Please do not try to purchase this listing. It is just part of my Free Stuff for you to enjoy. The $100.00 price tag is just so I can list it and hopefully discourage you from trying to purchase stuff that is FREE. This is just a little chat about Birding as a way to keep the kiddos busy.
BIRDING, A GREAT HOBBY FOR THESE TIMES
Let me begin by saying that bird watching can be a very interesting hobby and only as expensive as you want to make it. You will probably need to start with a good bird book of the birds in your area. Here in Michigan, my go to book is Birds of Michigan, Field Guide by Stan Tekiela. Look for something similar in your area. The next step would be a bird feeder filled with sunflower seeds. Most feeder birds will eat sunflower seeds above all other seeds so stick with that. Put your feeder on a pole or hang it from a shepherd’s hook in an open area but with cover (bushes or small trees) nearby. You will also want your feeder near a window. Bird seed blocks or the smaller suet blocks are another good choice. If you don’t want the mess of sunflower hulls under the feeder, you can purchase sunflower seeds already hulled.
We don’t worry about it because the chickens will clean up the hulls come spring. Chickens are not the brightest of birds, but they sure remember where the bird feeders are. The first time the snow is gone enough for them to be free range again, they run as fast as they can go up the drive way, around the house to the bird feeders! And, unless you want to be run over, don’t stand in their way! Even the cats run for cover when the flock of chickens are headed for the feeders. After a couple of days, they settle down and visit the bird feeders on their clean up mission in a more leisurely fashion.
Another entertaining feeder is one for Hummingbirds. Hang your nectar feeder near a window and keep it clean. Change the nectar every couple of days. Hummers will find it quickly and provide lots of entertainment as they feed, fight off other hummers that try to come to THEIR feeder, and bring the young ones to the feeder. If you find you have an abundance of Hummingbirds in your area, put up several feeders at a distance from each other. A Hummingbird mating dance is something else to see. Our hummers are very used to us and the feeder we have on the porch. So much so, that if we are late getting the storm windows out and the feeders up in the Spring, they will come to the door and tell us all about it, loudly and in no uncertain terms. We had some friends over one spring when this happened, so the guys went out and took the storm windows down while the two Hummers buzzed and supervised. We gals got the nectar mixed and the feeder filled and when we handed it to Ron to hang, he was instantly buzzed by the two Hummers who then proceeded to feed while Ron just stood there holding the feeder! We try to have everything ready for them at least two weeks in advance, but sometimes the weather is still nasty enough that we want to leave the storm windows in a little longer.
Baltimore Orioles are not feeder birds as a rule, but first thing in the Spring they might come to a suet feeder. I like to put a few orange halves out on the shepherd’s hooks for them too. Just cut your oranges in half, poke a hole in the bottom and thread them on a shepherd’s hook or similar place. They also like grape jelly. But once they get their fill of these treats at the end of their migration North, they won’t bother with them anymore. Here, the Orioles show up shortly after the Hummingbirds do. This spring I had one that insisted on trying to slurp up some humming bird nectar even though I had put out an Oriole feeder (bigger slurping holes) on the other side of the house. So now I have orange halves in both places.
Go to https//journeynorth.org for lots of migration information on different species. They have maps of the Journey North for many species so you can track when they will be in your area. Great educational site! Keep a journal of first sightings!
Juvenile birds coming to the feeders are always worth a laugh, so have your camera handy! For some reason the crested birds seem to get their crests after the rest of their adult plumage is pretty much in place. They will show up with a head full of pin feathers or with only one or two top knot feathers. Any of the juveniles that come to your feeder half way through the molt from baby feathers to adult feathers will be fun to watch. (see more photos of these in Picture
Stories)
Chickadees are probably my favorite feeder birds. They are commonly found most everywhere and are very curious and friendly. They will probably be the first bird at your feeder because they are always checking out anything new. I have a friend with fine long blond hair. In the spring the chickadees will come down on her shoulder and pull out some hairs for their nests. They will also eat from her hand. If you have the patience, you can get chickadees to eat from your hand or knee. The trick is to spend a lot of quiet time, reading or dozing near the bird feeder so they get used to you. Then quietly offer some seed in your hand. I have also had chickadees fly through an open door into the house, take a look around and then fly out again. Most birds that fly into the house, panic, and it is difficult to get them out again!
Blue Jays are another bird that will come to your feeder quickly. A lot of people dislike Blue Jays because of their bullying ways, but I have found them to be interesting. In the winter, when the bird feeders ice up and the feed doesn’t come down for birds to eat, the Blue Jays will hammer away at the ice until the feeders start working again saving Ron a trip out to the feeders. You will also see them throwing seed out of the feeder to the ground and only picking out the best seeds. This gives the ground feeding birds lots of seeds to eat (if the chickens don’t get there first) so that is not all bad. One of our cats once brought in a Blue Jay and turned it loose in the house. Now a Jay is a big, strong bird so he took off in terrified flight though the house. He zoomed up the stairway to the second floor, he zoomed down again, he zoomed through nearly every room in the house before we could catch him and throw him out again. And everywhere he went, he pooped. Every window, mirror, curio cabinet had streaks of Jay poop on it! I would not have believed one bird could hold so much poop. Yuck and double yuck! The only ones that thought the whole thing was funny was, of course, the cats.
Woodpeckers of various kinds will also be quick to come to a feeder or suet block. The two most common are probably the Hairy Woodpecker and the Downey Woodpecker. These two birds look almost exactly alike except one is larger than the other. Just remember it is a Big Ol’ Hairy and a Little Bitty Downy and you’ll never get them mixed up. The males have a red spot on the back of their heads, but the females and juveniles do not. They tend to be friendly birds and will peer in the window to see what you are up to. Perhaps the Downys are a bit more friendly than the Hairys, but both are easy to get along with.
Ah, so many birds, so little time. I will leave you with one more little item that may be of great benefit to those of you working from home for the first time. I was having a lot of trouble with tired eyes from hours on the computer, when a friend told me the 20, 20, 20 rule. Every 20 minutes look away from the monitor at something at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Now, my office is only about 10 feet by 10 feet, but it has a window! So now I have bird feeders set up outside that window and there is my 20 feet! Their flitting, scrapping and chirping remind me to look out that window often. No more tired eyes, unless I work too long at night and then I deserve it!!
Happy Birding!
Phyllis
