Use Fall Time to Get Your Bird Feeders Ready for Winter

The end of summer is quickly approaching. The kids are getting ready to go back to school. So it's time to start considering your backyard birds.

There will be many of those birds who migrate to warmer climates, but not all of them. In fact, many of our most charming and colorful birds do not migrate. Instead, they stick it out with us. Both the Northern Cardinal and the Blue Jay, some of our most colorful backyard birds, can be seen against the white of the snow.

These delightful backyard creatures need a little help during the winter. We will tend to feed them throughout the year, so don't forget the cold months. Take some time now, or soon, to prepare your feeders for the winter birds.

Cleaning and refilling for them is something that you should do on a regular basis anyway, but especially as we head into the cold time. That's when you will be less likely to want to work outside, so you may easily forget this particular job. Get your bird feeders ready before the weather gets cold.

Then you will enjoy all those wonderful backyard birds that share the cold and snow with us.

Enjoy a Window Bird Feeder

Setting up a window bird feeder is easy and watching the birds is great fun, too. The whole family can get into the act of watching our charming little backyard birds as they enjoy the seeds that we share with them.

click on image to get my favorite window bird feeder

Simple window bird feeders are also inexpensive and the only thing you need is a window to put them on. They work with suction cups that attach to the glass. Birds don't realize they are being watched and will freely eat from your window feeders.

Be sure to keep your window bird feeders clean and refilled as well. We want to make sure that our backyard birds are safe. Cleaning is easy. Just wash with mild soap and water. Be sure to rinse well and allow to dry completely before refilling.

Since window bird feeders are so inexpensive, it may be worth you while to get two of them. One to be drying while you use the other one. Refill with appropriate bird food, like songbird seed mix and stick it back on the window. I pull off and clean my feeders just as soon as they get low on food. I scatter any left over food on the ground for those birds that enjoy eating directly from the ground.

Hummingbird Nectar: Make Your Own

Hummingbirds make up a wonderful part of our backyard birds. We love to watch them and enjoy that tiny body with those continuous beating wings. Plus we love the ability they have to hover over flowers or feeders. So we want to encourage them to take up residence around our house.

Hummingbird feeders are the easiest way to do this. But, you need to keep enough clean food, called nectar in those feeders. Actually, I use two feeders. One hangs outside for the birds, while the other one is being cleaned and dried.

There is a basic easy recipe to make hummingbird nectar. It's just sugar and water, but you need to know how to put this combination together properly. Use pure cane sugar, not honey or artificial sweetners. Only the real sugar is what works for nectar.

You want to keep your water to sugar ratio at 4 to 1. 4 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of water to 1/2 cup of sugar, etc.

Make sure your water is fully boiled. So add in some extra to allow for that which boils off when heating the water. Measure out your cups of water and add in the appropriate amount of sugar. Stir this until all the sugar has dissolved, then cool the nectar.

Many hummingbird feeders are about 8 ounces or less. You can store extra homemade nectar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Keep in an airtight container to prevent any contamination.

You will need to change the nectar every few days to keep it good. The warmer the weather, the faster it will become bad, so keep a watch out. When you need to change the nectar, it's my recommendation that you also clean the hummingbird feeder. 

Take special precautions with these very special little birds. They are such a treat to watch, we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them.

Do You Know What Songbirds Are?

The answer seems simple. They are the birds that sing in our backyard. True enough, except there is a bit more to the answer. Songbirds are very special species of birds. They are in the order Passeriformes, which are the perching birds. So in other words, if a bird doesn't belong to the order of perching birds, they don't have the true ability to sing.

Parrots and Cockatoos can imitate all sorts of sounds, but they can't actually be part of the Songbirds. Songbirds have vocal chords. This gives them the ability to make multiple notes in their sounds. They actually learn songs by way of their parents and other local songbirds. They see what songs work to get what it is they are looking for.

The most common song is that of a male impressing a female for mating. The second most common is for a territorial male to defend his part of the world against rivals. But there are other types of sounds that songbirds make. Mating pairs use sounds to connect to each other, especially as evening is approaching and visibility is limited. They call to each other to narrow in on where the other is.

Birds also make warning sounds when a predator is approaching. Typically, the sound gets louder and more intense as the danger increases.

Among our common backyard birds are many songbirds. They seem to be represent the largest variety of birds that inhabit areas close to humans. The American Robin is one of most common examples. The Robin will sing many songs from before sun-up to after sun-down.

Songbirds have learned to use their unique ability to add survival advantages. That seems to be nature at its best.

Ideas to Celebrate Bird Day

With Bird Day only a short time away, we need to be thinking about ideas to celebrate such a special day. It is a day set aside just to appreciate our feathered friends. So what kinds of things can we do? I have a list here just to have a little fun for Bird Day, May 4^th.

• Read a book about birds. Any kind of book will do, a novel that includes birds, a biology book that helps you understand more about the behavior and history of birds, even a memoir of a famous bird watcher.
• Learn new and interesting facts about birds. Backyard Bird World offers you some good options to learn more.
• Listen to recordings of bird songs and calls. See if you can identify bird sounds in your own yard.
• Do some bird watching. See how many birds you can identify. Use the list Common Backyard Birds if you like, or make a list for yourself.
• Add a new bird house or bird feeder to your backyard. Or, clean and refill a bird feeder you already have. Make sure you take care of those birds who share your world.
• Watch a video or movie about the activities of birds.

If you have children, you can adjust these kinds of activities to match their ages. Even make drawings of birds and color them in with your children.

Bird Day is all about celebrating the feathered creatures that share our world. So setting aside some special time just to appreciate them is a great activity for May 4^th. But, it's also a time to enjoy ourselves. Pick a fun activity and celebrate Bird Day this year.

What is Bird Day?

There seems to be some confusion are the day known as Bird Day. Because there is another day called National Bird Day. Are they the same? What are we supposed to be celebrating for these days? Well, let me take some of the confusion away.

First, on May 4th, Bird Day is celebrated. It was chosen by a school principal for his students to go outside and appreciate the wild birds. Sounds like a good idea to me. I love just watching and listening to the birds in my backyard.

Then there is a day, January 5th, that's called National Bird Day. Well, first of all you can't use the term National unless an Act of Congress has deemed the day that officially. Problem is there is no evidence of such a day. But, the name persists, so it works out as a good way to differentiate the two days. But, this day in January is pretty different itself.

January's bird day is meant to make us aware of the plight of captive birds in the pet industry. The same thing as puppy mills and kitten farms, birds are horribly treated by those people only interested in the profit of raising and selling pet birds.

The next time you want to enjoy the world of your backyard birds, you will certainly want to celebrate in the spring, not in January.