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Some ‘crafty’ ways to provide birds with high energy foods

Courtesy photo by Tom Hodgson. Winter goldfinch.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson for this column and the gorgeous photos that accompany it.)

During the coldest winter weather, a small bird will burn up 10 percent of its body weight each night, just to stay warm. Ninety percent of the energy it gets from eating during the day is also burned up to stay warm. So in order to gain back the ten percent of its body weight lost the previous night, it must eat the equivalent of its own weight in food each day. Here are some fun ways to provide birds with high energy foods.

Courtesy photo by Tom Hodgson. White-breasted Nuthatch.

The Suet Log: Take a fire place sized log. Screw an eyelet in one end. Drill 1-inch diameter holes in the sides with a speed bit. Fill the holes with raw suet, and hang outdoors. Insect eaters like woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice and Carolina wrens love suet. They will flock to this high energy food source, especially when the weather turns really cold. The log also enables the birds to exhibit the normal feeding behaviors used when exploring for winter insects and insect eggs on tree trunks and branches.

Peanut Butter Pine Cones: Take a dried pine cone. Hammer a nail into the base.  Smear the cone with peanut butter. Place some bird seed on a sheet of wax paper. Roll the peanut butter covered cone into the bird seed. Tie some sewing thread to the nail, and hang the pine cone outdoors. The acrobatics exhibited by the birds as they extract the seeds and peanut butter from the pine cone is fun to watch.

Create a Christmas tree for the birds by decorating an evergreen in your yard with peanut butter pine cones and strings of popcorn and cranberries.

Courtesy photo by Tom Hodgson. Downy Woodpecker.

If you are not the “crafty” type, raw suet can also be hung outside in a mesh onion bag. Commercial suet cakes and wire suet feeders are also available from the local stores that sell bird seed.

Birds Get Thirsty, Too: Finding water to drink is a challenge for birds during most winters when surface waters are frozen. They will appreciate being supplied with a heated source of drinking water. Heated “bird baths” are not cheap, starting at about $50 for a small one. An unheated bird bath that you supply with fresh warm, water each day is a lot less expensive. The water should be changed on a regular basis to avoid contamination from seed husks and bird droppings.

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