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In
The Outdoors,
Karen Wils
For the
Birds
A Bird's Eye View
The kitchen light is on. Good, she's up. She stoked the woodstove.
Smell that burning cedar?
It's a cold one out here this morning. Must be five below
zero. I think I'll just fluff up my feathers a bit more. Look at that
lazy March sun rising through those pines. Kinda pretty, huh?
Oh, now he's up. He just let the dog out. There now, he
is squinting to see the outdoor thermometer. If he wants to know how
cold it is, why doesn't he just ask me?
They are cute little critters to watch, though. I like to
perch close to the windowsill and watch them in there. Clad in jeans
and plaid flannel shirts, they all sorta look alike as they sip their
coffee. And they say we chickadees look alike. No way!
There he goes now to rev up that old pickup truck.
All right—here she comes in her bathrobe and unlaced
Sorel boots. And she's got a whole can of sunflower seeds for our feeder!
Gee, I'm a lucky chickadee. People watching is fun.
Life from the Windowsill
What do you do on a cold winter's morning? First you check the woodstove,
then you check the outdoor thermometer. Then you peek at the birdfeeder
outside your frosty kitchen window.
Watching the action at the birdfeeder can sometimes tell
you more than all the thermometers, barometers and weather forecasters
put together.
The swaying suet bag tells you that the wind is whistling
from the north. When there is a large flock of chickadees and goldfinches
devouring sunflower seeds, you know that the cold snap is going to hang
on for a while.
Prepare for a snowstorm when the nuthatches and grosbeaks
quarrel. When fat old Mr. Gray Squirrel peacefully mooches breakfast
beneath your birdfeeder, it means we are in for quite a fine winter's
day.
Wintertime bird watching is a very popular hobby in upper
Michigan and for many good reasons. Our basically rural peninsula, with
its mixture of woodlands, farmlands, fields and wetlands, provides excellent
winter range for a great variety of birds.
Visitors arrive from the northern tundra, like the snowy
owl, the common redpoll, the northern shrike, the snow bunting and the
pine grosbeak.
Ducks, geese and gulls will linger as long as there is open
water available. Even the crimson cardinal, the red-breasted nuthatch
and the mourning dove are spotted at feeders in Delta County's "banana
belt" during the winter. These birds usually head farther south.
Bird watchers from all over the Midwest come to the U.P.
just to catch a glimpse of its wintertime feathered friends.
Yoopers get a lot of pleasure from watching the birds that
cohabitate in the snowy, cold woods with them. When winter turns everything
white, gray and bleak, a few happy chirping birds really can brighten
the horizon.
It's good to look outside the window and see life in the
midst of the dormant hibernation season.
Another reason for feeding birds is that they can teach
us things. First of all, you'll want a bird book to identify all the
different kinds at your feeder. Then you'll probably learn some of their
calls, what they eat and where they sleep.
Close encounters with birds can teach you much about your
environment.
Wintertime feeding can give birds, especially small ones,
a little extra energy to prevent them from freezing in below-zero weather.
Studies show that wild birds take only a quarter of their daily food
from birdfeeders.
The sunflower seeds we hand out are just a supplement to
their natural diet. Natural foods like seeds, cones, insect larvae and
tree buds must be available to birds in order for them to survive in
severe weather.
What's On the Menu At the Birdfeeder
Setting the table and preparing a meal for the birds is easy, fun
and affordable.
Commercially made and homemade birdfeeders are readily available
in the U.P. I've seen big deluxe birdfeeders shaped like barns and picnic
tables, but birds are not fussy.
Some birds are ground feeders. They will eat seeds and bread
right off the ground. To make your feathered dinner guests more visible
to you and safer from predators, platform feeders are the thing.
A covered platform feeder is the best way to keep seeds
dry, offer birds some shelter, and attract a variety of birds. The platform
feeder should be mounted on a fence post or a pole about five feet off
the ground.
Suet cages, seed hoppers, bowl feeders and thistle tube
feeders are popular, too. Whatever kind of feeder you use, remember
they all need to be scraped clean and scrubbed once in a while. Dirty
feeders can cause infections for the birds.
Before you buy any food for the birds, check your cupboards.
Many things that ordinarily are thrown away can make prime bird food.
Squash, watermelon and pumpkin seeds should be dried and saved for winter
feeding. Nuthatches love them.
Stale popcorn (popped or unpopped), peanuts, and cheese
can be added to suet and tied up in a plastic onion bag. Bluejays and
downy woodpeckers will nibble for hours at this delicacy.
To lure the sly hairy woodpecker to your feeder, coat stale
bread or unwanted toast with bacon grease, place it on a mesh bag and
hang it from a low tree limb.
Fill half a grapefruit or orange rind with peanut butter
and cornmeal. Chickadees love to pick at fresh coconut.
Deer hunters, be sure to save some of the nice white tallow
from butchering your deer. Many birds will eat this high-protein food.
Clean out your refrigerator. Baked potato skins, marrow bones
and uncooked cookie dough are leftovers birds will love.
Complete your menu with a fifty-pound sack of sunflower
seeds. Sunflower seeds are the favorite of most birds. Wild bird seed
mix often goes to waste, as it is scattered around when the birds scoop
the sunflower seeds out.
Thistle seed is good for goldfinches, though it is a little
more expensive.
A fifty-pound bag of seed will last quite a while if you
put out two or three cups of seed a day. Remember, birdfeeders are only
a supplement to the bird's natural diet.
Put your treats out for the birds when most of the family
is around to enjoy the action.
To make your bird watching more fun, try not to discriminate.
Accept what comes along. Squirrels, shrews and deer are often attracted
to birdfeeders.
Owls and hawks will occasionally swoop down for a songbird.
But remember, that is a part of nature, too.
—Karen Wils
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