On sunday march 7th from 11:00 – 4:00 Cedarcraft Wildbird Center and Baltimore Woods will host the first Green Bird Friendzy- an educational and fun event centered around birds at Baltimore Woods Nature Center in Marcellus. This community education and fundrasing event is designed to demonstrate the best tools and practices in bird related recreation. From backyard bird feeding to bird watching throughout Central New York, theevent should attract everyone fron families thinking of building a backyard feeding station or habitat garden to the die hard bird enthusiasts.
I hope all of the birders that frequent Cedar Craft will attend this event. Any questions that you have about birding will be addressed at this fundraiser. The main seminar topics will be Seasonal Bird Feeding – Habitat Gardening – Birdwatching in central NY and migartory birds – Bluebirds, attracting and maintaining a Bluebird trail - A history of Birds All Hand outs will be available for all topics. There will be a silent auctions – Binocular demonstration – guided bird walks – and weather permitting snowshoeing demonstrastion. Any questions contact Larry at 255-3643 or ljo6243@yahoo.com
In the spring and summer month’s birds rely on insects, spiders, fruits and berries to survive. In late fall and early winter there’s plenty of naturally occuring seeds and dried berries. Once the ground is convered with snow the problems start. If you provide them with fresh food, clean water and shelter, you should have great success in attracting beautiful birds to your backyard.
The style of feeder is not all that important, except for certain food products. Raw peanuts, nyger, and suets require specialized feeder. Mixed seed and sunflower seed usually can be fed from the same style feeder. The most important thing is that you start with a clean sanitary feeder. You do that by a complete disassembly and a rinse in a weak solution of bleach and water. Only a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water. After it’s sanitized you rinse and let it air dry. As winter progresses you’ll need to check your feeders after each warm period to make sure they are still in good shape.
The most favorite seed for all birds is black oil sunflower seed. It’s also the most affordable. Basically all birds and all mammals will consume sunflower seed. If cardinals are your bird of choice, be sure to place some on the ground. Raw peanuts are one of my personal favorites. When fed in a wire peanut feeder the woodpeckers, nuthaches, chick-a-dees, titmice and blue jays will flock to your yard.
Nyjer seed is a special seed that requires a special feeder. Either a wire mesh one or one with small slots to accommodate the fine seed. Nyjer attracts goldfinches, purple finches, pine siskins and the common Red Poll.
Safflower seed, used in a feeder will attract a variety of finches including the cardinal. This seed doesn’t seem to be popular with the squirrels. Other small seeds such as millet, cracked corn and canary seed can be used for the ground feeders. Various sparrows, dark eyed juncos and mourning doves are commonly found on the ground.
Remember, CLEAN FEEDERS, FRESH SEED, FRESH WATER and SHELTER for the birds are the key ingredients to your success and enjoyment of winter bird feeding.