Many Oregonians good-naturedly, feed native wildbirds during the winter for fun, entertainment, photography, bird song audio recording, and watching nature up close or to simple help Nature take care of our littlest, feathered, colorful wild creatures.
As a matter of fact, each February has been officially declared by our U.S Congress as National Bird Feeding Month after 1994.
Moreover, you can join the 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will be held February 17-20, 2012. The GBBC is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are across the U.S. and Canada. Please visit the official website at www.birdcount.org for more information.
The cover photo shows a young Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) eating sunflower seeds naturally! Humans, especially children, seem to have a natural fascination with our animated, funny, feeble, colorful wild birds.
However, the good natured act of buying bulk sacks of Wild bird seed can be expensive or comparable to buying a movie ticket or a steak or a case of beer. When the winter cold and frigid winds stop in spring, many stop buying bird seed.
Yet all native wild birds thrive on warm-season, protein-enriched insects for food & feeding their young; so the brief summer is probably the only time we should not set out food to assure our colorful native song bird population’s survival. Maybe more importantly, our Oregon wet spring is when female bird’s health & vitality is challenged & most important; as her body struggles to store energy reserves and prepares for building a nest and laying eggs to perpetuate her species.
Here is how another writer explains the reason for feeding wildbirds.
“To keep up their high metabolic rate, most backyard birds eat rich, energy foods such as seeds, insects and suet. There are some times, however, when birds are not prepared to deal with sudden drops in temperature or sudden winter storms. At times like these, it is especially helpful to have feeders full so that birds can find food easily.”
The History of bird feeding actually has a long history.
“Feeding the birds is truly a grassroots-driven part of Western culture. While this article is focusing on the seed portion of the industry, it must be mentioned that feeding nectar, suet and various nuts, fruits and baked goods were explored alongside the birth of the seed industry.
Nature lovers and book authors promoted feeding birds as early as 1845, when Henry David Thoreau offered corn and bread crumbs to the birds at his Walden Pond paradise. .."The backyard winter soup kitchen has become a year-round smorgasbord for the birds -- and new entrees are no doubt on their way," Carroll Henderson. For a delightful journey back into the early days of feeding birds, check out Henderson's article, "Century of Bird Feeding" in the December 1999 issue of Birder's World.”
Today, bird feeding supplies are a big business.
“Large sums of money are spent by ardent bird feeders, who indulge their wild birds with a variety of bird foodsand bird feeders. Over 55 million Americansover the age of 16 feed wild birds and spend more than $3 billion a year on bird food, and $800 million a year on bird feeders, bird baths, bird housesand other bird feeding accessories.[13]The activity has spawned an industry that sells supplies and equipment for the bird feeding hobby.”
Sadly, this once diverse home cottage industry has consolidate to four international companies now and they can work together to elevate bird seed prices or create taxes upon good natured bird feeders & families.
Pet food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food. Most meat used for non-human animals is a by-product of the human food industry, and is not regarded as "human grade."[1]
Four companies—Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Mars, and Colgate-Palmolive—are thought to control 80 percent of the world's pet-food market,[1] which in 2007 amounted to US$ 45.12 billion for cats and dogs alone.[2]
Bird food are used both in birdfeeders and to feed pet birds. It typically consists of a variety of seeds. Not all birds eat seeds. Suet (beef or mutton fat) is recommended for insect-eating birds like nuthatches and woodpeckers.[9]Nectar (essentially sugar water) attracts hummingbirds.[9]
Birdwatching evolved dramatically with the availability of Binoculars to actually let family’s watch these amazing animals; and a new book on Amazon in March by the current author will allow families to “opt out” of any potential corporate price gouging scheme by planting wild bird foods in unused areas of your back yard as a relatively low-cost, year-round “bird habitat”. Simply titled, FEEDING WILDBIRDS by Dave Sandersfeld will explore growing your own year-round bird feed. After observing inherent problems with wild bird feeding for decades, the author proposes a natural way to feed our native birds.
For example, fragrant honeysuckle vines attract & feed hummingbirds and butterflies as long as there here; and this natural nectar doesn’t spoil, like sugar water, and this spoiled syrup make these beauties sick. Hummingbird feeder needs to be sanitized weekly. Who has the time for that?
FEEDING WILDBIRDS will have an EBook by spring for IPAD readers too.
Keeping females birds healthy year-round is the key to perpetuating a strong & resilient, colorful, native bird populations everywhere forever.
A passage to ponder:
We are not victims of aging, sickness and death. These are part of scenery, not the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being. ~ Deepak Chopra (b. 1946. American Indian Physician, Writer, Speaker)
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