Feeding Backyard Birds

I first spotted this beautiful Rock Dove right at one of my bird baths. This is the first time that I have ever seen this species in my backyard, and it was quite a treat.

 

Here is another view of the Rock Dove. This view reveals something unique, being the main reason for posting it. The next picture reveals it.

You will notice in this cropped picture (although having a distracting glare) an arrow focuses on an identification band. Unfortunately, no ID number is visible. 

But this does give evidence of some researchers tracking this particular dove. 

-Craig

If you have ever seen a bald Northern Cardinal, you may have thought he was a victim of conflict.

We notice the beautiful plumage of the American Goldfinch which is acquired by yearly molting, but we never see them bald as a result.

Yet, the Northern Cardinal does occasionally go bald because of a molting of feathers! Most occurrences of molting leave a Cardinal with a bad hair day, but this feathered friend of mine was not so fortunate.

-Craig

As mentioned earlier, in summer, wild birds instinctively fend for themselves. As they search, they must not only find native plants to feed from, they also must find sufficient cover and nesting because of habitat destruction in developing areas.

Many who enjoy bird watching like to help wild birds by providing birdhouses as nesting boxes. While this does aid wild birds, it only helps to an extent. In addition to providing birdhouses, bird watchers can help wild birds greatly by planting native plants that serve as cover and nesting. Bird watchers greatly reduce the stress of backyard birds that are in great need of these necessities.

Wild birds have a better source of protection from the tree’s foliage, and keep cool in its shade.

As a bird watcher, what should you plant to provide cover and nesting for wild birds?

Here are a few suggestions.

Native cover and nesting for summer

Logically, coniferous plants (evergreens) provide food, c


over and nesting all throughout the year. Whereas, deciduous plants only provide nesting and shelter spring — fall while they produce fruit at various times of the year.

For this reason, we will feature deciduous plants for the shelter and nesting they provide in summer.

-Craig

Technorati Tags: native plants, Summer Bird Feeding, wild birds

One of the most popular backyard birds is the hummingbird. Of the many things that fascinate bird watchers, here is something I found of interest. 

Technorati Tags: Anna's Hummingbird, mating ritual

Over this past late spring, I have noticed robins and wrens nesting in our yard.

One robin has nested over a spotlight which lies under an attic vent. Once the chicks were raised, the mother left the nest, and before we could remove the abandoned nest, a new mother robin moved in to an old nest!

This also took place with a mother wren that nested in a nest box by our thin wood line. After her young were raised, she left, and a second wren moved in to that same nest.

That saves time, energy, and materials! Similar to what many people are striving to do to help the environment.

 -Craig

Technorati Tags: backyard birds, nest

A backyard bird’s instinct is to learn and maintain their natural foraging skills. As we provide feed, these developed skills go un-maintained.

If you feed year-round, they will not have the need for those skills.

If you discontinue feeding backyard birds once they become dependent on feeders, they may face the challenge of quickly readapting to their given foraging skills since they had not been inclined to fend for themselves.

This risk increases if few or no other natural or human-provided food sources are near.

Technorati Tags: Feeding Backyard Birds, foraging skills

I am Craig Curtis. I am in my early twenties. 

My interest in backyard birds began shortly after my German Shepherd “Penny” died when I was a teenager. 

There was no life outside the kitchen window.

All I thought of was Penny. I wanted to see life outside the window. Then, I noticed the makeshift birdbath outside in the flowerbed and the birds that came around to it.

I wanted to know what kind of birds they were. Two dear friends of mine gave me a gift to help me identify them. I filled the blank pages of that book right away, getting to know many different common backyard birds. I bought a feeder along with food and a new pair of binoculars, and before long, I moved on from Penny’s death. I now have five feeders and birdbaths that are more appropriate and I have become quite familiar with my backyard birds.

Now I feed backyard birds for the simple pleasures they bring. They are charming, funny and beautiful. I like the unique characteristics of each species of birds. I find their unique personalities captivating and their antics humorous. They really are our feathered friends.

They may not literally say “Thank You” for the food or water that we provide, but somehow our feathered friends return our favor with the peace of mind and joy they bring.

When researching the benefits of feeding backyard birds for each season, I noticed that many bird watchers and enthusiasts stress that feeding wild birds is for mere pleasure. Frankly, I disagree with this view. Although I take whole-hearted pleasure in feeding backyard birds myself, I realize the struggle wild birds face from season to season, and I want you to realize this too.

I live in a rapidly developing rural area in South Central Pennsylvania, which – unfortunate for backyard bird’s habitat – is becoming suburban. Behind our house, expensive homes replace farm fields and wood patches. Down the road, several fields are being developed and commercialized. Factories, strip malls, shopping centers, and car dealerships have replaced yet more acres of adjacent farmland.

More development means less and less food and shelter for wild birds. This is not just happening in my locale, it is happening in yours and all across the globe. For this reason, keep in mind when you put out feed, you really are helping our feathered friends survive each day.

Remember, feeding backyard birds is not just for mere pleasure, but also for the benefit of backyard birds.

-Craig

Technorati Tags: backyard birds, Feathered Friends, wild birds

By late spring, migratory birds and backyard birds resume their native diet. By now, an abundant horde of insects both in the air, on tree bark and buds, or within tree cavities, are the primary part of our feathered friends’ diet. As summer bird feeding approaches, their native diet expands to fruit, seeds and buds.

Because wild birds rely heavily on themselves through summer, eating native plants, they are likely to ignore feeders in summer.

Our backyard birds face the increasing challenge of finding sufficient food because their habitat is shrinking day-by-day due to human deforestation. Therefore, the benefit of putting out feeders is only temporary, whereas adding native plants that serve as food and cover in your yard is by far the most beneficial because it provides food and shelter -not temporarily – but year-after-year!

Thus, bird watchers can be of tremendous help to wild birds by including native plants that provide food as well as cover. By planting them this summer, your backyard will be ready to make them at home next year or sooner!

So, what should you plant to attract the wild birds you love?

　We will now consider the native plants that serve as food for some of your favorite backyard birds.

Seeds

Sunflowers:

• Carolina Chickadee
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Boreal Chickadee
• American Goldfinch
• House Finch
• Pine Siskin
• Purple Finch
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• Pygmy Nuthatch
• Northern Cardinal
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Meadowlark
• Blue Jay
• Scrub Jay
• Steller’s Jay
• Pinyon Jay

 Summer Fruit-bearing Plants

Cherry Tree:

• House Finch
• Bushtit (West)
• Hepatic Tanager
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Orchard Oriole
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Gray Catbird

 Plum:

• House Finch

Blackberries:

• House Finch
• Song Sparrow
• Lincoln’s Sparrow
• Purple Finch
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Wilson’s Warbler
• Swainson’s Thrush
• Blue Grosbeak
• Summer Tanager
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Veery
• Great-Crested Fly Catcher
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Gray Catbird

 Raspberries:

• Song Sparrow
• Lincoln’s Sparrow
• Purple Finch
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Orchard Oriole
• Palm Warbler
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Swainson’s Thrush
• Great Crested Fly Catcher
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Gray Catbird
• Northern Mockingbird
• House Wren

 Blueberries:

• Song Sparrow
• Varied Thrush
• Red-breasted Sapsucker
• Gray Catbird
• House Wren

Grapes:

• Lewis’s Woodpecker
• Hepatic Tanager
• Curve-billed Thrasher
• Bushtit
• Black-billed Magpie
• Orchard Oriole
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Northern Oriole
• Brown Thrasher
• American Robin

 Elderberries:

• Band-tailed Pigeon (red or blue)
• Yellow Warbler
• Red-breasted Sapsucker
• Ash-Throated Fly Catcher
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Western Bluebird
• Mountain Bluebird
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Fox Sparrow (Far North)
• Wood Thrush
• Tufted Titmouse
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• American Robin
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• House Wren
• Carolina Wren

 Mulberries:

• Curve-billed Thrasher
• Cactus Wren
• Bushtit
• Orchard Oriole
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Eastern Bluebird
• Wood Thrush
• Red-headed Woodpecker
• Scarlet Tanager
• Great-Crested Fly Catcher
• Tufted Titmouse
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Northern Oriole
• Cedar Waxwing
• Gray Catbird
• Brown Thrasher
• American Robin
• House Wren

 Service berries:

While coniferous trees mainly serve the purpose of nesting and shelter, some double as a food source where seeds from cones are accessible. If you are interested in knowing which conifers produce seeds and which birds eat them, please check your local gardening or horticulture center for more information.

So, do you see the importance of adding native plants to your backyard rather than feeding birds in summer? Again, our backyard birds’ instinct is to rely heavily on its self during seasons that produce abundant food. Thus, many backyard birds will ignore feeders in summer.

Also noteworthy is man’s negative effect on a backyard bird’s effort to find food and cover. Therefore, by providing native plants for our feathered friends, you are greatly easing their struggle to find food and cover, affecting backyard birds in the time to come, not just today and tomorrow.

-Craig

Technorati Tags: backyard birds, Feathered Friends, native diet, native plants, Summer Bird Feeding, wild birds

Feeding migratory birds in Summer – Why bird watchers love it

While the early weeks of spring ushered many beloved migratory birds, many bird watchers favor Summer bird feeding because the bird activity reaches its peak as late Spring migration brings the rest of our backyard birds to their destination. This peak brings a flourishing variety of birds with beautiful bold colors, unique characteristics and mating rituals.

To many, this wonderful variety makes summer the most exciting and rewarding bird feeding season. If having this great variety is your focus, by all means, if you provide the right foods, add water and shelter – and live in the locale of a migration route – you’ll find much excitement and have a rewarding time observing the many colorful birds that arrive in your backyard.

What’s the benefit of Summer bird feeding?

As of my locale, (South Central Pennsylvania) my backyard has seen four migratory birds species. This may be partly due to the limited variety of foods that I provide.

Therefore, from my personal experience, I feel that the most important thing to a bird during summer is water.

Consider this for a moment:

Summer often means grueling temperatures across the globe. It detrimentally affects people, many even to the point of death. Would it not be the same for our backyard birds?

Not only do birds need to drink, they also need to bathe. Not so much because of being dirty, but because of the heat that builds up within the numerous layers of feathers. This trapped heat likely builds their body temperature quickly.

Although many bird watchers focus on providing food in Summer, water may be more beneficial. It’s not food that releases the heat from their wings, only water can cool them down. Birds naturally receive heat from the energy their food produces, and from the sun. With this heat naturally upon them, our feathered friends need relief.

So you can benefit wild birds by providing numerous sources of water. Remember to keep the water fresh. If the water is lukewarm, you’re not as likely to relieve your feathered friends of this heat.

That’s not to say that food is not important to our backyard birds. If, for instance, the migratory birds arriving in your yard are not native to your locale, feeding them is vital because the natural food sources in your yard are not native to their diet. If however, the migratory birds are native – having reached their breeding grounds – providing food only serves the purpose of pleasure. In such a case, providing fresh numerous water sources is most beneficial for Summer backyard bird feeding.

-Craig

Technorati Tags: backyard birds, heat, migration, migratory birds, native, Summer Bird Feeding, water

I have noticed in the course of feeding backyard birds during the Spring months in South Central Pennsylvania, that House Finches and Goldfinches tend to be more dependent on human food sources, whereas Chickadees and Titmice fend more for themselves.

Why might this be the case? Chickadees and Titmice are likely to come and go through spring, but only to supplement their diet. Most of their time is spent eating insects, arachnids, larvae, plant buds and berries along with their seeds.

House Finches and Goldfinches feed mostly on weed seeds and grains. And the majority of grains develop in late summer. Weeds flourish then as well. Thus, if focusing on feeding common backyard birds in spring, consider Finches foremost because food sources will be scarce for a l

onger period of time.

-Craig

Technorati Tags: Chickadees, common backyard birds, Finches, Titmice