Posts Tagged ‘winter’

One of the harshest facts about the winter months, especially in the northern states, is that many factors combine to make it hard for birds to find food.  First, there is just less of it.  Plants that many birds might feed on, such as berries, have just stopped producing in many areas, and those birds that like to feed on the insect population will find that there it has pretty much disappeared, either dying out or hibernating during the cold months.  So finding a good source of food is a challenge.

The other thing to keep in mind is that because birds are warm blooded, and wintertime is so much colder, they need a very high source of energy to keep warm enough to survive.  Much of the bird seed available these days doesn’t really provide much in the way of calories or energy.  That’s why suet feeders are a favorite for winter time bird feeders.

Suet is raw beef fat, typically taken from around the kidneys and loins. Because of its high fat content it is very high in energy.  Suet is one of the best foods to attract nuthatches, woodpeckers, wrens, titmice, chickadees, thrashers, cardinals, bluebirds and many other types of birds.  And, as usual with bird feeders, it can attract some less desirable wildlife like starlings and squirrels.  So, if these are a problem, you may want to use a suet feeder with a cage, and for starlings try a feeder covered on all sides but the bottom, which will feed many other birds but discourage starlings.

Depending on the type of suet you use, it can start to melt and go rancid at temperatures above 70 degrees F, so take care to empty after the spring thaw.

Another thing to keep in mind is the wintertime need for water.  Obviously, with freezing temperatures, the availability of water outdoors will drop, and a typical bird bath will freeze over fairly quickly since they are designed to be shallow.

There are many heated bird baths, but probably the easiest way to solve this problem is to add a bird bath heater to your existing bath.  Make sure that the bird bath is made from a material that can take the heat, some resins may melt.  Also be sure that the heater has a thermostat so it won’t overheat the water as well.

With a few simple steps like this, you can make sure that the birds in your yard are going to make it through the winter.

Jon Ruppel – About the Author:

To learn more about suet bird feeders and to see the various types of bird bath heaters, go to http://backyard-birdz.com

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/winter-bird-care-help-your-backyard-birds-through-the-winter-644057.html

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Lots f people help the birds by throwing out stale bread for them to eat. Although this does elevate the birds hunger, bread isn’t a very nutritious food source.

Most garden bird’s staple diet is usually, fruit and berries, nuts and seeds, insects, worms and grubs, Very tasty.

To really help the bird out this winter you could string p some monkey nuts. Buy some peanuts in their shells and thread a sharp wool needle with a length of wool with a knot in the end of it. Push the needle through the middle of the peanut shell and out of the other side, it’s a bit like threading beads. Thread on more monkey nuts in this way until the wool is almost full. Unthread the needle, make a loop in the wool that is left and tie a knot to keep the nuts and the loop in place. Use the loop to hang the nuts from the bird-table or tree.

You could also make a tasty bird-cake…

Add to a bowl some chopped up bacon rind, leftover chicken bits from Sunday dinner, a few peanuts, a few raisins and frozen peas, some shelled sunflower seeds if you have any, some diced apple and a couple of heaped table spoons of flour and mix well. Add some water and mix to create dough.

Mould into a ball shape and leave it over night on the kitchen windowsill to dry. By morning it will be hard and ready to leave out on a bird table or lawn for the birds to peck at.

It’s just as important the water is left out as well as food. In the winter, water turns to ice and the birds do not have access to drinking water. Leave a dish with fresh water in it out in your garden for the birds, and check it on really cold mornings to make sure it hasn’t turned to ice.

Some of the UK’s bird population are becoming endangered, this means that their population numbers are falling. Organisations like the RSPB do valuable work to protect and monitor endangered breeds of bird. You could monitor the birds yourself during the winter months, spend an hour each day for a week recording all the birds that visit your garden or bird-table. Bird watching is also known as twitching.

There is a chart on the website, a list of UK winter birds that you may see. Each bird has an illustration to help you to identify which breed it is, and there is some information about each birds preferred habitat. Some birds are residents of the UK, which means they like here all year round, others just visit for the winter.

Some birds on the list are endangered, so some of the birds are rarer than others; but you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them. Maybe you could tempt them into your garden with a bit of tasty bird-cake.

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 Winter Suet Bird Feeders

Suet bird feeders help birds in winter, winter can be a  favorite time  for winter activities all dressed in layers.   But for our feathered friends, it is also a stressful cold time food hunting.  It is the time when birds need more energy just to stay warm when it’s so cold outside, but food is not as readily available, so then suet bird feeders are a viable option.

 Birds that are attracted to suet feeders include woodpeckers, goldfinches, juncos, cardinals, thrushes, jays, bluebirds and wrens.  Some folks consider it unfortunate that they will also attract starlings.  If you are one that doesn’t want to attract starlings try finding a suet bird feeder with only upside down access, since starlings can’t hang upside down to feed.  Haning a garden bird feeder can also attract squirrels  to suet feeders than many (including the birds) consider a pest.  To keep squirrels out you need to make sure the feeder cant’ be accessed by climbing or jumping from a nearby roof or tree.  If you still have a problem often using baffles will help keep them away.

Of course winter is a tough time for birds. For birds looking for berries, most plants have lost those long ago.  Flying insects and crawling grubs are hidden safely away the winter months, and if there was some source of food out that a bird might eat much of the time it is hidden under a several inches of snow, so putting a garden bird feeder in your yard will help them greatly.

Traditionally one of the best feeders for the winter bird population is a suet bird feeder, as opposed to a more conventional seed hopper or tube feeder.

Suet feeders are a popular choice because it has several advantages for use in the winter, the woodpeckers just keep coming back for more.  It holds up to cold weather well. At temperatures above 20 C it will melt, and attract bears (if you have them in your area)so don’t leave it out year round. Since it has a large percentage of fat it has a lot of calories, and is usually mixed with other high energy foods like peanuts for additional protein to give an additional energy boost. Finally suet cakes will last for quite a while so you don’t need to refill the suet feeder too often.

Suet was used many years ago by the settlers in America. It comes from raw beef or mutton fat, it’s often made from the fat found around the loins and kidneys. Our ancestors found many uses for it like candle-making. To make suet the fat is rendered in a process where the fat is heated to produce a wax like material. Once it cools slightly this wax like material is shaped and stored like soap.

Once you have the raw suet, to make it usable in a feeder it is usually prepared in a block similar in shape and size to a sandwich. To increase the protein in the food it’s common to add other ingredients like cracked peanuts or seeds which are mixed in before the suet solidifies so they are distributed through the food block. There are many types of commercially available suet blocks. There are also many web sites featuring suet recipes targeting different bird species if you are inclined to make your own suet.

Usually a suet feeder looks like of a small wire cage feeder where the suet block is placed. This can be hung from a tree or simply nailed to the trunk of a tree. Another common favorite is a traditional bird hopper feeder that also has suet cages on the sides, to prevent squirrels from taking it all.

 
Suet bird feeders come in many of styles and shapes. The most common of all the suet feeders are the simple cage feeders. These house the suet in a protective cage that can hang from a tree. For those wanting something more aesthetic there are decorative suet feeders. These are often mounted on a pole that can be freestanding in your yard, hopefully safe from your squirrel friends.

While winter is a tough time of year for our feathered friends, with a suet bird feeder you can help the birds in your area come through ready for spring in good health.
By John Ruppel

Bird Feeder on Flickr – Photo Sharing!
  Pro User says:. Looks like a brand new suet feeder. Great shot up of the woodpecker. I have them too and they love the suet this time of year.

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