Braving the Cold
Wednesday January 7, 2009
You know you’re dedicated to your backyard birds when you shovel around your birdfeeders, refill them and clear space for perches – all during a snowstorm. While I do wonder why these snowstorms seem to be arriving the day after I’ve already cleaned up the feeders, I’m happy to offer treats to the house finches, pine siskins, goldfinches and sparrows that are flocking to my backyard in the heaviest snow. Their perky behavior shows their gratitude, even if their ravenous appetites never seem sated.Fortunately, feeding birds in the winter doesn’t have to be an ordeal. I’ve compiled a list of winter bird feeding tips to help you brave the cold, keep the feeders filled and enjoy the birds even during the coldest days of the year.
Do you have pictures of birds at your feeders in the winter? Email me, and they could be featured in a winter feeding gallery!
House Finch in the Snow
Photo © Melissa Mayntz
Comments
Melissa, today’s blog “Braving the Cold” is very appropriate for winter bird feeding here in Pittsford – a suburb of Rochester in Upstate New York. This week, the ground is deep with snow and the temperature range is zero to 10 – with a wind chill factor well-below zero. It is no fun to drudge outdoors to fill the feeders. To decrease the number of feeder refills during severe winter weather, it is helpful to have at least two large cylindrical feeders, e.g., Droll Yankees Yankee Whipper Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder. (I purchased mine at a bird supply store here in Pittsford.) Each feeder holds 5 pounds of black-oil sunflower seed. It takes about 10 days for both feeders to be completely emptied by the daily visits of chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, cardinals, juncos, finches, and sparrows. Three cages filled with suet cakes hang from the feeders to attract and to satisfy woodpeckers – downy, hairy, and red-bellied. These much visited feeders hang from a front yard crabapple tree not far from the family room windows for easy and comfortable viewing in spite of the outdoor weather.
Very nice article and so true. These little guys and gals are so much fun and the more you feed the more you see!! I’ve had 24-32 pine siskins a few times this winter, along with a song and a tree sparrow. They not only eat nyger seed, hulled sunflower, boss, and safflower, but also grit on the driveway. Hopefully there’s enough seed to keep them from eating too much of that stuff, tho’. I fill the feeders every day.
Marge