I like to feed and watch the birds and I’m not alone. There are about 60-million of us according to a recent survey. In fact, the overall market for wild bird products is projected to reach $2.2. billion by 2021. That’s a lot of birdseed. This cursed Covid mess has actually stimulated bird feeding and watching. Compared to tending and caring for household pets, it’s relatively inexpensive and anybody with a backyard or patio can do it, even those in apartments and condos. When my mom was in assisted living, I put a feeder on the window of her second floor suite and we attracted over 10 different kinds of birds within a few weeks.
There are two important factors to consider when feeding and watching birds. Food and water. Of the two, water is the most important, especially in cold weather.
Birds, unlike other mammals, don’t have sweat glands, therefore they don’t lose as much liquids as other animals, but they need water to survive. Small birds require water at least twice a day. In the winter, when sources are frozen, and in the heat of summer when sources have dried up, water is super important
Our bird bath froze over this week for the first time. I saw doves and sparrows walking around the edges searching for a bit of water. I quickly went outside, poured some fresh water in the bath, then went to the shed to retrieve the bird bath heater. These energy saving heaters keep the water just above freezing and they are very efficient. If one ran 24 hours a day, it would cost less about 10 cents a day to provide a constant source of water for your outside friends. And bird baths in winter draw birds of every description.
I really got seriously involved with bird watching about 15 years ago, when I saw a pair of bluebirds fly to our bird bath. I had never seen bluebirds in our yard before that and, lo and behold, they built a nest in a decorative gourd we had hanging on an old clothesline. Later I added a genuine bluebird house and bluebird feeders, but the lovely little fellows were first attracted by water.
The bird bath itself doesn’t have to be fancy. A large, shallow bowl works. Just keep the water fresh and clean and use a low-energy bird bath heater. You will be amazed how many birds will pay your yard a visit.
The second factor in attracting birds is, of course, food, and may I make a recommendation? First, avoid those cheap bags of bird seed. They are cheap for a reason. They are filled with an inexpensive filler called milo and most birds won’t eat it. Rather, seek out and buy sunflower chips or hearts. Every single bird in a back yard can and will eat these hearts. Some birds, like bluebirds, can’t peck apart a whole sunflower seed but like a fruit, they can readily digest a sunflower heart. Also, hang a suet feeder in your yard.
Suet is a source of high energy fats to attract birds that normally eat insects. It’s a quick source of energy for birds whose metabolism is set on super charge. It’s a perfect complement to a feeder with sunflower hearts.
Watching and observing birds is interesting, fun and rewarding and it all begins with food and water.
