Zippin along by JeffreyW

“How do you fall in love with hummingbirds?” I asked my teens. We were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner while two female ruby-throated hummers flitted back and forth outside the window.

My two teens stared blankly back at me. Silence… “I mean it,” I said, “I want to tell people how to fall in love with hummingbirds. How do you do it?” Still silence. “Well,” I said, “How do you fall in love?”

Falling in love is simple

“What is the first step in falling in love?”

My teen daughter was growing impatient. “You see. You fall in love,” was her curt reply. “Who needs to ask how to fall in love with a hummingbird? It’s simple. Just see one.”

How to see hummingbirds

Assuming you don’t have Mom to do it for you, it’s still surprisingly easy to “snare” a hummingbird or two to fall in love with. Here are five ways to attract them.

1. Add at least one native flowering plant or shrub with red, trumpet-shaped flowers to your garden.
2. Hang a hummingbird feeder – preferably from your window.
3. Leave slim dead branches on your trees. Hummingbirds need very narrow perches for their tiny feet. They like to sit on leafless branches, which give them an open view.
4. Put out rotten fruit, such as tomatoes and banana peels. Hummingbirds need small insects to add protein to their diet and they enjoy fruit flies.
5. Tie bright red, pink, or orange ribbons to your trees and to your feeder. When you put up a new feeder hummers will need to find it before you will see them. Hummers are attracted to red, pink, and orange objects.

Are you in love yet?

“It’s easy to fall in love with a hummingbird.” My teens haven’t forgotten my dumb question – two days later they’re still shaking their heads over it. Is it really that easy, or does life get in the way for most of us? Have you fallen in love with nature yet?

Kid tip: actions speak louder than words. When kids live with adults who respect and care for nature they just think that’s the way the world is.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. Why You Want to Add a Birdfeeder to Your Garden
2. How Does Love of Nature Arise?
3. Kansas Fall

Serious Bird by Navicore

My garden was deserted, not a bird in sight.

Suddenly a blue jay was cawing and the birds appeared. Were they following the blue jay? Actually, no, I was wrong.

The leaders of the bird world are in fact chickadees. Other birds follow chickadees to find food.

Get a chickadee to nest in your garden and you’ll have more birds to watch and enjoy.

Chickadees nest in holes

Chickadees will naturally nest in holes; they’re not beyond excavating a weak spot in your siding either. It’s preferable to give them their own birdhouse or nest box.

What to look for in a chickadee or tit nest box

Birdhouses, or nest boxes, come in a large variety of styles. You’re better off with a functional nest box than a fancy one. Here is what you need to host chickadees and their titmice, and European tit, cousins.

• Base – about 4” by 4” (10cm x 10cm) on the inside, 6″ by 6″ (15cm x 15cm) on the outside.
• Front height (internal) – about 9″ (23cm).
• Hole – 1⅛” for black-capped chickadee and chestnut-backed chickadee; 1½” for the Carolina chickadee and titmouse;  25mm for blue tit, marsh tit, and coal tit; 28mm for great tit.
• Material – cedar, exterior grade plywood, hardwood (oak or beech), woodcrete, or a hollowed out log. The inside surface should be rough or roughened. Nails, screws, or other fixings should be brass or galvanized.
• Design – look for a nest box which opens up for cleaning (October is the time to remove any old nesting material).
• Perch – do not choose a nest box with a perch. A perch makes it easier for sparrows to get in a nest box. If your chosen birdhouse comes with a perch please remove it.

Where to buy a chickadee or tit nest box

If you’re not ready to break out your tools, there are plenty of places to buy birdhouses suitable for chickadees, titmice, and tits.

• Woodlink carries the exclusive license for Audubon designed birdhouses and nesting boxes – take a look at Woodlink nesting products
• I bought my own chickadee nestbox at my local Wildbirds Unlimited Store. Visit your local store or shop online at Wild Birds Unlimited.
• In the UK the RSPB are the birds experts. Look for blue tit and more nest boxes in the RSPB store.
• Blue tit boxes come in a large variety of shapes, materials, and styles. Here’s a great blue tit birdhouse collection.

How to build a chickadee or tit nest box

Nest box building for chickadees, titmice, and their European tit cousins is not that complicated. If you’re willing to get out your saw and screwdriver you’ll need a reasonable birdhouse design plan. Here are some excellent ones.

• Shaw Creek Bird Supply manufacturers and sells bird houses. They also provide a basic chickadee nest box plan.
• For my UK friends, both the British Trust for Ornithology and Lincoln Wildlife Trust have good basic nestbox plans: Lincoln Wildlife Trust nestbox factsheet; how to make bird boxes.

Chickadees and European tits are lively. amusing, all-year garden residents who benefit from nest boxes. Provide a great environment for chickadees and you will bring other migrating birds, including warblers, vireos, and kinglets to your garden. What could be more fun than more garden birds to watch? They’ll also take good care of removing pesky insects like aphids.

Which birdhouse will you put up in your garden this year? If not, why not?

Kid tip: Project Nestwatch is a fabulous citizen science project which the whole family can get involved with. You may enjoy checking out the variety of nestcams across the country, or even on another continent.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. Why chickadees are so greedy
2. All About Bird Nesting
3. 3 ways to bring more birds to your winter garden

Dark-eyed junco by dobak

When it comes to attracting birds to your winter garden, just think of your own basic needs: food, water, and shelter.

Being without basic necessities is a scary thought. In winter, that fear is very real for birds.

Cold food, no water

I remember well the ice storm of January 2002.

First came the ice, one inch thick on the steep driveway in my front yard. Then, the pear tree on my front lawn creaked, groaned and fell open like the segments of an orange. Finally, the power went off.

Soon, I had no way to cook food; I had to turn the water off for fear it would freeze; and my home became too cold for comfort. I decided to move out.

If birds don’t find what they need in your garden they too will go elsewhere.

1. Food for winter birds

Birds can survive in even the coldest of climates provided they have enough food. Little 5″ chickadees spend the winter in Alaska and the 4″ golden-crowned kinglet, one of the smallest North American birds, can be found in the northern states, including Minnesota and Maine.

The two best foods to put out for winter birds are black-oil sunflower seeds and suet. Both provide fat. Fat is the best food source for birds when the weather gets cold. And, no, they don’t have to worry about their cholesterol levels! They are built to turn fat into energy.

“Black-oil sunflower seeds attract the widest variety of species,” according to The Bird Watching Answer Book. They are easier to crack open than striped sunflower and have a high meat-to-shell ratio. Birds also seem to be particularly attracted to black fruits and seeds.

Suet is a very good source of energy for birds and will bring in both woodpeckers and nuthatches, which are not interested in seeds. You can get started with suet feeding using a simple wire suet block feeder (easy to find at grocery stores or hardware stores), or an onion bag tied up with a block of suet inside  (ask for suet at your butcher shop or the meat counter at the grocery store). Large woodpeckers need a tail prop suet feeder – check your local bird store or shop for one online.

2. Fresh, unfrozen water

Birds can eat snow, but melting snow uses up vital energy. Winter weather can be very dry, and there’s not always snow on the ground. By providing a water source you’ll be helping the birds and more will come to visit. On dry winter days robins line up for a visit to my garden water bowl.

Provide a shallow bowl of fresh, warm water each morning in winter, or set up a heated bowl. I use a large, heated dog water bowl with some stones in to keep the water shallow. Some birds are tempted to bathe even in winter if you provide water deep enough! Check out these water for birds guidelines from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

3. Safe shelter

Birds don’t like to perch out on open, exposed, leafless branches in winter. They will look for an alternative.

• Woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds will use holes in trees and nest boxes for sleeping on the coldest nights. Be sure to clean out nest boxes at the end of the breeding season then hang them back up for use in winter.
• Brush piles provide good shelter for birds. When fall comes, leaves get trapped among the tangled branches making them good places to get out of the wind. If you don’t yet have a brush pile plan to use your fallen branches and shrub trimmings to build one this year.
• Evergreen shrubs and trees give birds good winter shelter. If you want to plant an evergreen and aren’t sure if it’s native you can find out at the USDA plants database. Maybe adding an evergreen is on your garden list for 2011. I know it’s on mine.

There are some simple actions you can take to bring more birds to your garden in winter. Put out a saucer or shallow bowl of water; shop for suet and onions (you get to eat the onions); plan to build a brush pile and plant an evergreen. The birds will thank you!

Which birds have you seen this winter in your garden? What is attracting them? How often do they visit?

Kid tip: chat with your kids about how birds find food, water, and shelter. When it’s windy and cold kids can hunt the yard for the most sheltered spot.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids
2. Make Like a Kansas Possum and Prepare for a Prairie Winter
3. How Long Does It Take Birds to Find a Feeder?

Black capped chickadee by Noel Zia Lee

“Nature dangles her secrets right below our noses, yet we rarely notice.” – Alison Kerr, 2010

I was snuggled up in bed reading a book, Beyond the Bird Feeder, given to me by a really good friend.

Suddenly this sentence jumped out at me, “… occasionally chickadees or nuthatches will take it upon themselves to transfer as much of the feeding station as they can to nearby hiding places.”

Less greedy, more sneaky

Whoa, chickadees hide food? I had no idea! Right enough, I’ve watched the chickadees at my feeder and I could never figure out how many were visiting.

Those annoying European sparrows fly in, take a seed, sit and eat, while the chickadees swoop, grab, flit off, and are seemingly back again in a wink. Suddenly it made more sense.

Questions, questions, without answers

My mind was full of questions. Where exactly do chickadees hide the sunflower seeds they’re stashing? Do other birds, or squirrels steal them? How come I’ve never heard of this before?

I asked several of my friends about chickadees hiding seeds and none of them had ever heard of it. They were as surprised as me! I even looked up a couple of bird books to read more, and there was no mention.

Not only squirrels hide food

So, was Beyond the Bird Feeder wrong? A quick online search turned up the following nuggets of information on why chickadees appear so greedy:

• Black-capped chickadee life history from Cornell Ornithology Lab includes fascinating information about chickadees clearing out brain neurons in the fall before embarking on a new season of sneakily hiding seeds.
• A 2004 scientific study on chickadees compared birds from Alaska and Colorado and found the Alaskan birds to be brainier and able to hide more seeds and remember where they put them.

Who knew that the tiny, hyperactive chickadee was so brainy? Certainly not me – now I love chickadees even more!

Did you know this about chickadees? Do you have a favorite bird which visits your garden?

Kid tip: try to track those smart little chickadees. Can you see where they are hiding their seeds?

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. How to get chickadees to nest in your garden
2. Why You Want to Add a Birdfeeder to Your Garden
3. 3 ways to bring more birds to your winter garden

Female American robin by kevincole

“In the spring robins dance with me in the garden. I dig; they dig. They sing, my heart rejoices.” Alison Kerr, 2010

Where do robins go in the winter? Do they leave for warmer climes?

Robin joy

The cute British robin, Erithacus rubicula,  stays put in winter and is arguably the most adorable visitor to the bird-table.

The American robin, Turdus migratorius, on the other hand is sufficiently absent from the garden to make us wonder where he goes.

Birds of a feather

In fact robins inhabit most American states year round, leaving only Canada and the most northerly parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Maine for the south. What happens outside of breeding season, including winter, is that robins form flocks. In fall, winter, and spring they can be seen in larger numbers as they gather in trees to roost or eat berries.

More on robins

The folks at Cornell Ornithology Lab tell us that flocks of robins number around 50 in the north and as large as thousands in the south. You can attract them to your fall and winter garden with fresh water, and fresh or dried fruits. Kathlyn Stone was surprised to find winter robins in her Minnesota garden (until she discovered what her husband was up to).

Have you seen any robins recently? It’s time to start fall feeding – what kind of food do you plan to put out in your nature garden this year?

Kid tip: You can find out more about American Robins at Learner.org where there are answers to lots of great questions, teacher and student resources, and a robin observation checklist.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. 3 ways to bring more birds to your winter garden
2. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids
3. How to Make a Winter Bird List

New Bird Feeder by ahisgett

If you haven’t already got at least one bird feeder in your nature garden you’re going to want to add one. Here is why.

It’s Easy

Hanging a bird feeder in your garden is one of the easiest ways to get started with nature gardening.

You don’t need to know precisely which kind of birds live near you, and you don’t need to understand native plants and how to care for them (at least not yet).

It’s Pleasurable

Birds are such a joy to watch. I’ve heard so many stories of elderly folks who practically lived for the joy of watching little feathered visitors outside their window. Maybe you remember too The Birdman of Alcatraz?

Somehow birds have magic which can touch even violent and troubled souls; there’s no doubt that watching birds is a pleasurable and calming hobby. And it’s a great for all ages from infancy up.

It’s Inexpensive

While a good quality, sturdy, squirrel-proof bird feeder can easily cost more than $50, it’s not expensive to get started. You can make a bird feeder from a milk carton or orange juice carton. And when you compare the cost of feeding a few garden birds with the cost of keeping a caged bird, or other pet, complete with vet bills, it’s a really affordable choice.

It’s Educational

Garden birds are the ultimate mini science teachers. They prompt questions in everything from ecology, through nutrition, to physiology, anatomy, behavioral science, geography, optics, acoustics, and aeronautics.

Kids can learn about what different birds eat, where they live, why they migrate, how they breathe and communicate, why their feathers are shiny, how their skeletons are similar to ours, and why they are important to our gardens.

But… it’s just the beginning

But wouldn’t you be better off planting some native shrubs, trees, or perennials which will feed the birds? Yes, it’s really important that birds have natural sources of insect food and native seeds to eat. Trees such as dogwood and crab apple attract and feed a lot of birds. And hummingbirds will love natives such as cardinal flowers. Shifting to greener, organic gardening practices will also leave un-sprayed insects for the birds to enjoy.

All the same, I recommend you mix feeding the birds with gradually adding natives to your garden. Feeders bring birds close in where you can see them from your window. I find that exciting and motivating and it makes me want to do more and more for our beautiful feathered friends. Perhaps you feel the same way?

Next week I’m going to share about Wild Birds Unlimited stores and why you want to visit one.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. All About Bird Nesting
2. How Long Does It Take Birds to Find a Feeder?
3. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids

Bird Nest by Tobyotter

Spring is springing all over the place and birds are singing, displaying, traveling, or even getting ready to nest. I thought I’d share some great resources related to bird nesting.

Below you’ll find information on attracting birds and enjoying the bird breeding season in your nature garden. It’s a wonderful time for you to better get to know our feathered friends, by inviting them to share your space.

All About Nest Boxes

At the Cornell Ornithology Lab website you’ll find a whole host of information on nest boxes. Did you know that small nest boxes should be mounted on metal poles or pipes? I didn’t. Find all the information you need, from plans for bird nesting boxes, to information on dealing with competitors and non-native bird species. All the links are on the page All About Nest Boxes.

Nest Watch

If you like garden science you can get involved in monitoring bird nests through the Cornell Nest Watch program. Carole Brown has written a great intro to what Nest Watch is all about, or go straight to the Cornell site for nest watching resources. If a full-blown nest watch sounds too much, you might commit to selecting three things to do to help nesting birds.

Watch Birds Nesting

Rather than risk disturbing nesting birds in your own garden you might want to watch birds nesting through one of the many nestcams. Here’s the Cornell Nestcams. Don’t confine yourself to watching birds in North America though, you can watch barn owls in England, ospreys in Scotland, or check out this wildlife cam site which allows you to see a bird table, a water trough, and even British badgers.

Nesting for the Kids

It’s the perfect time of year to visit your local library and find some books about spring, birds, and nesting to share with your children. If you’ve not yet cleared out bird houses there’s no time to waste. Old nests harbor parasites and should be removed from nest boxes. It’s fascinating to study what nests are made of. Kids need to know not to disturb nests. A pair of binoculars can be handy for watching from a distance.

How Birds Build Nests

At the Cornell Ornithology All About Birds site you can look up your favorite birds and find out where they like to build their nest, what they build it of, and what it looks like. Or if you want to bring more birds to your garden for you to enjoy check out their how to attract birds section. Apart from providing fresh water, you’ll want to think about providing native plants.

I never tire of wondering how a nest can be built with just a beak. Have you seen any signs of birds nesting in your garden yet?

Amazon.com has a good selection of children’s books on bird nesting. Please leave a note of any favorites in the comments.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. How to get chickadees to nest in your garden
2. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids
3. 5 Great Books for Bird Loving Moms

Chickadee by auburnxc

I have a special guest for you today, a guest who is keen to learn about birds. Enjoy!

Dear Mama,

I really want to spend some time with you this weekend learning about birds! I heard about the Great Backyard Bird Count and I am really excited to identify new birds. We only have to spend 15 minutes watching and counting individual species, but we could go to the pond and look for the big red hawk or some ducks. There’s a website where we can look up great information about what kinds of birds live around our house this time of year. I heard there are even some eagles over near the river; maybe we’ll see one of them!

To take part, we need to go bird counting sometime next weekend (February 12^th to 15^th). After we make our list of species we send it in through the internet. Scientists are collecting all this information to see if there are changes from other years. This is one way scientists keep track of the climate changes. I think that what scientists do is really cool and I’d love to see what it’s like to do their work.

So can we check it out? I‘ve been feeding the birds in our yard for a long time, but I never looked up their names.  Now I can and it will help others learn too! Could this be our special Valentines Day adventure?

Love Ya, Your Little Explorer

PS. We could even win some of these prizes for participating! I’d love to win a new birdfeeder!

Shannon Baer started writing at Backyard Mama this past summer in an effort to inspire grandparents, parents, teachers, caregivers and their children to spend more time in nature. Follow @backyardmama for up-to-date tweets about her new adventures. She looks forward to meeting you knee deep in mud and exhausted from a full day of nature play! See you outside!

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

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Cedar Waxwing 1 by Bob MacInnes

Here I’m going to tell you how to make a winter bird list for your area. I made a winter bird list for Kansas, you can make one for wherever you live using the same steps. It can be a list for your nature garden, or it can go beyond this.

Why Make a Winter Bird List?

Unless you’ve looked at making a list of birds to look for in winter you may not realize that your area has winter bird visitors. For instance, here in Kansas, the cedar waxwing (pictured left) can only been seen in winter.

But you may also be wondering why you shouldn’t just do a Google search for a suitable list for your area or state. I’ll tell you why you may want to make your own list. There are several reasons:

- you may want to include only birds from a specific habitat;
- you may want to learn what the birds look like while making your list;
- you may want a short list which is achievable and can engage your kids (and yourself).

Step 1 – Get Yourself a Good Bird Reference Book

A good bird reference book will not only allow you to make your list, it will also help you identify any new birds you see later. The book you use will need to tell you what to expect for your area. Here are some bird guides to consider:

1. The Sibley Guide to Birds is the bird book others are measured against. It’s detailed without being overwhelming and highly understandable to use, though perhaps rather daunting for you if you’re new to birding.
2. All the Birds of North America was my favorite until I saw the Sibley guide. I like that this one is compact. Personally I think the maps in Sibley are easier to use (after 12 years of casual use of this book I still haven’t managed to memorize the map colors for the different seasons).
3. Stokes Beginner’s Guide to Birds – Eastern Region uses photographs rather than illustrations. As well as clear little maps it contains tips on how to attract the different bird species. Make sure you choose the correct Stokes guide for your area.

Now you’ve got your book with maps or another way to identify which birds will be in your area, let’s look at the next step.

Step 2 – Where Will You Look for Birds?

Many winter bird visitors to Kansas are ones which like water and can only be found on lakes or ponds. I wanted my list to only include birds I might see in my back yard and I don’t have a lake in my back yard. The only birds which made it onto my list are birds of woodlands or gardens – I excluded birds which like large open areas, prairie, or fields too.

Step 3 – How Do You Want to Use Your List?

You can make a long list of any winter visiting birds you might see, but before you do that, think about how you want to use your list. Is it going to be a checklist of all possible birds? Or maybe a list of a few special birds you’d like to see. Or you might be asking your kids to make a list, or making a list to catch their attention and prompt questions. Maybe you want to put on only birds you’ve never seen before, birds which visit only in winter, or birds you know you’ve seen and which will be sure to visit your garden again and bring you/your kids a feeling of success.

Step 4 – Choose a List Format

Do you want a simple 2 column list with bird name and page number? Maybe you’d prefer to make an illustrated list by drawing each of the birds you’d like to see, giving each bird it’s own page in your notebook or journal. Or you might want a multi-column list with common name, scientific name, habitat, size, and features as well as the page number.

Step 5 – Get to Work

I call it work, but this is the fun part. Snuggle up with you book and a pencil and paper, notebook, or journal. Simply start at the front of the book and work toward the back. Check the map to see which birds are in your area in winter.

Take as long or as short a time to make your list as you like. Enjoy the process, stop and use a ruler to help you visualize a few birds you’d love to see, or zoom through making a mega-checklist. Just make sure that if you’re doing this with your kids that you don’t leave them in the dust with your enthusiasm!

Birds are a wonderful gift of nature, something for us all to enjoy. Have you ever made a winter bird list for your neighborhood? Do you have a favorite bird guide book? Please share in the comments and consider subscribing so you won’t miss any posts.

Find birding binoculars, bird books and bird baths at Amazon.com.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids
2. Where do robins go in winter?
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bird feeder by stevendepolo

Thinking of adding some birdfeeders to your nature garden. You might be asking the question, “How long does it take birds to find a feeder?” The answer seems to be a great big “it depends”.

For my feeders it took about 8 days – long enough that I lost track. For the first day I avidly watched my newly-hung birdfeeders hoping for a quick reward. Alas, patience was the order of the day.

How Long Will You Have to Wait?

A quick google search on the question “how long does it take birds to find a feeder” will turn up several sites, but they all contain the exact same text

“Sometimes it can seem like forever. It may take more time for birds to find window feeders than hanging or pole-mounted feeders.”

One of the sites is the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They have quite a lot of useful information on backyard bird feeding but just aren’t much help on this specific question. Yes, eight days seemed like forever, but surely there’s a better answer on what to expect. Surely someone has looked into this.

Downy Woodpecker by Audreyjm529

Project FeederWatch Has the Answer?

I felt pretty sure that the folk at Project FeederWatch and the Cornell bird lab must have something to say on this, but alas it’s not a Project FeederWatch frequently asked question.

What Should You Expect?

After waiting a whole week to see a single bird at any of my three not-so-newly-hung feeders I’d almost lost hope. I asked a friend, “How long does it take birds to find a feeder when you’ve not had one up for a while?” Her answer, “About 30 minutes.” So, I have my answer – it takes birds anything from 30 minutes to 8 days to find a feeder.

Worth the Wait

It was worth the wait – my kids will tell you how excited I get when a downy woodpecker arrives to peck the suet, or a chickadee to take some niger seeds. In the last few days I’ve seen the following birds – house wren, chickadee, downy woodpecker, robin, bluejay. My feeders are still full of food and the birds are not yet regular visitors, but the weather is still mild – things could change soon. The birds found my feeders – I think it’s going to be a good winter.

How long did it take birds to find your feeder? Are you taking part in Project FeederWatch?

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Related posts:

1. Mama, I’d Like to Learn About Birds
2. Why chickadees are so greedy
3. Why You Want to Add a Birdfeeder to Your Garden