Downy Woodpecker, Game Commission Photo

By Joe Kosack, Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist, Pennsylvania Game Commission

Winter causes songbirds to converge increasingly on backyard feeders. If you're interested in attracting some of this avian traffic, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has tips on how to get involved.

"While current conditions belie normal Pennsylvania winters, research has shown that backyard feeders are worth their weight in gold to some songbirds when a crusted snow is blanketing the ground, or overnight temperatures are dipping into the single digits," explained Dan Brauning, Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Section supervisor. "It's not necessarily a dependency, but birds sometimes need all the help they can get when winter's worst deep freezes or buries our woods, waters and fields."

Birds produce body heat, much like people do, and insulate themselves with a feathery coat of down. In fact, a winter bird's natural defense against the cold is considered better than a human's and most mammals', so long as food is readily available. Food feeds a bird's thumping metabolism, which creates enriched blood that is circulated through its body and generates heat. Smaller birds run at higher body temperatures than larger birds and humans. But if a bird's temperature drops below 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it likely will die.

A bird's high metabolic rate and need to remain lightweight to support flight obligate it to eat well daily and yet remain relatively lean. They don't pack it on, like a bear or deer, or they'd find themselves grounded, a chilling proposition in January and February. But some birds can increase their body weight up to 40 percent and still get off the ground.

During periods of deep snow or icing, bird feeders can become of paramount importance to birds - particularly ground-feeders and seed-eaters such as dark-eyed juncos, cardinals, mourning doves and black-capped chickadees - because they quickly become some of the few feeding locations open, with the exception of plowed roads and driveways, waterways and spring seeps.

"When the snow is piling up, such as during a nor'easter, birds often concentrate at feeders before, during and after the storm, because they must have food to sustain their relatively hyperactive lifestyle and produce heat," explained Brauning. "Their physiological inability to store large amounts of fatty energy can place some songbirds in harm's way in prolonged periods of wicked winter weather. Feeders can, and often do, provide relief.

"Feeders are not an integral habitat component that sustains most birds through winter," emphasized Brauning. "They can be beneficial to a variety of species, but for the most part, feeders offer supplemental foraging opportunities. The exception would be for southern species that have extended their range further north into Pennsylvania, such as cardinals, tufted titmice and Carolina wrens. Hard winter weather could push some of these birds south if they didn't have feeders to lean on during deep freezes and periods of frozen precipitation."

Two highly desirable foods for wintering songbirds are black-oil sunflower seeds and white-proso millet. Offering these seeds will reduce waste and provide mass-appeal to a wide variety of species, but primarily seed-eaters and ground-feeders. Although millet is quite appealing to the lowly house or English sparrow - an introduced species that competes vigorously with bluebirds for nest cavities - it also is a favorite of cardinals and other finches, juncos, mourning doves, even wild turkeys and bobwhite quail. Black-oil sunflower seeds are the biggest draw in bird feeding. They're credited with pulling in more than three dozen different bird species, including tufted titmice, white-throated sparrows, purple finches and especially evening grosbeaks that occasionally drift south of the Canadian border when the supply of various tree seeds in the northern woods fail to meet their needs.

Inexpensive birdseed mixes - usually loaded with milo - often offered at supermarkets and department stores are probably more useful as anti-skid material on icy sidewalks than bird-food. Songbirds usually pick through mixes for what they want, frequently discarding the other less-desirable seeds. So don't let them choose, and you'll keep waste to a minimum. If you're looking for a waste-free offering, consider shelled peanuts or peanut hearts. They'll be warmly received by everything from woodpeckers and bluebirds and blue jays to sparrows, chickadees and wild turkeys.

Suet and suet cakes also are great choices for people interested in watching or making life easier for woodpeckers. The primary visitors to suet cakes are downy, red-bellied and hairy woodpeckers. The hairy woodpecker is a robin-sized version of the downy. Red-bellies often are mistaken for red-headed woodpeckers. Just about any songbird field guide will help you distinguish one from another. Suet can be smeared or lodged in tree crevices, suspended in fruit bag netting or commercial cages, or pitched on the ground in winter. When birds find it, they will return regularly for more.

"Feeders provide a chance to get to know the wild birds from the comforts of home," Brauning said. "It's a wonderful and exciting way to get closer to nature and a source of almost endless conversation for families and friends. Try it. The experience is rewarding and satisfying."

Bird feeders can be suspended from nearby trees, even a wash-line, or supported by posts or poles; seeds also can be tossed on the ground. Feeders should be cleaned regularly to ensure the health of visiting birds. In addition, feeders should be placed away from windows - especially picture windows - to limit bird injuries; birds cannot see glass and often fly into it. Placing feeders near cover - by shrubs and trees - also will provide safety from Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks, which stake-out feeders. Vegetation also provides dining perches for seed-busting songbirds.

"Safety should always be a consideration when deciding where to place a bird feeder," emphasized Brauning. "After all, we're trying to help birds, not hurt them. So take the time to do it right. Place the feeder near cover, but away from groundcover that would hide an approaching housecat. A feeder also should be placed no closer than 20 feet to windows. And don't forget to clean them regularly, even during winter.

Filled with the right seeds, and placed in the proper location, a feeder will spur activity from dawn to dusk - even beyond sunset if you have flying squirrels nearby. So do something wild. Put up a feeder and fill it with seeds. It's easy, and fun, and when the birds start coming, downright heartwarming.

People who feed birds are advised that their feeders can be a magnet for more than just songbirds. In addition to squirrels, feeders also may attract anything from mice to black bears, as well as predators such as hawks and cats. If a bear begins frequenting your yard, it's usually better - and less expensive - to pull your feeders for a couple of weeks, rather than trying to match wits with the bear, which quickly can become an unwelcomed daily visitor and quite destructive. Bears may show up at a feeder during winter warming spells and any time after early April, when they usually emerge from winter dens.

Avoid storing your birdseed - and particularly black-oil sunflower - in heated areas, because it commonly contains grain moth pupae cocoons and they will hatch at a faster rate and escape into your home's living quarters. Place the seed outside in a metal ashcan or waterproof container that rodents, such as mice and squirrels, will not gnaw through. If the container is air-tight, it also will reduce its powers of attraction to bears. Bay leaves can be used as a natural repellent for grain moths.

Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat. The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs.

The Game Commission does not receive any general state taxpayer dollars for its annual operating budget. The agency is funded by license sales revenues; the state's share of the federal Pittman-Robertson program, which is an excise tax collected through the sale of sporting arms and ammunition; and monies from the sale of oil, gas, coal, timber and minerals derived from State Game Lands.

Visit the Game Commission’s Birdfeeding webpage.

1/12/2007