The Safflower Solution: How To Outwit Those Pesky Blackbirds

Feeding your backyard birds year-round can be incredibly rewarding. Observing a male cardinal pass a seed to a female during courtship demonstrates the lengths some birds go to obtain a mate. Similar behaviour can be observed later in the season as many birds will bring their offspring to feeders once fledged and place food in their open mouths. These actions provide hours of entertainment for any backyard birder and are just one of the many reasons I leave my feeders up all year.

IMG 7346 Edit - The Safflower Solution: How To Outwit Those Pesky Blackbirds — **Considered a nuisance by many, European Starlings are not fond of safflower and will often leave this seed alone.**

Year-round feeding can also come with some frustration if your yard is frequented by blackbirds such as Common Grackles or European Starlings. These birds often exhibit aggressive behaviour around feeders chasing away more desirable songbirds. A flock of grackles or starlings can make quick work of a feeder full of seed either by consuming it or scattering mixed blends on the ground searching for their favourite.

34185819885 e9aebe8fda o - The Safflower Solution: How To Outwit Those Pesky Blackbirds — **Purple Finches are one of the many birds that have visited my feeder filled with safflower seed.**

Fortunately, there is something that can be done to combat grackles and starlings from visiting your feeders. The solution is to fill your feeder with safflower seed. Safflower seed is white in colour and similar in shape to black oil sunflower seed though slightly smaller. High in protein, fat, and fibre this seed provides excellent nutritional value for songbirds. Safflower seed has a bitter taste which grackles and starlings will often leave alone while other birds readily accept this offering. Birds that frequently eat safflower seed include:

Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
House Finch
Purple Finch
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Tufted Titmouse

Another benefit of offering safflower seed is most squirrels will turn their noses up at it. Chipmunks, on the other hand, love safflower and will make repeated trips to a feeder if accessible filling their cheeks each visit.

IMG 4455 Edit Edit - The Safflower Solution: How To Outwit Those Pesky Blackbirds — **Safflower seed in my fly through feeder is a popular feeding spot for Mourning Doves. This particular bird was photographed as it waited patiently for a spot to open up.**

Safflower seed can be offered in just about any type of feeder including tube, hopper, tray, or fly through. If you are introducing safflower seed for the first time, be patient as it can sometimes take a bit of time for the birds to become accustomed to it. Adding small amounts of safflower seed to your regular seed may help birds adjust to the change quicker. Increase the ratio of safflower seed slowly until you are offering 100% safflower. Some birds may scatter the seed at first as you make the transition but in my experience, many of the birds listed above accept safflower wholeheartedly. If you are hoping to attract Rose-breasted Grosbeaks to your feeder when they return to Southwestern Ontario in a few weeks, fill your feeder with safflower seed, they absolutely love it!

IMG 5031 Edit Edit - The Safflower Solution: How To Outwit Those Pesky Blackbirds — **Black-capped Chickadees are a common backyard bird which readily accepts safflower seed.**

In terms of cost, safflower seed is an economical option. It is roughly the same price as a bag of quality mixed seed while coming in slightly more expensive than black oil sunflower but less pricey than peanuts, a favourite of grackles and starlings.

IMG 3486 Edit Edit - The Safflower Solution: How To Outwit Those Pesky Blackbirds — **Switching to safflower seed during the summer months will help attract Northern Cardinals to your yard while deterring less desirable birds including starlings and grackles.**

If you are looking for a solution to the frustration and terror grackles and starlings can bring to your feeders during the summer months, give safflower seed a try. Remember to be patient when first introducing it as it can be an acquired taste. If given a chance, you might just find that the variety of birds frequenting your feeders increases with the addition of safflower seed.

Good birding,
Paul

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Taking Care Of Backyard Birds During Cold Weather

It looks like we are in for a bitter cold week across Southwestern Ontario. High temperatures in the negative teens are forecast, and strong winds will make it feel much colder. As homeowners, there are a few things we can do to make it easier on our feathered friends during adverse weather.

IMG 8728 1 - Taking Care Of Backyard Birds During Cold Weather — **Black oil sunflower seeds are a favourite of many birds, including Northern Cardinals.**

Birds keep warm in several ways during cold weather. One of these methods is by shivering. Shivering raises their metabolic rate, which keeps them warm but uses their fat reserves. Offering a high-quality seed will help replenish energy used during this process. Be careful where you buy your seed from. You may be tempted by what seems like a low price to purchase mixed seed from a big box store. The truth is, seed from a big box store is never fresh, often dusty, and contains several cheap fillers that is less desirable to birds. You may think you are saving a few dollars a bag, but do yourself and the birds a favour and purchase your seed from a birdseed retailer. When you purchase seed from a birdseed retailer, it is always fresh and doesn’t contain cheap fillers. Your backyard birds will consume every seed making it a far better deal than the discount seed that gets scattered on the ground as birds search for the few good seeds.

Your local seed retailer can also advise you on what seed is best for the birds in your area. I like to offer a variety of seed because it attracts the widest variety of birds. Some of my favourite seeds to offer are: black oil sunflower, peanuts (both in the shell and halves), safflower, white millet, nyjer, and suet. If you are reluctant to feed the birds because of the seed shells left behind, many retailers offer a mixed seed that contains no shells. Again, the price may seem a bit high, but remember you are only paying for the weight of the seed, not the shells.

IMG 8870 1 - Taking Care Of Backyard Birds During Cold Weather — **Dark-eyed Juncos are a species found in our area during winter months. They are a common backyard visitor that often feeds on the ground, cleaning up seeds spilled by other birds.**

Fresh water is equally important during cold weather and often attracts more birds to your backyard than food. A heated birdbath is a great way to offer water to birds during winter months. Remember to change the water frequently to ensure that it is fresh. Heated birdbaths can also be purchased from your local seed retailer.

IMG 8898 1 - Taking Care Of Backyard Birds During Cold Weather — **Providing high-quality seed to backyard birds helps supplement their diet and is more nourishing than other foods.**

Birds require shelter during extremely cold temperatures. Shelter protects birds from the cold, wind, snow, freezing rain, and predators such as hawks and cats. Evergreens are a great source of shelter for birds year-round, but especially in winter. If your yard is lacking evergreens than adding shelter is quite simple. The easiest way to provide shelter this time of year is to put your Christmas tree outside. Juncos, cardinals, wrens, chickadees, and sparrows will all quickly seek shelter in the thick branches of a Christmas Tree. Standing these trees upright may be more aesthetically pleasing, but is not necessary; laying the trees down on their sides provides adequate shelter. Adding multiple trees around your yard is even better. Watch for your neighbours to place their trees out to the curb or gather a few from one of the local recycling depots. Positioning them out of prevailing winds and in the sun makes an excellent spot for birds to keep warm. Place a few closer to your feeders to give birds a safe spot to dive into in case a raptor takes a swipe at them. Make sure the trees are far enough away from your feeder that squirrels can’t use them to gain access. Trees can then be placed at the curb in spring when the city resumes picking up yard materials.

IMG 8843 1 - Taking Care Of Backyard Birds During Cold Weather — **Black-capped Chickadees are one species that huddle in groups for warmth and will benefit from a roost box.**

Roost boxes provide excellent shelter for birds during winter. Roost boxes are similar to nest boxes but have perches inside and the hole is located at the bottom. Several birds will enter, then huddle on the perches for warmth. The hole located at the bottom helps to retain heat. Rising hot air is trapped in the box making it that much warmer. Chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches and other birds typically use roost boxes at night to stay warm. I have noticed birds on cold windy days and during snow squalls enter my roost boxes to escape the elements. I built my roost boxes with reversible fronts, so they can be converted to next boxes in the spring, but commercial boxes can be purchased at a seed retailer. Roost boxes should be placed out of the wind and in the afternoon sun so they will warm-up for the birds to use at night.

Having a backyard refuge for the birds has several benefits. Not only will you be helping wild birds survive when it is unbearably cold, but it is also a great way to enjoy nature from the comfort of your warm living room.

Good birding,
Paul

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Coddle The Birds During Adverse Weather

Now that we are experiencing some snow in our area there a few simple things you can do to help make birds lives a little easier. Make sure when you fill your feeders to clear all of the snow off of them. I like to use a small straw hand wisk. Clearing off the snow will keep the seed dry and fresh and will provide the birds with a clear area to land. Many birds including Mourning Doves will land on the top a feeder before descending to the feeding area, so be sure to clear the entire feeder off. Make sure that the seed in feeders is not frozen. Frozen seed can quickly clog a feeder and make it difficult for the birds to feed. During these colds days it is important that birds do not expend any unnecessary energy pecking away at frozen seed.

Clear snow from areas around your yard where birds like to roost before and after feeding. These may be the tops of fences, deck railings or other objects around your yard. By having a clear place to land birds will stay warmer and dry. Make sure that the snow under your feeders is either cleared away or packed down. I will walk in circles around the feeder so there is about a six foot radius underneath that is hard packed. This will allow ground feeding birds to feed and clean up seed underneath. This will not only attract more birds, but less seed will go to waste.

If you have roost boxes around your yard make sure the entrances are not blocked with snow and ice and to clean them out regularly. Bird droppings quickly accumulate and the boxes will be undesirable to birds if dirty. I also gently brush off my cedar and spruce trees of snow to provide better access to their interior branches for cover. Be extra careful not to break their branches if the snow is heavy or ice has accumulated on them.

Doing a few extra little things to help out the birds during winter weather will have them picking your yard over the others in your neighbourhood. You will be able to sit back with a warm beverage and enjoy all of the bird activity in your yard and at your feeders.

Good birding,
Paul

Woodpeckers: Easy To Attract & Fun To Watch

Woodpeckers are a beautiful addition to any yard. With their unique feather patterns and bright red markings they are a favourite of many backyard birders. The size range of Woodpeckers is quite broad from the Downy at 6″ to the Pileated at just under 20″. I find listening to a Woodpecker’s call to be almost as rewarding as seeing the bird itself.

The best way to attract Woodpeckers to your yard is by offering peanuts and suet. Long cylindrical feeders that the birds can cling to just like a tree trunk are perfect for providing them with peanut halves. These feeders are inexpensive and will also be visited by Chickadees, Nuthatches, Bluejays, and Wrens to name a few. Check with your local feed retailer for these as well as the various designs for offering peanuts in the shell. Many different types of suet feeders are available too, but my preference is the upside down variety to keep the starlings from consuming all of your suet. Hanging any of these types of feeder works great and Woodpeckers can be quite tame so placing them close to your house will provide excellent views. Remember to hang your feeder in a location where squirrels cannot jump or lower themselves to it.

I have three types of feeders in my yard for attracting Woodpeckers and as a result have four species that frequent them. These species are; Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, and the Northern Flicker. Woodpeckers will visit almost any feeder with a seed mixture in it, but providing a specialty feeder with a supply of peanuts or suet is a great way to increase the variety you will attract and keep them coming back. If given the choice between a standard feeder and seed mix versus a specialty feeder and a supply of high energy peanuts or suet, they will pick the peanuts or suet every time.

Good birding,
Paul

Provide Your Backyard Birds With High Energy Suet

Suet is an excellent food to offer birds in your backyard. It is made up of beef fat and is a high energy, easily digested food especially valuable to birds in winter. Common backyard birds that readily eat suet are Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Wrens to name a few. Suet cakes are blocks of suet that are mixed with other ingredients such as corn, peanuts or fruit. Suet mixtures are also available in ball or bell form that can be hung anywhere and can be purchased at your local bird food retailer.

Providing suet cakes requires a special feeder. These range from larger wooden feeders with a built in tail rest for the larger species of Woodpeckers to small cages ideal for Chickadees and Downy Woodpeckers. Either of these styles I like to hang from a tree branch because it is simple to do and the birds will find it quite quickly. Many of the hopper style feeders come with suet cages on either end.

Starlings are also big fans of suet. A group of these birds can devour a suet cake in less than a day. As a result my favorite way to offer suet is in a feeder that requires the birds to hang upside down. Starlings have a hard time hanging upside down and therefore will not be able to just sit and gorge themselves on your suet. Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Wrens have no problem hanging upside down so your feeder will attract the more desirable birds and your suet will last much longer. Make sure your feeder is hung high enough that Starlings can’t make repeated short flutters form the ground or a lower branch to your suet.

If you don’t already have a suet feeder in your backyard, talk to your local bird feed retailer and tell them you are interested in one. They will be able to provide you with a feeder and suet mixture that will work best for you. By offering suet you may just attract a couple of new species to your yard.

Good birding,
Paul

Selecting a Quality Bird Seed

If you are like me, you enjoy feeding the birds and try to attract as many species as possible to your yard. Feeding our feathered friends can become quite expensive as you well know. Some weeks I think I spend more at the feed store than the grocery store. Quality bird seed will not only attract more birds but it will also save you money.

I like to buy seed that has high amounts of sunflower seeds and peanuts. I find these two ingredients attract the most birds. Many inexpensive bird seed mixes are made up mostly of fillers that birds do not like. Two of the most common fillers are milo and cracked corn. You may be thinking to yourself, “wait a minute, birds eat corn!” Yes they do but there is a difference between cracked and cut corn. Cut corn is exactly that, cut. Therefore you get several small pieces of corn that the birds, especially doves, love and is good in a seed mix. Cracked corn on the other hand results in mostly dust that is not edible.

Milo is the other big filler and not something birds prefer. They will eat it as a last resort but it should be avoided in seed mixes. Have you ever noticed that yellowy orange paste under your feeder after a rain or when the snow melts in the spring? That is all milo and dust from cracked corn that the birds have pushed off the feeder trying to get to “the good stuff”. All that waste adds weight that is factored into the price of your seed.

Take for instance a 10lb bag of bird seed. If 60% of it is fillers, you are only getting 4lbs of seed that the birds will actually eat. If you pay five or ten bucks more for a bag of seed that doesn’t contain these fillers, the birds will eat 100% of the seed. Think about it. Would you rather a $20 bag of seed that birds only eat 40% of or a $30 bag that they eat 100% of? By spending a little more initially on your seed purchase you will end up saving money in the long run. In addition to the money saved you won’t have to chisel that paste off your lawn every spring!

Local independent birding stores will have far better quality seed mixes than your favourite big box store. The best part is you won’t have to line up like cattle either!

Good Birding,
Paul

wren - Selecting a Quality Bird Seed — This Carolina Wren is feasting at my feeder on a mix containing black oil sunflower seeds and peanut halves.