A suet bird feeder block is a great winter family project that can be done with kids during break or with your church group to pass the time away. Thanks to The Garden Gal, Debbie Cook, for giving out this recipe on the D&B Garden Show so we can all assist hungry birds in the […]
Thank you to Lillian and Don Stokes of Stokes Select for allowing us to reprint this article. Migrants are arriving all over the country. Baltimore Orioles and other orioles can be attracted with orange halves, especially when they first arrive from migration. Later, when they’re nesting, they primarily eat insects. Spring is here, so here’s […]
If you don’t feed birds, you’re missing an opportunity to observe this special wildlife at close range.
The National Audubon Society estimates that nearly one-third of the adult population of North America feeds about a billion pounds of birdseed each year.
The best way to attract the most and widest variety of wildlife to your yard is through wildlife friendly landscaping. Water will attract more birds than seed. Birds need water to drink but they also need it to bathe, as it increases the insulating value of their feathers. Keep the birdbath ice-free by using a birdbath heater or refilling daily.
Thank you to Hiatt Manufacturing for letting us publish this article by Don and Lillian Stokes on Winter Bird Species.
What birds can you expect at your bird feeders in winter? Quite a few if you keep your feeders well supplied with quality bird seeds and suet. A great majority of birds that breed in the U.S. migrate south for the winter, especially if they are birds that eat mainly insects. But many birds live in one area all year round, and other birds will come to your feeders just in winter.
When the birding slows down in summer and birds are quiet in the middle of the day, birders turn to watching dragonflies, that’s what we do. Dragonflies are active on warm days, the hotter and sunnier the better. Dragonflies are stunningly beautiful, have cool names, and are abundant in fields, lakes, streams, and shores – Many of the places people go in summer.
Click through to read entire article and tips on how to attract dragonflies in your yard.
Birding Feeding in summer is great fun, helps the birds, and fills your summer outdoor living with sound and color. You will see a whole new variety of birds because many birds, such as Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Gray Catbirds and Indigo Buntings, are just summer residents in many parts of the country.
Breeding birds will appreciate the extra source of food. When females are incubating and the weather is bad, they may not be able to find food very fast when they take a break from incubating. They are off the nest longer, leaving the eggs vulnerable to predation and cooling. If they can come to a bird feeder, they can take a shorter break and get the nourishment they need.
Buntings are among our most colorful backyard songbirds. There are four species in North America: Lazuli Bunting, Painted Bunting, Indigo Bunting, and Varied Bunting. The Lazuli ranges throughout the West; the Indigo Bunting lives throughout the East. The other two have more limited ranges, the Painted living in the Southeast and the Varied in only the extreme Southwest.
In all of our buntings, the males and females look very different. The males are very colorful and the females are either brownish or greenish which helps protect them during their important raising of young. Young males in their first year often look more like the adult females but with a few colorful feathers thrown in. Painted Buntings males are the most colorful of the buntings and have just about all the colors of the rainbow. Indigo Bunting males are brilliant blue.
If you don’t feed birds, you’re missing an opportunity to observe this special wildlife at close range.
The National Audubon Society estimates that nearly one-third of the adult population of North America feeds about a billion pounds of birdseed each year.
The best way to attract the most and widest variety of wildlife to your yard is through wildlife friendly landscaping. Next, water will attract more birds than seed. Birds need water to drink but they also need it to bathe, as it increases the insulating value of their feathers. Keep the birdbath ice-free by using a birdbath heater or refilling daily.
