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Garden Talk

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"GardenTalk", a regular feature for The Gazette, brings to you the combined experience and expertise of Holly Lake's dedicated gardeners and others. A continuing focus will be subjects of interest to anyone who has ever bought a packet of seeds or dug a hole in the ground for a plant, as well as the dedicated and sharp-eyed observers of nature. "GardenTalk" will not only inform you each issue but solicits your ideas and personal gardening experiences which you may wish to pass on to others. The hope is that "GardenTalk" will enrich us all as well as help make Holly Lake even more beautiful.
How to be a friend to birds year-round.
If you feed the birds, you are in good company. Birding is one of America's favorite pastimes. Over 43 percent of U.S. households provide food for wild birds. Winter is a difficult time for the birds here as well as the most of the U. S. Days are shorter, windy and cold; nights are long and even colder. The lush vegetation, that we have had all summer, has withered or been consumed and most insects have died or become dormant. Finding food can be challenging for birds during this time.
During the spring and summer months, the diet of most of our songbirds is composed mainly of insects and spiders. These creatures are highly nutritious (umm), abundant, and easily captured. During fall and winter however, non-migratory songbirds must change their diets to fruits and seeds to survive. This is the time of year when winter bird feeding enthusiasts should be setting up a feeder in the backyard to make life easier for the birds. The question is what to serve our birds?
Finding the right food may seem overwhelming what with the many varieties available in stores. One key to attracting bird variety is to provide food variety, but that doesn't mean you have to buy one of everything. Experiment to see what your birds like best!
Black-oil sunflower seeds attract the greatest variety of birds. These have a high meat-to-shell ratio, are very nutritious and high in fat, are small and have thin shells which make them easier to crack. Because most birds like this type of seed, it is wasteful to fill a feeder with a mix of millet, oats, wheat, flax and milo since most birds will eat only the sunflower seed. That being said, listed below are the birds that frequent our backyards and their favorite meal.

Bluejay-nuts, fruit, insects, seeds, acorns, corn, sunflower seeds, and table scraps. Bluejays will come to a feeder for almost anything.
Cardinal - sunflower seeds, cracked corn, wild fruit, seeds, and insects. Cardinals are often the earliest to arrive at the feeding station in the morning.
Chickadee-sunflower seeds, cracked nuts, insect eggs and larva, suet, peanut butter, and wild fruits. Chickadees usually visit table top or hanging feeders.
Finches-sunflower seeds, safflower, thistle seeds, weed seeds, grains, and wild fruits. Finches of all types are best attracted by seed heads of garden flowers and weeds.
Juncos - cracked corn, millet, milo, wheat, hulled oats, and weed seeds. Juncos prefer ground feeding.
Mourning Doves - cracked corn, millet, milo, wheat, hulled oats, grain, bread, and fruit. Mourning doves are attracted to ground feeders.
Nuthatch - suet, sunflower seeds, raisins, insects, peanuts and peanut butter. Nuthatches prefer hanging feeders.
Robin - insects, wild fruit, raisins, and seeds. Robins will winter here if they find an adequate food supply.
Titmouse - insects, seeds, wild fruits, suet, nuts, and sunflower seeds. Titmice prefer a table feeder.
Woodpeckers - fruit, grape jelly, suet, and insects. Woodpeckers prefer a suet feeder attached to a dead tree trunk.
Carolina Wren - suet, sunflower seeds and peanuts.
You can offer dried raisins or fruit, even bread crusts. Make sure the bread is not moldy as it will harm the birds. Just remember these foods, as well as seed, will attract nuisance species, so be considerate of your neighbors before feeding leftovers.
Many birds such as the Cedar Waxwing, are busy migrating at this time, which builds up quite an appetite. Rejecting all semblance of decorum and moderation, these tuxedoed birds scarf down great quantities of the brightly colored autumn berries of hawthorn, holly, firethorn and viburnum all of which contain sugars that slowly ferment on the plant to create alcohol. Birds that consume too many spiked fruits get wasted. They sing boorishly at all hours, weave in and out of the flock, fail to signal before changing trees, and pose a hazard to themselves and others.
Feeder placement and maintenance are very important, not only now but throughout the year. Place your feeder in an area where it is easy to fill and see, close to natural shelters (cover) such as evergreen cedar trees or yaupon which provide maximum cover from predators and wind. Just remember, trees provide a good jumping-off place for squirrels eyeing the seeds and the feral cats eyeing the birds. Our local feed store is now carrying a squirrel repellant that is sprayed directly on the seed, so you may want to check it out if "Rocky" is a problem at your house. Clean your feeders about once every two weeks, more often during times of heavy use. Scrub with soapy water, and dip into a solution of one part bleach and nine parts water. Rinse well and dry thoroughly before refilling. If seed hulls build up beneath your feeder, you will want to rake up the decomposing hulls. These hulls can harbor bacteria that spread to our feathered friends.
Bird feeding does not cause birds to change their migratory behavior which is dependent on change in day length rather than availability of food. And, don't worry when you go on vacation and there is no one to feed the birds. In winter, natural food sources often disappear over night when covered by snow or consumed by other animals. Birds adapt accordingly - studies show that even birds with full access to feeders consume three-quarters of their diet elsewhere, and when deprived of seed at bird feeders, quickly revert to an all-natural diet. Plus, there are a lot of Holly Lakers feeding the birds so you can rest assured that your birds will not starve.
Did you ever wonder where much of the birding information comes from? Some of it comes from people just like you and me. You can join over 16,000 other citizen scientists who periodically count the birds that visit their bird feeders from November to April. Your counts help scientists track the distribution and abundance of birds in winter. Anyone can participate in Project FeederWatch - via internet or US mail. To register for the program go to http://birds.cornell.edu/pfw/, put up a feeder and count the birds that visit two days a week for as little as 15 minutes per day, send in your data via internet or US mail. The project, which is 20 years old, has resulted in the largest database of North American feeder-bird populations in the world through contributions of thousands of individuals across the US and Canada. Most of the data is accessible over the Internet at the click of a button. The data allow scientists to investigate questions relating to population dynamics of feeder birds and to examine the factors, such as House Finch eye disease or weather, which affect these birds. In addition, your support of this project ensures that someone will always be looking out for our common feeder birds, so that they will remain forever common. For more information on the project and instruction on how to join, go to http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/overview/over_index.html. Click on "Helping birds is as easy as" then click on any FAQ for more information or click on "Join Today/Renew" to receive a research kit and to start your subscription to BirdScope. There is a $15 fee. FeederWatch's participant fees pay for the maintenance of this web site, data analysis, participant
support, printing and shipping, project materials, and dissemination of the information learned from the data. The fees also help cover the cost of publishing the BirdScope newsletter for project participants. The survey is conducted each winter from November through early April, but you can start feeder watching at any time in this period. You may join at any time of year and start receiving the quarterly issues of the newsletter.
Ann Reynolds
Holly Gardeners President
"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." William Blake