Holidays are for the birds

#Middlebury #MLT #Wildlife

A downy woodpecker enjoys a high-energy suet meal at the author’s log feeder. Log feeders are easily made from a thick branch with 1 to 1 1/2″ wide holes drilled to hold suet or peanut butter. (Janine Sullivan-Wiley photo)

By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY

The holiday season is upon us and our thoughts often turn to what we can get for the ones we love. If you love nature and the birds that delight us all year, the holidays are a nice time to remember them, too.

The warning against feeding birds in our backyards due to that mysterious, as yet unsolved bird disease this past spring and summer is no more. It is so nice to again be able to keep the bird feeders filled! Gifts for the birds (and those who enjoy watching them) fall into the categories of food, water and shelter.

Great bird feeders can be purchased or made. It’s best to have feeders that cater to the varied feeding habits of our feathered friends. Some feed from hanging feeders; others from table feeders or the ground. Accommodate them with flat, tube or building-shaped feeders and wire cages of various types for suet and seeds.

Woodpeckers really love suet feeders, where they can peck inside to get the goods – similar to pecking in trees and under bark to find yummy bugs. We have used suet feeders that are very simple cages that hang from a hook as well as home-made ones, as shown in the photo, logs with drilled holes filled with seed-suet mixtures or peanut butter.

Serving tips include getting bird food out first thing in the morning as birds will have used up their energy overnight keeping warm, as well as serving high-energy foods such as peanuts, black oil sunflowers and suet. It’s important to regularly clean all bird feeders.

Water is a critical requirement year-round. A heated birdbath, or use of an electric deicer, may sound extravagant, but it assures the birds access to water even on the most bitterly cold days. All those I have seen (as well as the kind I have) are corded and work well with a long, outdoor rated extension cord. These are especially nice to watch on a snowy day, with their rims frosted, steam rising, with a very happy bird perched on the edge.

Shelter includes both man-made nesting boxes and natural shelter. The man-made options are almost limitless in design, from the extremely simple and practical to designs that are architectural or artistic marvels. Some shelters, such as gourds with holes drilled and insides empty, combine natural with manmade.

Natural shelters include evergreens, favored by many birds; thick shrubs to provide shelter from winds; brush piles; and trees with hollow trunks or holes. The latter means that dead tree trunks, as long as they are not a hazard to humans, are excellent to keep around as they provide natural homes for many species.

Native shrub and tree selections can offer a two-fer of food and shelter. Those with berries provide high-nutrient food through fall, winter and early spring. These include American Cranberry Bush (Viburnum trilobum), Bayberry (Myrica), red and black chokeberry (Aronia), Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus), Dogwood (Cornus), Elderberry (Sambucus), Holly (Ilex), Inkberry (Ilex glabra), Juniper (Juniperus), Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutfolia), Serviceberry (Amelanchier), Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), Viburnum (Viburnum), and Winterberry (Ilex verticillata). All native shrubs and trees have the added benefit of supporting the natural ecosystem and thereby in spring providing food for the insects essential to the lives of the baby birds.

Here’s wishing everyone happy holidays at home and in our preserved lands! You can contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com; visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org. Happy hiking!

This article was first published in the December 2021 print issue of the Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer.