Feed the Birds
May. 7th, 2021 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rain_gryphonSo, on an average day in this season, my birds eat:
5 lbs assorted seed (millet, cracked corn, and black sunflower - the cheapest pre-blend in the store, but also the one the Sparrows like best - woohoo!).
2 lbs unsalted peanuts in the shell
A 10oz cake of suet
1/4 cup or so grape jelly
Some days I set out fruit slices also
It's the busiest time of the year, with traffic at the feeder equal to a snowy winter day. All of the cavity nesting birds have a nest full of babies right now, as do many of the guys who nest in bushes. The babies don't want seeds, of course, but it allows the adults to grab a quick meal without spending time foraging, so they can spend more time hunting for bugs to feed the chicks. The Sparrows from the colony are, I'm pretty sure, feeding the suet directly to their babies. I'll see them break off a big chunk, then fly away toward their boxes carrying it.
I'm drawing birds from, I think, a mile around or perhaps more. For the past few weeks I've even had a Red-Headed Woodpecker showing up to eat suet.
5 lbs assorted seed (millet, cracked corn, and black sunflower - the cheapest pre-blend in the store, but also the one the Sparrows like best - woohoo!).
2 lbs unsalted peanuts in the shell
A 10oz cake of suet
1/4 cup or so grape jelly
Some days I set out fruit slices also
It's the busiest time of the year, with traffic at the feeder equal to a snowy winter day. All of the cavity nesting birds have a nest full of babies right now, as do many of the guys who nest in bushes. The babies don't want seeds, of course, but it allows the adults to grab a quick meal without spending time foraging, so they can spend more time hunting for bugs to feed the chicks. The Sparrows from the colony are, I'm pretty sure, feeding the suet directly to their babies. I'll see them break off a big chunk, then fly away toward their boxes carrying it.
I'm drawing birds from, I think, a mile around or perhaps more. For the past few weeks I've even had a Red-Headed Woodpecker showing up to eat suet.
