See unique and fascinating wildlife in comfort

Feeding birds: a fun activity for people of all ages

Feeding wild birds is an excellent way to see a unique and fascinating collection of Utah's wildlife. And you can do it from the comfort of your easy chair. Just place some bird feeders outside your favorite window, and then sit back and enjoy.

Place you feeder where you can see it easily from inside your house and well away from cover that cats can use to sneak up on birds.

Photo by Ron Stewart

But bird feeding is more than just entertainment. It can also keep birds alive, especially in areas hit hard by winter snow and cold temperatures.

Birds can use your help

Artificial bird feeders or feeding stations can play a key role in supplementing the diets of wild birds.

As urban development continues in Utah, natural habitats and traditional food supplies continue to be lost. During long winters, feeding stations can supplement natural food supplies. They can also supply emergency rations during storms or when nature covers the countryside with snow or ice.

During the spring and fall migrations, feeding stations provide quick energy stops for birds.

As winter approaches, most of the birds that eat insects leave Utah. The birds that remain face reduced food supplies, short days, below-freezing temperatures, snowstorms and frost-forming inversion layers. Only birds that are capable of finding seeds, berries, dormant insects and other limited food supplies can survive the rigors of Utah's winters.

Because birds have a high metabolism, they need large amounts of food to maintain their body heat. As a result, they're constantly searching for reliable food supplies in the winter. Bird feeders attract birds by taking advantage of their constant need for food.

And once you start feeding birds, you'll find that one bird is all it takes to attract a crowd; once a bird finds your food source, its actions and calls will usually attract other birds.

Feeding tips

Setting up a feeding station can range from simply scattering food on the ground to positioning 30 or 40 feeders, with different types of seeds, openings and perches, from ground level to the tops of trees.

Their constant search for food, and the result of not finding it, has forced most bird species to specialize. Birds have evolved physical adaptations and behavioral traits that allow them to find specific foods quickly and efficiently.

Wild birds will most likely find artificially supplied food if you place it where they're naturally inclined to search for it. For example, the rufous-sided towhee is a natural ground feeder. He's more likely to find your food if you place it in a ground-feeding station instead of a station in the branches of a tree.

Four basic feeding locations—ground, tabletop, hanging and tree trunk—can accommodate most of the birds that eat seeds:

• Quail, juncos and most sparrows and towhees are ground-level feeders.
• Chickadees, finches, grosbeaks, siskins, jays and humming birds usually search for food in the branches of trees. Tabletop and hanging feeders are easy for them to find.
• Nuthatches, creepers and woodpeckers prefer tree trunk stations.

If you want to attract a greater variety of birds, try using more feeders and foods, and place them in different areas.

While commercial feeders are readily available, homemade feeders work just as well. Fortunately, birds are more interested in the foods you offer than how your feeder looks!

What you should feed them

Most of Utah's winter birds like sunflower seeds, especially the little black oily type and the grey-striped ones. If you're interested in attracting smaller birds, such as finches, sparrows, chickadees and siskins, white and red proso millet, canary seed and thistle or niger seeds also work well.

You can also use suet and fruit to attract birds. Suet (another name for fat) is a rich source of energy that some birds can use. Great suet feeders can be made by simply stuffing the suet into cracks in the bark of a tree.

Birdseed comes in bags that contain a mix of seeds. You can also buy bags that contain a specific type of seed.

Many stores sell bulk bags of mixed birdseed that will attract a variety of birds. But depending on where you live, you may end up with seeds in your bird feeder that few, if any, of the local birds will eat.

Bird enthusiasts often control some of the species they attract by purchasing specific seeds and creating their own seed mixture by mixing them together. In addition to attracting specific birds, mixing seeds also reduces the number of seeds that are wasted.

As you set up your feeding station, remember that birds need not only a constant, reliable source of food; they also need a safe, protected place to perch.

The best place to put a feeder is in a natural setting that will block the birds from the wind and other weather and offer them escape cover from housecats and other predators. Another good place is in a protected yard. If you place your feeder in your yard, make sure you place it away from cover that cats can use to sneak up on feeding birds.

Also, try and place your feeders close to windows, balconies or other places where you can see the birds without disturbing them.

Finally, remember to feed your birds on a regular schedule. Most birds develop feeding patterns and move from food source to food source on a regular daily route. These birds learn to rely on feeding stations, especially during winter storms, cold snaps and other critical times.

If they visit your feeder and the food isn't there, the birds will not have time to find other sources to last them through an emergency.

Bird feeding is fun. It can supply hours of entertainment and enjoyment to bird watchers of all ages. And while you're having fun, you'll also be supplementing food resources birds need as natural habitats dwindle.