With heat indexes almost daily soaring above 110°F, the nectar we offer our hummingbird neighbors can quickly spoil. With that in mind, here are a couple of simple tips that help ensure that rubythroats will be dining on nectar that has not spoiled.
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ARE SQUIRRELS DETERRED BY COFFEE GROUNDS?
Recently it has been reported that coffee grounds spread below bird feeders deter squirrels from visiting bird feeding stations.
Before I recommend this practice, I want to know if you have tried this technique. If you have experimented with it, please let me know his bizarre practice actually works.
CONTAINER GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE MADE EASIER
Gardening for wildlife is being adopted by an increasing number of gardeners each year. One form of wildlife gardening that is growing by leaps and bounds is gardening in containers.
While container gardening is nothing new, growing plants that are of value to wildlife is. Container gardening for wildlife allows gardeners to attract wildlife to small places. In addition, is allows people that are physically unable to engage in traditional gardening to continue their hobby.
One of the problems that plagues container gardening is moving large pots from one spot to another. A large container full of soil is very heavy and difficult to move about. In addition, it can be quite expensive to buy enough soil to fill a large pot.
An excellent way to solve this problem is to fill third to half of the pot with a lightweight filler. Innovative gardeners are using variety fillers such as plastic bottles, bags and nursery pots as fillers Some even employ large chunks of Styrofoam. Others are using organic fillers such as pinecones, and wood chips.
If you want to make container gardening for wildlife less expensive and easier, you should consider using lightweight materials as fillers.
If you have used this technique, I would appreciate it if would let me know if your efforts proved to be successful.
BACKYARD SECRET – HOW MANY BIRDS VISIT OUR FEEDERS?
If you have ever wondered how many species of birds visit our feeders, here are some figures you might find interesting.
Across the country, some 350 species of birds feed at our feeders. Ninety of these species are either regular or casual diners. The remaining 260 species are rare visitors.
Here in the Peach State, those of us that feed birds in our yards can attract as many as 25-35 species to our bird cafes.
How many species of birds do you feed in your backyard?
BACKYARD SECRET – GRAY SQUIRRELS EAT BONES
One the wonderful things about wildlife watching is every day when you walk outside you have a chance of spotting an animal you have never seen before, or observing wildlife engaged in a behavior you have never witnessed. A few days ago, my daughter, Angela, saw a gray squirrel do something that she had never seen.
As far was my daughter is concerned, she sees squirrels in her backyard far too often. While she doesn’t have anything against the agile tree inhabitants, her major complaint is they eat more than their share of the seeds and suet she offers her bird neighbors. Then on top of that, they destroy her feeders. That being said, they engage in some fascinating behaviors. A few days ago, she witnessed a gray squirrel do something she had never seen before.
As she idly watched a squirrel scampering down the top of the 6-foot wood fence that stands along the backside of her yard, she noticed it was carrying a bone about four inches long and about the width of a nickel. It looked to be one of the bones left by her dog.
When she told me about the experience, I told her that she was probably correct since gray squirrels do eat bones. While gray squirrels devour a variety bones, they are particularly fond of those that are sun-bleached.
Gray squirrels dine bones for a couple of reasons. First of all, the bones help wear down their front teeth. This is necessary because these teeth continually grow throughout their lives. If the squirrels do not gnaw on hard bones the teeth will continue to grow and eventually curl and prevent the animals from eating.
The second reason is bones are an excellent source of much-needed calcium and phosphorus.
If you happen to see gray squirrels carrying or eating bones in your yard, you will know why they are engaged in this bizarre behavior.
Isn’t it amazing what you can see taking place just outside your backdoor?
WILDLIFE LOVE BLACKBERRIES
I have a seemingly endless fight with blackberries. Our wildlife neighbors spread blackberry seeds throughout our yard. Consequently, I have to pull up new plants that pop up in our lawn, gardens, and shrubs. That being said I do not try to eradicate them when those plants that grow in the edge of property. I do this because blackberries rank near the top of the list of foods favored by both mammals and birds. More than 100 species of wildlife consume blackberries. Juicy blackberries are just beginning to ripen in my neck of the woods, and birds are already feasting on them.
The list of critters that eat wild blackberries includes the raccoon, chipmunk, and gray squirrel. Some of the numerous birds that dine on blackberries includes the northern bobwhite, wild turkey, great crested flycatcher, American and fish crows, Baltimore and orchard orioles, indigo bunting, cardinal, gray catbird, Eastern bluebird, yellow-breasted chat, eastern towhee, cedar waxing, and woodpeckers such as the red-bellied and red-headed, brown thrasher, and white-throated sparrow.
If we are lucky, my wife and I try to grab few blackberries before the birds gobble them up.
I should also mention that rabbits and deer eat the plants’ tender stems and leaves.
In addition to being a great source of food, many birds and other animals use blackberry patches as nesting and escape cover.
Wild blackberries are indeed an important part of the diverse wildlife habitat that exists just outside our backdoor.
BACKYARD SECRET – IT IS TIME TO PREPARE FOR ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS
Now is a great time to be on the lookout for rose-breasted grosbeaks migrating home for the nesting season. During the past several days, I have received reports of rose-breasted grosbeaks visiting backyards scattered across the state. If you want to stand the best chance of seeing the handsome birds in your backyard, here are a few suggestions.
To begin with, fill your feeders with their favorite seeds. I have always provided the migrants with black oil sunflower seeds. They are also fond of safflower seeds and raw peanuts. While I have never served up either seed to northbound migrants, my daughter fills her feeders with both sunflower and safflower seeds. This year, the birds visiting her yard have shown a preference for safflower seeds. On the other hand, I have not seen a grosbeak in my yards this spring.
You can also enhance your chances of attracting the birds by offering seeds on platform and tray feeders; they will also use large hopper feeders.
The location of your feeders can also affect whether or not the birds dine at your backyard diner. While they will visit feeders in any number of locations, they seem to prefer feeders placed near large deciduous trees and thick shrubs.
Finally, offer the migrants plenty of clean water.
I hope you will hosting rose-breasted grosbeaks in your yard very soon.
BACKYARD SECRET – ROBINS FIND WORMS BY SOUND
If you have ever watched American robins hunt for worms on your lawn, you have probably wondered whether the worm hunters located juicy worms by sight or sound.
Well, researchers have cracked the mystery to this age-old mystery. The birds locate the worms by sound. Once they find a worm, they often tilt the head to direct their strike at the hidden meal.
BACKYARD SECRET – A WAY TO KEEP WATER OUT OF NEST BOXES
Here is a simple way to help keep rain out of nesting boxes. If a nestbox is properly built (with an overhanging roof), in most cases, rain is kept from entering the box. However, wind-blown rain is a different matter. While it is impossible to always keep this type of rain out of boxes, you can reduce the chance of this happening by simply erecting a box so that the opening to the nestbox faces away from the prevailing wind.
BACKYARD SECRET: DEALING WITH SQUIRRELS EATING SUET AT FEEDERS
If you are having a problem with gray squirrels eating more than their share of suet, here is something you might want to try. Typically, squirrels prefer eating suet laced with peanut butter and peanuts. If this is the case in your backyard, simply replace the peanut butter suet with plain suet. While birds will eat it, it seems that bushytails are not particularly fond of plain suet. While this solution might not work in all backyards, this simple, inexpensive approach to this problem just might work for you.
