Bringin' in the Birds

Image Gallery

Mother's Nature

by Terry Krautwurst

Whoever came up with the expression "eats like a bird" to describe someone with an eensy appetite never watched wild birds in winter. Although feathers do a fine job of insulating a small bird's body from cold, food is the fuel that stokes its inner fires, keeping its metabolism generating crucial heat and energy. From sunup to sundown, an overwintering bird's focus in life is to feed its face. Most small species need to eat from one-third to three-fourths their body weight in food each day. No gluttony here, though; the name of the game is survival, pure and simple. No food, no tomorrow.

Unfortunately, at the same time wintry weather forces birds to increase their caloric intake, it also reduces the pickings—meals become hard to find. Gone are summer's salad days, when tasty insects filled the air and leaves were acrawl with plump larvae. Fall's harvest of ripened seeds and berries has passed, too. What seeds remain are covered by snow or thinly scattered to the winds; ice coats tree buds and fruit.

Winter, in other words, is tough on birds. And this is where we humans come in—not only to the birds' benefit, but to ours as well. According to surveys, about one-third of adults feed backyard birds, doling out roughly 500,000 tons of commercial birdseed a year, along with countless quantities of suet cakes, seed logs and other treats.

We do it partially to help the birds, of course. Although most birds are able to forage successfully despite the bleak and bone-chilling conditions, mere beak-to-mouth survival does not an easy life make. Feeders enable birds to find food faster and more easily than searching for tiny weed seeds and bark-buried, semifrozen grubs. Less searching may also mean less risk of predation.

But the truth is, we feed birds to nourish our own winter-weary souls, too. Somehow watching birds flit from feeder to bush to branch, to feeder to bush to branch, lifts our spirits. Putting out feeders not only gives us a closer look at our feathered friends, but also gives us a greater sense of kinship with the creatures sharing our natural world.

Here are some ways to help you, your family and your backyard birds benefit more from winter bird feeding:

ADVERTISE

By the time winter rolls around, most birds already have regular feeding routes they established in summer and fall. In cold weather, they can't risk scouting for new sources. So if you're setting feeders out for the first time or putting one in a new location, you may need to "advertise" to attract bird customers and gain their confidence. Put out a temporary, open feeder first. Use a weathered piece of plywood or board, perhaps with furring strips tacked around the edges as a rim. Drill several holes for drainage. Put the "ad" in the open where birds will see it, but close to cover. It's best to set the board up off the ground—on a tree stump, for instance, or anchored to a limb.