Saturday, April 16, 2011

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.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

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.