INJURED BIRD

Do you know what to do if you come across an injured bird? Most times birds suffer some sort of impact whether it is a baby bird that fell out of a nest or an adult bird that flew into a picture window.

The bird may not show any signs of physical injury but it is definitely distressed and traumatized. The first thing to do is to see if it suffered any serious injury. A serious injury will need some sort of professional help.

If the bird seems scared and stunned the best thing to do is put a well ventilated cardboard box over the bird and let it rest for a few hours. Do not try to feed the bird. Just give it time to recover from the trauma by leaving it alone and in most cases the bird will fly off on its own when you take away the box.

DID YOU KNOW

Did you know that the crow has the least appealing song to humans?

Bats

Did you know that bats are the only true mammal that flies? They like to live near areas of water where insects are prevalent. One species, the brown bat, can eat 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes in just one hours time. Bats fly much higher than birds, some species fly up to 10,000 feet high. All bats are nocturnal.


To discourage bats from entering your home, plug entrance holes or potential entrance holes. If bats have taken up residence in your home, make sure you plug the entrance after they leave at night. Putting up a bat house is a good way to house bats and still keep them in your yard.


Place a bathouse on the east or southeast side of a pole, tree or building and make sure the bathouse is at least 15 feet from the ground. Placing them by a water source is ideal. Bathouses do not have to be cleaned out. Don't get discouraged if you do not get any bats "right off the bat", sometimes it takes a couple of years before bats start to use a bathouse.

Kitchen Scraps

Did you know that leftovers are a great cheap source of bird food? Most kitchen scraps are filled with carbohydrates and fats that help birds build body fat. This body fat is necessary for survival, nesting and migration. Just make sure you put your scraps in scrap baskets or platform feeders. This helps keep scavengers such as rats, raccoons and skunks out of reach.

Some kitchen scraps birds really enjoy are bread crumbs, crusts, broken cookies, stale cake, stale cheese and even donuts. Starchy foods such as baked potato with the skins on, cooked spaghetti and rice help build body fat. Don't leave out bananas, grapes, apples and pears, walnuts, almonds and even fresh coconut.

 A variety of foods will attract a wide range of birds for you to watch and enjoy.

It's Not Too Late To Put Up That Birdhouse

Most of us know that courtship for a songbird begins in late winter and early spring. This is the time when they are scouting out a good birdhouse to raise their young in. However, some species of birds will nest more than once during the spring and summer season.
You can still attract a mating pair of birds now by following these simple guidelines.

--Make your birdhouse inviting by making sure the hot summer sun does not beat down on it during the mid to latter part of the day. Facing the entrance hole to the north or east will help.

--Do not place your birdhouse facing a busy street or in an area with a lot of human contact. You want your birds to gather food and feed their young and not waste their energy feeling like they have to defend their nest.

--Do not place your birdhouse next to feeders. Leave a comfortable distance of at least 25 feet or more between each. Birds will not nest and raise young where they eat because most are territorial.

--Don't give up, sometimes one can attract birds in a few days, sometimes it takes a few years. You can increase your chances by adding feeders and a bird bath to your yard which will make birds feel comfortable in their surroundings to raise their young.

Good Luck.

Birdhouses

We have 24 birdhouses in our yard. Do you think there is a limit on how many birdhouses one should have? I can tell you this, 20 of them are occupied with house wrens, finches and chickadees. We even have a robin nesting in the lilac bush. The male birds are very busy bringing nourishment to the female birds who are nesting and waiting for their young to hatch. This is one of those times where we can view nature at its best.

Black Capped Chickadees

This tiny songbird has to be one of the cutest to watch. For the past week we have enjoyed watching a male and female find that perfect birdhouse. They had their pick of many, including a couple new ones we set up on the back patio railing.

Just for the heck of it I also set up the house they used last year to raise their family in. Lo and behold, after much deliberation, that is the house they chose. The female chickadee has been busy taking out the old (we never cleaned this one out from last year) and bringing in the new to make that perfect nest.

They have been so busy that we were able to get a good look at just how cute they really are. These birds are curious about everything around their surroundings, including us. They have a black cap on top of their head which looks like it covers their eyes making it hard to see their eyes. These birds have white cheeks with gray and white wing feathers and light tan to white undersides. Their necks are short, their heads are large, with a short bill and long tail feathers.

Here is the male chickadee from last year sitting on the same birdhouse they chose this year, at least we think they are the same two that kept us company for a while last year. We will keep you posted.

Song Birds

No matter where one resides, there is always a bountiful selection of songbirds from early spring to fall.

Did you know that songbirds are also called perching birds? This is because they have toes that help them grip their perch, no matter what it is.
Believe it or not, raven and crows fall into this category and are one of the largest song birds. Robins and Blue Jays also fall into this category and are considered medium sized song birds. The birds falling between 5 - 7 inches in length are the ones we would consider smaller songbirds.

Warblers, wrens, chickadees, and goldfinch are frequent visitors of back yards. Now is the time to get those birdhouses out, sit back and watch the activity. You may be quite surprised and please.

Good Luck.

Those Pesky Squirrels

Everyone knows that keeping squirrels out of bird feeders is nearly impossible. Here are a few clever inventions that really do help keep the squirrels away.

Add a metal stovepipe to fit around a feeder pole, squirrels cannot figure out how to climb it.

A 2-liter plastic bottle with the neck cut off can be slipped onto a pole below the feeder making the feeder squirrel proof.

Crisco oil or motor grease can be used to coat feeder poles. It may be messy but the squirrels cannot climb up the pole.

CONGRATULATIONS

J Crabbit from Portland Maine is the winner of our Spring Giveaway.
Please contact us @birdhouseaccents@yahoo.com
Congratulations.

DID YOU KNOW

Nesting birds such as wrens, chickadees, and finches prefer to be secluded when raising their young. By providing bridhouses that are away from busy spots in your yard such as bird feeders, foot traffic, and bird baths; these birds will thrive in your yard and feel safe to build a nest, mate and raise their young.

SPRING GIVE-A-WAY

To qualify for our spring give-a-way please:

1. Sign up and become a follower.

2. Leave a comment on this post and increase your chances of winning.

We are giving away this primitive Three Hole Birdhouse valued at $30.00. The birdhouse has three separate compartments. The entry holes are 1 1/4" in diameter with floor nails below each hole for the birds to use as a perch. There are three 2 1/2" rusty stars below each entry hole, a wire on top for hanging, and the bottom removes for easy cleaning. The birdhouse has been painted a sunny yellow with a black painted roof and base and measures approx. 16" long by 6" wide by 7 1/2" tall.


Give-a-way ends 03/23/2011. The winner will be randomly selected on 03/24/2011. We will announce the winner on our blog. Winner has 48 hours to notify us by e-mail or another winner will be drawn. Shipping will be paid by Birdhouse Accents. Entries limited to the USA continental 48 states.

Good Luck Everyone!

DID YOU KNOW

Black-eyed Susans are not only a beautiful flower but a flower that birds enjoy. The black seed heads in the center of these flowers are a great source of seed-eating for house finches, chickadees, and goldfinches.

DID YOU KNOW

To keep fallen birdseed from germinating you can do one of two things:

Add a thick layer of mulch beneath the feeder

or

bake sunflower and other seeds in a 250 degree oven for ten minutes

DID YOU KNOW

There are over 30 different species of birds that will nest in a birdhouse? These include many that frequent your back yard. Some of these types of birds are the house wren, chickadee, tufted titmice, nuthatches, bluebirds, purple martins, wood duck and screech owls. With a little research one can set up multiple birdhouses of different types to attract many of these birds. House wrens can fit into a birdhouse with a 1 1/8" hole, whereas chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice can fit into a birdhouse with a 1 1/4" hole (http://birdhouseaccents.etsy.com). The blue bird needs a 1 1/2" hole birdhouse, the purple martin a 2" entry hole, wood ducks and screech owls need a 3" to 4" oval entry hole.

With a little knowledge as to the dimensions of a birdhouse, how high to place one, what types of species enjoy what types of food and when the nesting season begins, one can make their yard a popular place for all types of birds.

More Snow

Some people may say that there is never too much snow, we would have to disagree. The month of January here in Connecticut set a new record for snowfall. The old snowfall record from the year 1945 was set at 45.3" and this months record snowfall is at 56.9".

It seems like we just get a chance to shovel out and there is another storm. They are predicting one for the middle of next week, but are reluctant to say just how many inches we will receive, but it will be significant.

We have two primitive snowmen and santa claus wooden yard stakes that we place out in the yard for winter decorations. Check out the little snowman who is 36" tall.

In this picture Fred moved them to a better spot.

Hairy Woodpecker

It is bitterly cold today. The temperature on the thermometer outside on the shed reads 16 degrees. It it deceiving with the sun shining on the snow because it looks much warmer outside than it really is.

We were sitting here this morning looking out the sliding glass windows when Fred spotted a Hairy Wooodpecker on the peanut seed feeder. He was perched there and pecking away at the peanuts.

These types of woodpeckers frequent back yards often and in the winter look for suet, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and peanut butter. During the summer months their diet consists of insects, larvae, fruit, and nuts.

Its not the best picture but we wanted to share it with you. He caught on real quick as to what we were trying to do and didn't stick around.

Let It Snow

We are sitting here in New England looking at 30" of snow that has fallen over the past 12 hours. Fred has been shoveling on and off, roads have been closed, most folks did not go to work today.

I have been watching a squirrel for the past five minutes jump from tree branch to tree branch. It seems that even these type of weather conditions do not deter them in any way.

Now more than ever it is extremely important to feed the birds. A good source of food to help them stay warm and gives them energy is beef suet. Ask your local butcher, many give this away free.

Thistle seed and safflower seed will attract gold finches, cardinals, nuthatches and chickadees. Try to stay away from sunflower seeds, corn and millet as this attracts birds that will empty your birdfeeder faster than you can blink an eye.