Snowy Weather Creates Emergency for Back Yard Feeders
Your back yard feeders are in an emergency situation when a major snowstorm is occurring in your back yard. It is important that you keep your back yard feeders free of snow and ice during any weather system, as the local population of song birds can easily perish without new food during a wet and cold weather pattern. Bird food should be available and offered easily, to ensure your song birds do not die during the evening hours. Often, a very wet and heavy snow will cause songbirds to be trapped in a new and uncertain area of the backyard.
Snow and Back Yard Feeders
Squirrels, red squirrels, moles and other rodents will frequent your back yard feeders during a snow event, so it is important that you venture outside to ensure that your feeders are active and ready to work for your back yard birds. If your feeder is encased in ice, chances are, a mouse or squirrel will take full advantage of the frozen obstacles you may use, to keep your birds fed. Back yard feeders often work with a mechanism that will flip, twirl, or block a fat squirrel or mouse from feeding. When this mechanism is frozen, it creates a dangerous advantage for your rodent population to explore and realize the opportunity of your back yard feeders. Do not let the opportunity occur, and be sure to bring all frozen feeders indoors, for cleaning and maintenance.
For this reason, it is always a good idea to have an extra feeder that is clean and stored indoors, empty of food. The outdoors is a great place for you to find time to unwind and enjoy your back yard feeders, but they will require some down time once and awhile. However, a snowstorm is a time where you may need some downtime, and as well, a full feeder at the same time. That is why, having a backup for all your outdoor feeders is a great idea.
Use your back yard feeders that you have given up on, those that are less effective with your squirrel raiders, and give them a good cleaning with vinegar and water. These will be good substitutes while the best feeders you use are warmed up and dried, cleaned, and all winter snow and ice is removed.
Back Yard Feeders Should be Filled with Protein
During a icy rain, or snow storm, your back yard feeders should be filled with the best sunflower seeds, or even some meal worms for your song bird populations. The feeders are often very necessary during these events, when normal natural feeding areas are inaccessible. With the advent of a snow storm, you will see increased activity at your back yard feeders. The birds will be stocking up so to speak, as they will feel the change in pressure, and know when the storm is approaching. There are many birds who realize the change before most wildlife, so an accurate weather predictor is your back yard feeders. If you see increase in activity, you can count on some change to the weather.
Back Yard Feeders Can be Changed to New Offerings
Try to feed your birds something new during the storm, and a great offering during the storm that is new is a kind way to keep your beautiful birds alive and well. You may find a new suet feeder a fun and good way to offer that protein that they will require. With the new food, be sure to continue the same food you have offered during the winter, as they will not need too much change during this stressful time.
You may see that the population of birds in your backyard are new and unexpectedly populated. There could be a surprise to you with a new kind of bird, showing up with a dire situation of hunger and looking lost and uncertain. The years where a snow storm dropped over a foot of snow in our back yard resulted in new warblers and nuthatches frequenting our feeders more often. We did take care to ensure that our feeders were in use, and that created new birds visiting our back yard feeders.
Categories: Birding Back Yard Tags: Back Yard, Bird Food, Cleaning With Vinegar, Cold Weather, Down Time, Emergency Situation, Evening Hours, Heavy Snow, Major Snowstorm, Moles, New Food, Red Squirrels, Rodent Population, Snow And Ice, Snow Event, Snowy Weather, Song Birds, Weather Pattern, Weather System, Yard Birds
Benefits Of Placing A Fancy Bird House Instead Of A Traditional One
When people hear the term nautical bird house, they think that it is a bird house that is intended to accommodate sea gulls, pelicans, and other sea birds. This is completely untrue because those sea birds will not be fit inside a nautical bird house. This type of bird house is only intended to accommodate common song birds. It got its name because it is built to resemble a nautical structure. Light house design is the most popular nautical bird house.
A nautical bird house is one example of fancy bird houses. Many people think that bird house is only a kind of box structure with four walls, a floor, and a small roof. However, bird house design has become advance recently and the finished product can resemble various objects, such as Victorian mansions, fire stations, barns, and old stores. Most of these designs are multileveled or have more than one chamber with separate entrance hole. Therefore, more than one family of birds can nest in without causing any territorial fight.
Traditional bird houses are relatively easy to make. However, when it comes to nautical and other fancy bird houses, general bird watchers will not be able to make one. The design is usually complicated and it will be hard for anyone besides professional carpenters to make the bird house. You should be able to get one from craft stores, feed stores, and pet stores.
Why fancy bird house?
Perhaps you are wondering why people want to buy a fancy bird house. It is only used by birds and obviously they cannot differentiate whether the design is beautiful or not. Furthermore, it costs much more than the traditional bird house. The reason is because those people intend to use the intricate appearance of this fancy bird house to decorate their garden. Some of them even use the bird house only for decorative purpose and thus they close the entrance hole and do not allow birds to use it. They put this fancy bird house in a prominent place so their guests can comment on its beauty.
However, if you also want the fancy bird house to function fully, then you should find a strategic spot to mount it. You should make sure that predators like cats and raccoons cannot access the bird house. Furthermore, you should clean the bird house regularly after birds have moved out.
A fancy bird house may attract the same types of bird as the traditional one. However, for some people, attracting birds are not the only goal. They also want to beautify their garden by placing this fancy bird house.
Cindy Heller is a professional writer. To learn more about humming bird house plans, please visit how to build a bird house.
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How to Feed Backyard Wild Song Birds A guide to bird foods and feeders
How to Feed and Care For Wild Backyard Songbirds in Kansas
More Food Means More Birds
The territory in which a songbird family lives is largely controlled by the availability of food in any yard. The more food that is available in a single yard, the smaller the territories of each of the songbird species in that same yard. Birds also eat a lot of annoying insects and the more species of birds you have in your yard, the more insect pests will be naturally controlled.
What do I feed the birds? Different species have definite preferences and while sunflower hearts and safflower tend to be the best all around seeds for many birds and most birds will eat suets readily for the protein and fat, you will find there are many species that won’t generally be attracted to seeds or will eat them occasionally, Orioles for instance love Oranges and Jelly and Hummingbirds primarily eat insects and nectar, and Finches love Nyjer, the chart on the front page will list specific preferences for common backyard birds. Using this chart can help you bring more varieties into your backyard habitat, many you didn’t realize were in your area
In many commercial blends, you will notice that millet, grains, and cracked corn will be listed as main ingredients, these are very inexpensive seeds, unfortunately, most songbirds will not readily eat them and you will notice a lot ending up on the ground as they sift through the mix to their preferred feeds, once on the ground, they will also turn up a lot of unwanted rodents so be sure to blend in seeds and suets the birds will readily eat and you will start seeing more birds
And don’t forget a clean water supply!!! Birds, like us need clean water to survive, a birdbath will do nicely, and please be a good host and keep it clean for your guests.
What type of feeder do I use? Your standard hopper or tube feeders are a good place to start as they will hold a good quantity of a variety of seed. Having a couple of feeders at different levels will attract more birds, tube feeders are fine too, though be careful to keep them clean to keep the birds from getting conjuctivitis, a bird disease that can be deadly, and try to put smaller amounts of fresh food daily especially during the rainy season to keep the food from getting stale.
Suet feeders are simple cages that attract a wide variety of birds and all weather suets provide a ready source of fat and protein and can be used year round. Suet kibbles and nuggets are an excellent addition to your bird seed mix in your feeders.
Platform feeders are great for ground feeding birds that won’t eat from your hanging feeders. Small bowls of natural jelly will attract orioles, tanagers and woodpeckers among others as will sliced fresh fruit nailed to a tree or in a fruit feeder. Finches love Nyjer seed and this small seed requires a special feeder or thistle sock and don’t forget the hummingbirds. They are attracted to red and love nectar. A simple, natural hummingbird nectar in a nectar feeder will do the trick and will attract many other birds as well. Again, it is vitally important to keep the nectar fresh as the sugar causes it to spoil quickly.
How Do I Stop the Squirrels From Eating All the Bird Food? Our Diablo Flaming Sauce is one of the only real remedies. The Capsaicin that causes the heat in chili peppers is the main ingredient, squirrels can’t take the heat and birds don’t have the heat receptors to taste it. Spray it on your seed or use one of our Diablo Blend seeds mixed in with your store bought seed and the squirrels will give up. Of course putting out a ground spread of a squirrels favorite away from your feeders will give the squirrels a readily available food source and keep them fat and happy too.
Finally, different types of cover will provide the birds with places to rest and hide from predators and a few well placed trees and bushes as well as various plants and flowers will help bring in more birds.
Anthony LoCascio, proprietor of Divalos Gourmet Bird Foods in Gardner, Kansas
We have a booth for the season at the Merriam, Kansas Farmers Market and can be found online at www.divalosgourmetbirdfood.com
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Categories: Bird Food Tags: Annoying Insects, Backyard, Backyard Birds, Backyard Habitat, Bird, Bird Foods, Birdbath, Birds, Commercial Blends, Cracked Corn, Definite Preferences, Feed, feeders, Finches, Foods, GUIDE, Hummingbirds, Insect Pests, Nectar, Rodents, Safflower, Song, Song Birds, Songbird Species, Songbirds, Species Of Birds, Tube Feeders, Wild, Yard Birds
Spring Time “In Your Birding Sanctuary” Can Be Exciting
In the Spring time, all kinds of birds are scrambling to make a bird nest suitable for their young and the females are anxious to lay their eggs. My family and I are excited as a female Bluebird just laid its first egg in a bluebird House near our shed. Our Blue Bird House is unique because it has doors on both sides and one side is completely plexiglassed, making nest observing easy and safe for children and adults of all ages.
Do you have all your nest boxes up and ready for the birds to move in? There is a huge cavity shortage for the birds. As large old trees are cut down and logged to make room for building developments, the cavity dwelling birds, such as bluebirds, are having trouble finding suitable nesting locations.
A well designed and place bluebird house is essential in attracting blue birds to your yard. The overall dimensions should be approximately 5″w x 5″d x 16″h with the entrance hole of 1.5″ in diameter. The nesting box should be 3 to 6 feet off the ground. Ventilation holes on the top and bottom of the Bluebird house allows fresh air to circulate keeping the nest dry.
At our house, we have placed several bird houses of all sizes around our property. We have been able to attract many different song birds over the years. We only use black oil sunflower seeds in our bird feeders, which most songbirds love. We found that bird seed mixes that contains millet, milo or cracked corn only attract big ugly birds and the song birds won’t even eat it.
So, if your bird nesting boxes are not ready to be used, get out there and get them ready!
For more information on Blue Bird Houses, visit: www.birdbathhouse.com/bird_houses
The Bird Bath House is owned by Stair Enterprises, LLC, a family owned business since 2009. We love the outdoors and value every moment we can immerse ourselves in it. Our goal is to create a shopping experience that would be easy and fun for our customers who adore their feathered visitors as much as we do. We want to share our knowledge with our customers in order for them to be successful at attracting birds to their garden or patio area.
For more information on Blue Bird Houses visit: www.birdbathhouse.com/bird_houses
Visit our Blog at: http://thebestbirdhouse.blogspot.com/
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Categories: Bird Houses Tags: All Kinds Of Birds, Attracting Blue Birds, Bird Bath, Bird Nest, Bird Nesting Boxes, Bird Seed, Birding, Black Oil, Blue Bird Houses, Bluebird House, Cracked Corn, Different Song, Exciting, Family Owned Business Since, Kinds Of Birds, Nest Boxes, Oil Sunflower, Old Trees, Sanctuary, Song Birds, Spring, Spring Time, Time, Ugly Birds, Ventilation Holes
The Truly Fascinating World of Bird Watching
Birds are the most visible form of wildlife, they are found in every part of the world that is not permanently covered by ice, and you can see them in any weather, any time of day or night, anywhere you go.
Whether you live in the country or the city, there are birds nearby, 835 species of birds spend at least part of the year in North America.
You can go out looking for birds or attract them to your home. Birding is one of the fastest-growing outdoor activities all around the world. The Verb ‘To Bird’ would serve as an excellent jumping off point for a feature, which highlights the growing popularity of birding.
More than 70 million Americans are feeding and watching backyard birds.
Success in bird watching is, to a large extent, based on location, either by venturing to locations or habitats where birds are plentiful, or by devising ways to attract birds to your own back yard. Birds seen at a distance may be enjoyable to watch, but the true excitement of the hobby is greatly enhanced when you can see the birds up very close.
Some of the most useful tools that enhance your bird-watching experience are those that makes birds easier to see in striking detail.
There are numerous ways to participate in the hobby of birding. Aside from simply viewing birds in nature, avid enthusiasts engage in numerous other activities.
Some of those may include: feeding birds, providing nesting sites or birdhouses, growing specialized plants and gardens to attract birds, traveling to nature sanctuaries and other bird-watching locales, keeping lists and notes on birds seen in the wild, making diagrams and sketches and spending hours trying to snap the perfect photograph of a favorite bird species.
In order to enhance your beautiful experience of bird watching in winter one can learn bird’s song. Birds’ strongest senses are sight and hearing, and they have evolved ways to communicate and to recognize their own species by using signals based on those two senses.
Because we are also creatures of sight and sound, we can tap right into all the fascinating distinctions of color and shape that birds embody, and just as naturally we can appreciate the sounds that are so important in their lives. As you begin to recognize bird songs, your own backyard will become a much more interesting place.
For me, it was like gaining supernatural vision, being able to see through the leaves and around buildings. I was amazed at how many birds were all around me and how much I had been missing out on.
To broaden your bird-watching experience beyond your own backyard, consider incorporating some bird-rich locales into your next vacation. Serious bird enthusiasts actually plan trips around visiting bird sanctuaries, nature parks and other natural locations where they can view birds in large numbers, in diversity of species and in their native habitats.
Traveling to a region of the country other than the one in which you live will allow you to see species you may have never seen before for e.g.
• The southeastern Arizona Mountains known as “sky islands” and in particular the Chirachua mountains are home to many impressive species such as the acorn woodpecker
• One of the most distinctive attractions in this area, however, is the diversity of hummingbirds. As many as 14 different species may be observed here. The large magnificent hummingbird can only be found in the Southwest.
Some of the basic tips for bird watching are:
• Try to observe the birds so they don’t know you are there. Move slowly, make as little noise as possible, and keep your distance.
• Going too close to a nest or repeatedly scaring a bird off its nest can cause the parents to abandon their nest leaving the eggs vulnerable to predators. Do not touch the eggs or young birds.
• Avoid trampling fragile natural areas to get a closer look. Stay on paths and trails.
• Don’t litter.
Now once you have started on the bird watching its important to build a bird house, start the proper bird-feeding all year around, provide them with water either through bird bath or providing water specially in extreme weathers. In this way the birds would be attracted and would keep coming back to the backyard.
John Savage has a keen interest in bird watching and can highly recommend a fascinating book called Backyard Birds and Butterflies.
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Procedure to choose best Birdwatching Binoculars
A fashionable hobby under many older citizens as well as others is bird watching out. All Birdwatching Binoculars and a field leader are, you for the wonderful pastime need and form it an affordable and a pleasing for practically everyone.
There are different birds over 10.000 sorts around the world. Water birds, song birds, flightless birds, vibrating colored birds, small birds, large birds; the multiplicity is practically innumerable. View birds must be done in a distance, since they are naturally careful skittish and from humans. Therefore for those, which would like to be sent at the bird watching out, Binocular are a valuable and substantial piece of equipment.
Birdwatching Binoculars are present in many forms. Fundamental Binocular is generally the starting point for those, which begin straight as bird observers. They should begin with the more inexpensive or moderate kinds and improve to a pair with newer technology then, while the interest increases to bird-watch out on. Hold in the understanding however that the best to sight with a good pair are formed. Are here some guidelines, which help you to select a pair Birdwatching Binoculars which corresponds to your necessities.
Mass:
Select a pair Binocular, which is not annoying to carry for expanded time periods. Particularly as soon as you became strained on finding and the determination of our friends provided with feathers/springs, find that you increasingly spend more time, which does in such a way. If the Binocular is extensive and heavy, the weight can discourage you from hang-evenly the favorite pastime.
Linear performance:
Birdwatching Binoculars are classified according to a set of numbers; i.e. „7 x 35 “. The first number is the energy and indicates in this example, which is seen more exact with 7mal something, as it, is real. The second number is the diameter of the objective. The second number that is larger, more exceeds the light into the equipment and is it, into weak lighting to see more simply. It forms it also more simply to see birds which possess few to no bright colors.
Focusing:
As well as credit of the large to sight from a distance to concentrate is also important it to be able on articles within 20 of foot from you to so that you do not lose an exciting to sight at from next proximity.
A fashionable hobby under many older citizens as well as others is bird watching out. All Birdwatching Binoculars and a field leader are, you for the wonderful pastime need and form it an affordable and a pleasing for practically everyone.
Article from articlesbase.com
Categories: Bird Observations Tags: best, Binoculars, Birds Song, Birdwatching, Birdwatching Binoculars, Choose, Colored Birds, Favorite Pastime, Feathers, Field Leader, Flightless Birds, Linear Performance, Moderate Kinds, Multiplicity, Necessities, Newer Technology, Observers, Procedure, Set Of Numbers, Small Birds, Song Birds, Substantial Piece, Time Periods, Water Birds, World Water