Birds need the best of care

I had a hard time staying on task during the recent snowstorms. The flurry of feathers and squawking outside my office window were much more entertaining than staring at the computer. But that’s what happens when you deliberately put the birdfeeders where you can see them. The birds are more than happy to put on a show in exchange for some food.

Food means energy for a bird and energy means they can heat their bodies. They look for food with the highest levels of fats and protein. Watch a bird at a feeder some time; they will sort through the seed, throwing some out of the way and eating others. They know which ones will give them the highest levels of fat and protein. They have to – it takes energy to break a seed open and they can’t waste that energy on anything that isn’t going to give them something in return.

Seed matters

Black oil sunflower seeds attract the widest variety of birds in our area including chickadees, finches, nuthatches, pine siskins, California quail, doves, jays and woodpeckers. Niger thistle (not related to our noxious weed thistle) attracts goldfinches, pine siskins, dark-eyed juncos, chickadees, purple finches and sparrows. Woodpeckers, flickers, chickadees and nuthatches are drawn to suet cakes and peanut butter hung in a wire basket or smeared into pine cones.

Find the right feeder

The best feeders are cylindrical tubes with multiple perches or covered tray feeders that keep the seed dry. The tubes hold enough seed to keep a flock of birds going for at least a day or two. The tray feeders are popular with larger birds like juncos, sparrows, towhees, quail and doves. Place them close to dense evergreens so the birds can dive into the safety of the plant if predators show up. If you don’t want the mess of hulls on the ground, buy pre-hulled seed.

Give them shelter

Birds need shelter not only from predators but from the wind, rain and snow. If you have birds around, watch where they go at the end of the day. Usually it will be to dense evergreens, very dense shrubs or brush piles. Add more of what they like close to your feeders. A favorite of my birds is a pine tree with low branches about 20 feet from the feeders.

Drink up

Birds need a water source that doesn’t freeze and to clean their feathers regularly to maintain their insulating ability. It takes a lot of energy to eat snow and then use their precious body heat to thaw it out. The best way to provide water is to purchase a bird bath heater and place it in a broad, flat container the birds can walk into easily. The heater is set on an internal thermostat that turns it on when needed. Unfortunately, the passively heated solar watering pans available on the market are not reliable here because the sun is so low in the sky and the days so short and cloudy that the pan doesn’t receive enough energy to stay thawed out.