Greetings, my gardening friends! Hope your new year is off to a great start. I took a long, much needed break over the holidays. How about you? This winter is not shaping up to be much of a typical winter in our neck of the woods. We are having temperatures in the 50F-60F range on some days. I’m a confirmed heat lover, so this is not a hardship for me by any means. That said, I’m wondering how it will affect the plants in my garden and the insect population come summer. There isn’t too much we can do about that and I’m continuing my normal winter habits, one of which is setting out food for the birds and critters. I’d like to share with you my thoughts on why I feed the birds and why I feel this is important in the grand scheme of things.
If you love the feathered friends as I do, hopefully today’s post will resonate with you. While I am not a birder by any means – seriously, I think I can name by sight, maybe only 10-20 different species – I do love having these creatures around. One of the main draws of the property where the man and I live, was the abundance of trees. We love our home and yet, for me at least, the land was the biggest factor that came into play when we moved here.
There are hundreds of trees surrounding us and that means we have birds. A lot of them! On a spring or summer morning as the sun is waking the world up, it can sound like an aviary outside. I’d never experienced anything like this outside of an actual aviary before moving here, and I have to say, there is nothing quite like it. It just fills me up. An early morning outside with a good cup of joe and all those bird sounds, is really magical. I love the birds and do everything I can to support them.
Pretty much as soon as we moved here, our first winter, I began the practice of setting out food for the birds. In more recent years, this has expanded to setting out food for the other critters as well.
Birds who stick around during the winter don’t have access to the food they enjoy during the warmer months, such as insects and fruits. Seeds and nuts that we provide are extremely beneficial for these birds. Other things we might consider setting out are suet, fruit, and millet. I usually stick to a purchased seed mix, out of convenience. I’ll set other things, such as peanuts, cracked corn, and apple cores (I eat a lot of apples) out for the squirrels and random critters.
There are studies that have shown that winter feeding helps with survival rate and can better prepare birds for the nesting season. Here is an informative article from nature.org, discussing whether or not it is a good thing to set out food for the birds over the winter. The article points out some potential downsides to this practice, which was new to me and I’m glad I read it. Take a look and if you feel so inclined, post a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Do you feed birds at your place? What is your favorite thing to provide for them?
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