Feeding Backyard Birds

Finding the best bird gift is a challenge for all… especially for those who are not certain what bird gift would be best for their special birder.

Well, Feeding Backyard Birds and Duncraft® can make your search for the best bird gift easier.

On our new Bird Feeders and Accessories page, you will find many links, and one, the image with 4 birds, takes you to a hard-to-find Duncraft page designed to help you “Shop by Birds”, and in particular, Backyard Birds!

After you click on that image, start browsing by clicking on the bird you want to attract and feed, such as “Cardinal”, where you’ll find a selection of feeders, accessories, and feed with that bird in mind.

Of course, you will find other backyard birds to choose from too, such as:

• Blue Jays
• Bluebirds
• Buntings
• Chickadees
• Finches
• Hummingbirds
• Nuthatches
• Orioles
• Purple Martins
• Robins
• Titmice
• and Woodpeckers

Please note that some results are not always 100% bird-specific, but as you search their Shop by Bird / Backyard Birds page (there are 4 other Shop by Bird pages too…) and click on a product, you will find the product image with a complete description to guide you to an accurate choice – that birder you love will be able to attract the backyard birds they love!

And depending upon when (or what) you order, you just might find that Duncraft is offering Free Shipping on your purchase! Their savings on products and shipping varies, so check around while you’re on their site to save!

I hope that this will make your search for the best bird gift this holiday season much easier – Duncraft can certainly please, especially when you shop by bird! And while you’re there… find that item from your own wish list too…!

– Craig Curtis

I have chosen to feature Duncraft as our current provider because of Duncraft’s wide selection of quality goods we bird watchers and backyard bird feeders have come to expect.

They also provide many helpful notes on bird feed, bird feeders, bird houses, and bird accessories.

You will find that our preselected birdfeeders and accessories lead to an even wider selection, including bird baths (and heaters), poles, baffles, bird houses, and various accessories.

Start by clicking on our images on the Bird Feeders and Accessories page… they link to the pre-selected products.

You’re certain to find what meets your needs!

- Craig Curtis

Beginning birders and basic birders alike enjoy bird facts. Appropriate for the time of fall migration, I would like to share a fact about the migration of Indigo Buntings.

Quick bird fact:

Because Indigo Buntings prefer warm weather, they are quick to “pack their bags” and migrate south at the first sign of cold weather in fall.

Keep in mind that not all birds migrate at the same time. Each species has its own migration behavior.

- Craig Curtis

What Cardinals eat in the wild

What Cardinals eat in the wild is unknown to beginning birders.

For those of you in these shoes, please read on as this article addresses what Cardinals eat as they forage for food in the wild.

As Northern Cardinals forage in the wild, they eat primarily seeds and fruit. Their diet also includes a minor portion of insects.

First, though, what seeds and fruit do Cardinals eat?

• sunflower
• wild grape
• grasses
• mulberry
• hackberry
• blackberry
• tulip-tree
• dogwood
• buckwheat
• sedges
• sumac

This bird’s diet also includes a great variety of insects, although this food source supplements their diet:

• beetles
• katydids
• cicadas
• centipedes
• butterflies
• crickets
• leafhoppers
• flies
• spiders
• moths

You now know what Cardinals eat in the wild. Learn later from Feeding Backyard Birds what to feed Cardinals at your bird feeders.

- Craig Curtis

Once the Catbird eggs hatch, the birds are called “hatchlings”. At this point, they are partially naked, eyes closed, have very little down, and are completely helpless.

For this reason, both Catbird parents take shifts with the hatchlings, protecting them from the brutal summer heat by covering them and keeping them cool.

As the Catbird hatchlings down grows and their eyes open, they are now able to move around in the nest. However, they are not ready to leave the nest
(making them “nestlings”).

As nestlings, they are completely dependent upon their parents for food.

Along with feeding the nestlings, both Catbird parents eat the fecal sacs (waste) of the nestlings for half of the nesting period and for the remaining half they toss it outside the nest, obviously to keep the nestlings safe from disease.

In addition to hunger and heat, the need for protection from predators rises. As the issue arises, the male and female Gray Catbird will freeze with watchful eyes on the predator, hoping to escape its notice.

If, however, a predator were to come too close, one Catbird parent would fly out from the bush in an attempt to distract the predator from the young.

Soon, the Catbird nestlings develop their tiny wings, and become somewhat self-defensive and independent of the nest. However, they still stay in the bush waiting for their meals.

By now, sometimes the female Catbird leaves the male to feed the nestlings as she establishes a second brood.

The male is then left to feed his nestlings until they develop flight feathers at which time they are known as “fledglings”.

They are soon taught to fly and find food, becoming able to protect and defend themselves without the aid of their parents.

- Craig Curtis

I do not think that the other two eggs will ever hatch because enough time has passed for the nestlings to grow six times the size of the remaining two eggs.

The nestling period lasts 10-11 days.

- Craig Curtis

After laying 1-6 (usually 4) eggs, the female Gray Catbird broods her young for the first few days.

This indicates that the male might give the female a break from incubation as he broods the eggs for the remaining time. The incubation period lasts 12-15 days.

I have been watching the male and female and taking pictures along the way.

With the aid of the following two photos, you can see that both the male and the female are involved in brooding or incubating the eggs.

One parent facing away from me:

The other very watchful parent staring directly at me:

- Craig Curtis