To Feed Birds Or Not to Feed Birds? Discovers Your Bird Feeder

This guide is designed to help if you are new to  Bird feeding in summer requires more bird feeding, or you are already feeding birds and How to clean a bird feeder planning and responsibility in bear country – have bear problems or bird–window collision bears are generally active from mid-March  Empty the feeder and scrub it to get all problems. thru mid-November. It’s important to make food remnants out. Rinse.

sure a bear doesn’t get a reward if it  Use one part liquid chlorine household To feed birds or not to feed birds? discovers your bird feeder. bleach in nine parts of tepid water (a 10% solution) to disinfect. Feeding birds has benefits and drawbacks. The  Hang feeders 10′ high, and at least 4′ from birds get extra nourishment and we humans get to any supporting post or tree. Or put them  Make enough solution to immerse the feeder completely. Keep it submerged for enjoy watching them at close range. But feeders behind electric fencing that is at least 6′ two to three minutes. can cause problems by increased transmission of high. avian diseases, predation from cats, and attracting  Or take your feeders down and bring them  Allow to air dry. bears and other nuisance wildlife into your yard. in at night, or if you leave town.  Once or twice a month should do, but weekly cleaning may be needed if you Done right, bird feeding can be good for the birds  Only put a small amount of food in the notice sick birds at your feeders (sick birds and not cause undesirable side effects. feeder – this reduces the reward if a bear are less alert and less active – they may finds your feeder. cower on the feeder, reluctant to fly).

 Clean out the area under the feeders If you decide to feed birds in your yard… regularly with a broom or rake.

 Winter is the most desirable time of year to  Hummingbird feeders need the same feed birds – natural food is more difficult for separation from bears as seed feeders. How to make your own hummingbird the birds to obtain in winter, and bears are Change the sugar water at least weekly (see generally hibernating from mid November to sidebar). Also check daily for signs of mold, food mid March. and if you find any then clean the feeder and refill it with fresh sugar water. All you need is sugar and tap water:  If you feed the birds in winter you should commit to feed the birds all winter. The  Keep your cats in the house. House cats  Add ¼ cup of white sugar to birds need to have a reliable source of food, are deadly to birds, causing in excess of 20% 1 cup of tap water or they waste their energy coming to your mortality of local wildlife (birds, small  heat gently and stir, and boil yard. If you want to help birds this is very mammals, amphibians, and reptiles). for 2 minutes to kill bacteria important.  Keep your feeders and bird bath clean (see  cool to room temperature,  Water – birds need water for drinking and sidebar). And the surrounding area –pick up then serve! bathing, both in summer and in winter. You’ll all waste seed, hulls, and shells regularly need a submersible thermostat/heater in the from beneath the feeders. You don’t need red dye – the red color of the feeder will attract the hummers. winter. Water is more valuable to birds in  Store all bird food indoors in sealed summer than food, since food in the form of containers to avoid conflicts with bears, Replace the solution, and clean the feeder, once insects and seed is naturally quite plentiful. raccoons, and rodents. a week – or sooner if it gets moldy.

How to stop birds flying into your windows Indoors  Close curtains and blinds during the day. A Windows can reflect nearby trees, shrubs, or the pale backdrop reduces the visibility of the Feeding Birds sky. Birds do not understand the concept of reflected image. At night, turn off lights near reflection. When they attempt to fly into the windows. Responsibly in landscape they see, they strike the barrier they can't see—the glass.  Make sure you have blocked any see- Bear Country through tunnels in your house, so birds

Similarly, if a bird can see in one window and out don’t try to seek refuge by assuming they An Introductory Guide another at the far side of the house it may can fly through the house. assume there is a way through. A bird can fly into a window with enough speed to be stunned or After trying all these solutions, if you still have killed. Predators, especially domestic cats, often excessive bird window collisions or bird feeding take birds that are not killed on impact. problems contact Five Valleys Audubon and we

will try to help. Oftentimes birds collide with windows near food sources such as bird feeders. The following solutions can reduce bird window collisions: For more information: Outdoors Send us an email at [email protected]  If using bird feeders, set bird feeders within 1½′ of the window, or more than 15′ away or write us at

from the window. Five Valleys Audubon Society

PO Box 8425  Break up the reflected image by securing an array of stickers (stars, circles, leaves, raptor Missoula, MT 59807 silhouettes, etc.) across the glass. 4″ spacing has been shown to work best. Window collision avoidance: www.flap.org

 Or you can hang garden netting a few inches Local suppliers of bird feeders and bird food: away from your windows. The birds will see Naturalist’s Mercantile the netting (sometimes they even perch on Caras Nursery/Wild Birds Unlimited it!) and they avoid flying through it into the Ace hardware glass. This kind of thin black plastic netting

doesn’t affect your view of the yard and is Murdoch’s (they also have electric fencing)

low cost. Five Valleys Audubon Society