Of the many features of seasonal changes in Missouri, birds have taken my attention in a way that I did not expect. It began last winter. As flowers and plants fade into the sometimes drab colors of fall and winter, or more starkly against bright snow, birds offer a rich palette of colors, and some entertainment. Like the many we-are-going-to-get-a-pet shopping trips over my lifetime, this one wasn’t so bad. Really all one needs is a feeder, some bird seed, and the fun begins.
There are many varieties of feeders to choose from and it depends on several factors. Squirrels are determined food competitors, but they have other options. Some feeders have an opening where a bird enters a mesh, wire wall and the seeds are kept in a tube tucked inside of that barrier. That variation calls for a degree of trust and commitment from a bird. Most have a smooth, pitched roof so a squirrel would slide off the top and the one that we started with has collapsing perches, designed to fold down for anything more than a bird’s weight. I was impressed by the craftiness that went into protecting bird seed.
Bird feed is another whole science. Seed companies boast large, bright images of the many birds that will frequent a feeder with their food. Different varieties of food attract different birds. This seemed too simplistic, but I learned quickly just how picky a bird can be, with even limited food in winter. A common blend across brands is called Wild Bird Food. It contains cracked corn, milo, millet and sunflower seeds. This was my choice for almost a year. It was cheap and did indeed bring in a variety of birds. Cheap is a relative term, a 40 pound bag of Wild Bird seed is only about $17.00 whereas sunflower seeds are about double that price.
One regular to our feeder is the tufted titmouse. It’s a small bird, skittish with quick movements and is a picky eater. When using the Wild Bird variety of bird seed, a titmouse will rapidly dip it’s little mohawked-head into the feeder and toss most of the seeds out, dropping them on the ground. I knew it liked something in the mix as it kept returning and “wasting” the seeds. Not a problem, more timid birds are happy to eat the cast off seeds and so are squirrels.
Identifying birds is an art. A quick visit to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s website for bird identification offers a good crash course in which parts of a bird to observe (wing bars, leg color, crown, belly, outer tail color, etc.). Searching online for “yellow Missouri bird” did not help. There were so many. Also, searching my photos of birds on Google yielded results that weren’t even close. I can identify a few that visit regularly: cardinals (male and female, and I was surprised how much they differ), tufted titmouse, vireos, house finches, woodpeckers, indigo buntings and crows among others.
When a guest visited, he suggested I try a different type of bird seed. After not really have a good reason to stick with what I had, I gave in and tried a mix that was predominantly sunflower seeds. That was a great idea. It brought in new birds that I hadn’t seen before, predominantly yellow-throated vireos and house finches (I think). Also, the tufted titmouse is so well behaved once offered the only seed it seems to like. They actually take one sunflower seed and fly off; no more dumping.
In summer, we put up a hummingbird feeder. Wow. That really brings them in, but again, research. Stores are happy to sell hummingbird food, but it is too easy to make. It does not need to be tinted red, as some sites will state, although they do like color. A smart alternative offered is a red, glass hummingbird feeder. Making your own food with a ratio of one part sugar to four parts water works fine. I also learned about which sugar to use (white only) and to clean the feeder often to eliminate mold from the sugar that could make the birds sick.
Hummingbirds are different than I thought. I have seen them on feeders in New York and in Maine and thought of them as shy, delicate and cute. While they are small, I could not have been more wrong about their demeanor. If we sit on the front porch where the feeder is, they are not only impervious to our presence, they come over and buzz around us, darting in and out of our personal space to inspect us. They can be vicious to each other at the feeder. I still think they are fascinating and gorgeous, but lesson learned.
In the cold of winter, watching the pecking order of new avian friends is a show. Click here to see video of birds “sharing” feeder. There is definitely an uptick in aggressiveness and optimism. The woodpecker is too large to sit on the perch and contort itself to bend down to the seeds, it also probably learned that its weight released the perch. No dummy, it hangs from the bottom and reaches its head up for seed. The only bird to scare off the woodpecker is a large crow that visits on occasion. The crow eats off the ground, but scares off all the other birds. After these two, the male cardinal is dominant at the feeder. Some brave little birds sit atop the feeder and look down and wait. And on it goes.
I also learned about protective measures that birds take to stay warm in winter. I thought we just had cute, puffy birds. I naively thought the puffiness was from the bird taking in a large amount of air, but that would be quite an unfair choice, to breathe or stay warm. A science teacher friend educated me. There is a technique that they adopt to survive. The air between their feathers is heated by their body. If they increase the amount of air, and look puffier, they will stay warmer. This process is called ptiloerection.
Since seeing how we were introduced to so many more birds simply by changing their feed, it makes me curious, how many other types of birds are hanging out nearby, just out of sight. Forty pounds of seed will go quickly enough.