Opening a Restaurant for Birds

To feed or not to feed is a question that has many “experts” on both sides of the argument. The purpose of this article is not to sway you one way or the other but to answer the questions that are asked by those who choose to feed birds.

SEED feeding can be done all year but the most important time is during the winter as other natural supplies become scarce. Any seed mix you choose will attract many different kinds of customers to your restaurant. The same seed mix can attract different birds depending on the feeding container you use. Hanging houses or tube feeders will attract House Finches and Red-winged Blackbirds but if you want White-crowned Sparrows the food needs to be on a tray, or better yet on the ground next to a pile of prunings or bushes where they can scurry to safety. If snow covers the ground, then scrape an area clear under a tree or along the side of your house and place more than your usual amount as cold rapidly depletes their energy stores. Another way to provide seeds is to plant a variety of seed producing plants that will offer a wider range to your menu than store bought seeds and be far cheaper and prettier. Some annuals to consider are bachelor button, calendula, cosmos, marigolds, pinks, and zinnia. Some perennials they enjoy are aster, black-eyed susan, goldenrod, coneflower and sunflower. Regular birds you can expect to see are Brewer’s Blackbirds, House Sparrows, Lesser Goldfinches, Crows & Ravens, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and sadly, too many Brown-headed Cowbirds. Some not as common are Evening Grosbeaks, Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings, Rufous-sided Towhees and Clark’s Nutcrackers.

NECTAR feeding attracts hummingbirds, orioles, ants and bees! While working at a hummingbird sanctuary in southern CA we learned from the many experiments that were conducted. Mix 4 parts of water to 1 part of sugar during the summer months. Make it richer (3 to 1) during the spring and fall migration as they can use this extra boost during their energy sapping flight period. Boil for 5 minutes, cool, fill feeders and hang in the shade. Neither honey nor red food dye should be used, as they can be harmful. The feeders all have red plastic parts and if you want more red, tie a red ribbon or put red paper around the bottle. Many find it amazing that nectar isn’t the main food of hummers. Insects are. Their diet is 50-90% insects and if you watch hummers coming to your feeder you’ll often see them “flycatching” small flying insects. Hummers begin to arrive in March so we put the feeders out mid-February to help along any avant garde. The first you’ll see will probably be Rufous followed in a couple of weeks by Black-chinned. Anna’s, Costa’s, and Calliope may also drop in but not regularly. During the summer the Black-chinned is the hummer that breeds in the towns and is the expected one at feeders. Most of the hummers depart in September but the hardy Anna’s remains for a couple more months and possibly longer. Some spend the winter just south of the Inyo border and a few might remain if there was a food supply. Some argue that leaving the feeders out delays their natural departure date, but their urge to migrate is governed by far more than if the feeders are out, and besides, it takes less than one day to fly to Ridgecrest. Hooded Orioles and Northern (Bullock’s) Orioles arrive the end of March and will put on a colorful display defending “their” feeder. Some problems can occur. Ants are easily discouraged by putting petroleum jelly on the hanger, and bees are stopped by a guard on each feeder port. If the syrup turns cloudy, replace it. If you keep the feeder out in fall and winter there are three ways to prevent freezing: take the feeder in the house each evening and replace it early the next morning; hang it against a warm, sheltered, south facing side of your house; place a heat lamp near the feeder and turn it on each evening and off in the morning. To stop wind from juggling the feeder and dumping the syrup all over the ground, weight the feeder down with bean bags hanging on a long cord. If you have only one feeder out you will probably only get 1 or 2 hummers as they are very territorial and vociferously chase off all intruders. It is better to have 2 or more and place them widely apart so the alpha male can’t dominate your yard. A natural way to attract hummers is to plant nectar producing flowers (red and purple varieties) such as penstemon, salvia, honeysuckle & trumpet vine.

FRUIT is an attractive addition especially during spring migration which begins in March. Slices of bananas and half an orange impaled on a tray or post will pull in colorful orioles and tanagers. During fall migration the profusion of fruit trees and ripening fruit makes supplemental feeding unnecessary.

BERRIES are a boon to fall migrants and fancy up a yard turning barren and brown in winter. Among the many choices: Pyracantha (Firethorn), Elderberry, Virginia Creeper, Rose, Blackberry, Raspberry.

SUET is placed in a wire container or string bag and hung from a tree, or placed under a wire cover on a tray. It turns rancid above 70ø F so don’t put it out until after the high temperatures are below that. You can buy it at the local markets for about 10› a pound. It freezes well and one chunk at a time can be taken out as needed.

PEANUT BUTTER LOGS are offered at only the finest restaurants. Put an eye screw into the top of a 1-2′ long 2-3″ diameter branch and drill out a series of holes. Fill the holes with peanut butter, with or without raisins, and hang up. If you put this on your menu start with only a couple of holes filled until the birds find it then increase the amount to meet your customers’ demand. Both suet and the logs can attract Magpies, Common (Red-shafted) Flicker, Hairy, Downy & Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, Steller’s Jays, Mountain Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, other mountain birds pushed out by the snows, and perhaps a surprise or two.

WATER is incredibly important especially in winter. Since water will freeze in a small bird bath or pond, a water heater is mandatory to keep some water free for the birds.

If you plan on attracting birds to your yard to feed be aware that you will be, by necessity, a non-discriminatory restaurant. If you put out food for birds who eat seeds, fruit, berries, etc. then you will also be supplying birds, indirectly albeit, for those who eat birds. Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks, as well as cats, know who feeds and who doesn’t and if you do they will become regular customers at your place. About once or twice a year we see a kill in our yard. But meanwhile we’ve provided food, water, resting & nesting places for thousands of birds and so helped, in our minds, to offset in a very small way, the huge reduction of habitat these friends have suffered.