COLUMN: Ramblings: Feeding the birds

The sassafras saplings beneath the tall pines glimmered in the sun as I went about my chores this week. The weatherman promised frost. Packing up the garden for winter is a chore I avoid. Not because it is difficult, but because it signals the end of morning coffee on the deck. The deck furniture must be stored away, no more balmy nights sitting under the stars. House plants that enjoyed the summer's sun return to their winter homes in the house. When everything was back in their winter homes, I hung a suet cake on a small branch and rested on the steps to soak up the sun. Soon a tufted titmouse came for a snack. His appearance told me it was time to get the feeders out and buy some seed.

Using various kinds of feeders reduces waste and attracts a variety of birds. Woodpeckers, jays, nuthatches, chickadees and finches feed in trees and prefer their food served at higher feeders. Cardinals, towhees, sparrows and juncos usually feed near the ground. Last winter a pair of doves were frequently busy on the ground under my big feeder. Their soft cooing added a mournful sound to the winter wind. Place feeders where they are visible from a window so that you can enjoy the action. To avoid birds crashing into your windows, don't put your feeders too near windows. That may result in collisions.

If you have one bird feeder, a tube feeder for sunflower seed is the best choice. Hang the feeder at least five feet off the ground. These feeders are especially attractive to small birds such as chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and finches. Suet will attract titmice, chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers. Wrens and warblers occasionally pick at the suet. You can hang suet chunks from a tree in an onion bag or a half-inch hardware cloth basket, or in a cage feeder. Hairy and downy woodpeckers often visit to dine on the suet cakes.

Black oil sunflower is the preferred seed of many birds. The large birds love striped sunflower seeds. White millet is the favorite food of most small-beaked ground-feeding birds; they will also eat red millet which is in many seed combinations. Millet attracts quail, doves, juncos, sparrows and towhees. Medium cracked corn is about as popular with ground-feeding birds as millet, but it is vulnerable to rot. Feed small amounts, mixed with millet, on feeding tables. Avoid fine cracked corn, since it quickly turns to mush; coarse cracked corn is too large for small-beaked birds. Cracked corn attracts quail, doves, crows, jays, sparrows, juncos and towhees. Milo, wheat or oats are frequently mixed into low-priced bird seed blends. Most birds discard them in favor of other food, which makes a mess under the feeders. Black thistle is the preferred food of American goldfinches, house finches.

Experts agree that feeding birds at a feeder is not as helpful as improving backyard habitat through landscaping, which provides food and shelter and nesting places. Think about improving the habitat for wildlife when you plan changes to your garden next spring. Offering a banquet for our feathered friends provides hours of entertainment during winter and gives them the boost they need when ice and snow covers the landscape. Don't forget our feathered friends need water in the cold months, too. Winter is just around the corner and all the snowbirds from up north will be arriving soon. It is time to put out the welcome mat.

'til next time,

Annie