Fall Is The Best Time

To Begin Bird Feeding

If you are new to the hobby of backyard bird feeding, September and October are good months to get really active, says the National Bird-Feeding Society in its September 2001 issue of The Bird’s-Eye reView. This is the time of year when neighborhood birds are searching out food sources and setting foraging patterns for the cold months ahead.

Creating a backyard oasis for the birds will be amply rewarding, according to the society. Overall the society believes that it would be difficult to find a more entertaining, educational and beneficial backyard activity than feeding and hosting wild songbirds.

Set up a bird feeding station now so the birds will have time to find and become accustomed to it. The feeders selected should match the foods offered. Tubular feeders filled with tiny seed, for example, will attract goldfinches and pine siskins. A different tube style with larger feeding portals for sunflower seed will attract chickadees and nuthatches.

According to the society, black oil sunflower is perhaps the most popular all around see. It also can be offered in hopper style feeders that hold large quantities of seed to attract cardinals and other seed-eating birds that prefer not to stand on a perch.

Simple tray feeders, set low, accommodate doves, sparrows, and other birds that prefer to eat at ground level. Wire mesh baskets hold prepared suet cakes or beef suet, a good source of high-energy protein. All varieties of woodpeckers relish suet year ‘round, but it’s especially helpful during the winter.

A dish of fresh water will complete the setting. Birds need a sizable quantity all year for drinking and bathing. To keep warm in winter, their feathers have to be clean and efficient. Use a submersible warmer to keep water in the birdbath from freezing.

To learn more about this entertaining and educational hobby, join the National Bird-Feeding Society at www.birdfeeding.org. Membership is $15 per year. Or to get a free issue of The Bird’s-Eye reView, send a 34-cent stamp to NBS, PO BOX 23, Northbrook, IL 60065.