the birds.

Sugar solution should be made in your own kitchen.  Simply bring 4 cups of tap water to a near boil and slowly dissolve 1 cup of pure granulated white sugar into the near boiling water,  keep stirring until the water is clear.  Remove from heat and let cool several hours or overnight.  Store any leftover in the refrigerator up to a week.

Attract these fast flying, acrobatic, fighting and on the constant hunt for sugar solution little hummers to enhance your backyard birding.

These active, agile little birds dine primarily on insects, seeds and berries.  The constantly active chickadee will hop around and cling to twigs, branches and foliage, gleaning huge quantities of insect eggs and larvae.  How much better bug control than using insecticides!

Chickadees also enjoy a variety of seeds and berries.  Seeds and nuts of pine, hemlock, birch, walnut, ragweed and sunflower are all important natural vegetable food.  They especially love black oil sunflower seed presented at your bird feeders.  They typically take one seed from the birdfeeder, fly away and perch nearby to eat it.  Chickadees will visit your bird feeders one at a time, while the others wait nearby for their turn.  They also enjoy peanut kernels, peanut butter mixes, hulled sunflower seeds and suet.  Offer plenty of suet, a high energy food, which can help support their constant motion.  Place suet feeders near the trunk of a tree.  Smear peanut butter onto tree trunks and branches.

The chickadees will be a frequent visitor to your bird feeders in the winter.  Fill your tube bird feeders or your window bird feeders with black oil sunflower seed or peanut kernels.  Platform bird feeders are great for fresh or dried blueberries and various other berries.

As with all wildlife, water is an absolute necessity so have at least one bird bath for drinking and bathing.  Heated bird baths are especially important for birds like the chickadees who keep you company all winter and give you special dreary day enjoyment.

Just think how hard they work to stay alive in the cold winter weather so let’s give them all the help we can and they will reward us by appearing as little puff balls at our bird feeders to brighten our days.

The following suet mixture is an excellent food source for winter months and some Bluebirds may even try it in summer/fall:

Well, believe it or not, you too can have a bird in the hand! If you regularly feed birds, you might want to get to know them up close. All it takes is patience, persistence, and well, MORE patience.

To start with, it is helpful to have a few bushes for the birds to fly to when frightened, and it also gives them a place to perch while closely observing you. It is also advisable to begin after birds have been regular visitors to your bird feeders.

Start in early fall by putting out seed in the feeders at the same time of day when you wish to try the hand feeding. After filling the feeder, stand or sit about 12 feet away for a few minutes. It is important to remain very still. If you use a chair be sure it is the same one each day and in the same spot. Do this until birds fly readily to the feeder nearby. Once they become accustomed to your presence, go a foot or two closer to the feeder each week. Soon they will come to the feeder while you are standing right next to it.

The next step is to then remove all of the seed from the feeder and hold your hand next to it with food in your up-turned palm. Stand quietly and wait. Don’t give up! The bird in the bush will eventually come to your hand.

You can be sure that the birds are watching and soon even the more timid ones will come to your hand. Eventually your feathered friends will rush to greet you, wanting a handout.

I’ve been a birdwatcher for years and the notion to build a birdhouse in my backyard didn’t occur to me until last year when my wife caught the flu on the first weekend of spring, where I usually go into the woods to watch which birds were flying in and out.

I started with some simple bird feeders and watched the birds converge upon my backyard. Now, it wasn’t anything like out of the Hitchcock movie, but it was still amazing. And while I didn’t get to see any exotic birds, the thought that I could stroll out of my kitchen and see some of my winged friends puts a little smile across my heart.