Birds DunRite

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.

If you have a balcony, it doesn’t matter if you live in a high rise apartment, you can attract hummingbirds. They will find you even in the middle of a city.

A hummingbird feeder that is easy to clean filled with sugar water is a good start for a balcony habitat. Hang it in a protected place, under the eaves and out of direct sunlight to discourage fermentation of the solution. To add to the setting, try adding a few potted plants — a large pot with a flowering tree or shrub in it, along with some smaller plants around the base. Your local nursery could help you with plants that grow well in your area and with careful thought you could have a single pot with flowers that bloom all year-round.

Hummers aren’t shy. They will feed from plants or feeders placed close to your house or windows. The one precaution you want to keep in mind is the danger of your hummingbirds flying into the glass if you have a sliding glass door onto your balcony. Until the hummers get used to the fact that there is a window there, draw the curtain behind the glass. Once they get familiar with the territory, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Like all birds, hummers need water too, but they use it mostly for bathing. They satisfy most of their drinking needs from the sugar water in your feeder, or from the nectar itself from flowers. You can provide water with bird baths having a rough surface for good footing and it should have areas that are no deeper than 1-1/2 inches. If it is deeper, just place some rocks in the bottom of it to make the water shallower.

Hope you can find the pleasure of these fascinating little flying jewels!!

Hummingbirds especially like the color red. If you have electric fences around your yard with red insulators, please paint them black or white, so hummers won’t think they are flowers and fly into the electrified fence.

Pesticides are another concern. Hummers eat tiny insects and spiders and feed on the tree sap that attracts them. Pesticides used on hummingbird plants is a very bad idea because the pesticides will kill the insects and spiders that form a large part of the protein portion of a hummer’s diet and they might ingest the pesticide directly sprayed onto the flowers which could make them sick of even kill them. Remember the tiny size of hummingbirds — even a small dose of pesticide can be deadly!

So in addition to maintaining your hummingbird feeder, be very diligent about the surrounding vegetation and area.

Hummingbird physical attributes make them unique among birds. Ounce for ounce hummingbirds have the largest brain, heart, energy output and breast muscles in proportion to body size of any bird. They are the only bird that can fly backward, forward, sideways and hover in midair. They can accomplish this because their wings rotate completely at the shoulder. Other birds have only limited rotation abilities in the shoulder joint. They are the only bird who gets flight power from the upstroke of their wing, as well as the down stroke.

Their hearts beat 1,000 tines a minute and their wings beat an incredible 20 to 200 strokes per second! They inhale 250 times a minute and their metabolic rate is so high it must be fed constantly.

Hummingbirds get the energy they need to maintain their metabolic rate almost entirely from flower nectar and the sugar water in your hummingbird feeder. For protein and other essential nutrients they also nibble on tiny insects and spiders. With their specially designed beaks and tongues which allows them to extract nectar from deep within a blossom they can draw up to 13 sips of nectar a second.

Most hummingbirds are not even as long as a bald eagle’s middle toe. In fact, the smallest of the species, the Cuban bee hummingbird, is the tiniest bird in the world, weighing in at about .07 ounces and is only about 2-1/4 inches long. Some of the larger species can grow up to a whole 3 to 4 inches long and can tip the scales at several ounces. Despite their small size, they are amazingly hardy. Many species migrate for a distance of 1,000 to 2,000 miles.

This tiny little bird with the big voice is common throughout most of North America. The House Wren is cinnamon brown above, buff or gray below, and has fine bars on the wings and tail. They are quick to accept bird houses for a home and a house with a small entrance will protect the House Wren and its family from the dangers most nesting birds encounter.

The Wren’s exuberant personality endears him to humans, but he is sometimes not the best neighbor to other songbirds. Only the male is the singer, and most of his singing occurs during courting times.

With their friendly nature, they will live near human habitation. They prefer suburban yards or open areas with trees and shrubs nearby. The House Wren migrates to southern states for the winter.

Robins are most often seen foraging in lawns for earthworms as well as eating many insects like caterpillars, termites, grasshoppers and beetle grubs. A brush or leaf pile will also invite worms and other delicacies for them. Over 60 percent of the robin’s diet is composed of fleshy fruits and berries like elderberry, bayberry, pyracantha, grape, crab-apples or hollies. Planting any such bush or tree will keep the birds coming back. Robins also love plumped raisins, grapes, apples, currants and suet offered in platform bird feeders.

Watching robins in bird baths is truly a delightful experience. They splash and play as well as stopping for a drink and then eventually fly to a nearby branch to preen themselves so a bird bath in your backyard is an absolute must! Another need is a mud puddle for the female during the mating season. She lines the nest with mud by smearing the inner bowl with her muddy breast–then she definitely needs a bath!

A reliable access to clean, fresh water is a necessity for birds and is sometimes overlooked. Birdbaths are an ideal simple solution. Place the birdbath in a location you can enjoy–watching birds splash and bath can be quite hilarious–and most important, where the birds will be comfortable and safe. Light shade is preferable. The dappled shade of a tree branch hanging just a few feet above the water is perfect since it will provide shade, perches, and hiding places. Elevate a birdbath about three feet above ground to lessen the opportunity for predators. Another option for those with a railing on a patio or deck is to mount it to the railing like featured in the Summer Special.

Water shouldn’t be deep–three inches at the deepest point and water should be shallow at the edges so the birds can walk in. A wide flat, dry edge to land on attracts more birds. A great solution for having movement in the water which the birds love, is the WaterWiggler. This also is a great deterrent for mosquitoes. Refresh the water several times a week and scrub away any debris and algae.

This is a very low maintenance, attractive addition to your garden which will give hours of pleasure for both you and your birds.

If you want something different in your yard and yet totally practical, we have found a birdfeeder that fits the bill. In addition to you loving it, small songbirds are absolutely delighted with the unique design of the “Cling-a-Wing” feeder.

Constructed of durable plastic, the large globe has four inviting seed ports for the birds to go into. There is a hopper delivering seeds from the top portion of the feeder that the birds can dine on in their protected haven. Squirrels go crazy trying to get to the ports– the round surface fouls their every attempt, and the unique design keeps seeds dry. A real winner!