SUET, ADDING DIVERSITY TO YOUR FEEDING STATION - By Colin Bartlett

Adding a suet feeder to a bird feeding station is thought of as a winter addition, but anytime is a great time to add suet to your feeding station. I have suet available year round which is very beneficial for the birds and for our viewing pleasure.

So a great addition to any backyard feeding station is a suet feeder. Suet is a wonderful food source for many birds, and the most common birds that are attracted to suet are chickadees, nuthatches, Bushtits and woodpeckers. A few other species that will also visit the suet are, Bewick's Wren, Townsend's Warbler and a rare visitor an over wintering Orange-crowned Warbler. Dark-eyed Juncos have learnt and adapted to hang on to the suet cages, just like the woodpeckers.

European Starlings also feed on suet and can become a problem. There is a way to discourage starlings from the suet and that is by providing the suet so the birds are only able to access the suet from the bottom or upside down. This can be accomplished an Upside Down Feeder or by turning a suet feeder sideways or horizontal and leave the suet in the plastic container with the open side facing downing. Woodpeckers, Bushtits, chickadees, wrens and nuthatches naturally hang upside down to feed, where starlings cannot, so we thought. These feeders may not eliminate the starlings but they will discourage them so there are only a few trying to use the suet feeder.

Why is beef kidney suet good for the birds, because of the high energy available for the birds. Beef kidney suet is fat from the kidneys of cattle and sheep which have a greater density and high in calories. Another type of fat that is used for suet is tallow. Tallow is a soft fat with fewer calories and dissolves easily in the rain and heat. Using beef kidney suet is the best for the birds as it helps the birds replenishing their energy stocks quickly especially during the colder weather and shorter daylight. Some of the favorite types of suet are peanut butter, sunflower suet, and insect sue, all very high in protein. Suet that is full of wild bird seed is not a favorite of the birds as they are feeding on suet for the energy and the bird seed is just a filler to use less suet. If squirrels are a problem at your suet feeder try using Hot Pepper suet, as birds do not have taste buds but squirrels do.

If you would like to try your own suet, here is a recipe from local author Bill Merilees and his book Gardening For Wildlife. The recipe is called Woodpecker Mix and the ingredients are; 1 part peanut butter, 2 parts melted suet, 2 parts cornmeal, and 4 parts finely ground cracked corn or u may substitute fine hulled sunflower seed. Mix all these ingredients together and stuff into the holes on a suet log or make into balls or squares and cool in the refrigerator before hanging in your suet feeder.

There are many ways to hang or place out your suet, from onion sacks to tail prop suet feeders. Suet can be hung out in an onion sack for the smaller birds to feed on. For the larger birds it is better to use a suet feeder, making it easier for the larger birds to hang on. There are metal suet cages which all birds can use but can be difficult for the larger Northern Flickers and Pileated Woodpeckers. Another style is the tail prop suet feeder which is design for the woodpeckers and allows the woodpeckers somewhere to brace their tails while feeding. If you have seen a woodpecker on the side of a tree, you may have noticed that they always trace their tail for support. The tail hook suet feeder makes this easier for them and all birds to feed.

When hanging your suet feeder make sure it is in a location that is easy for the birds to see and use the suet feeder. Also make sure the location is easy for you to see the feeder and birds as we feed the birds to help them and also to enjoy watching them. Check that the location of the feeder is away from low ground cover and hedges were a predator may be able to hide and attack the birds.

Feeding suet is a simple and clean way to attract birds to your backyard year round.

Good birding.

SQUIRRELS - Written by Colin Bartlett

What a cute little creature our native Red Squirrel. These small reddish brown squirrels are native to Vancouver Island and are not a common guest in most backyards. Over the last few years though they have been reported at more backyard bird feeders within the city limits.

There is only the one native squirrel on Vancouver Island, the Red Squirrel, but many years ago a few of the Eastern Grey Squirrels made their way to Victoria. Since then the Eastern Grey Squirrel has been venturing northward invading Duncan, Chemainus and working towards Ladysmith. There are a few of the grey squirrels around Nanaimo and north of here but the population of those few will be growing very soon.

So what is the problem with having the Eastern Grey Squirrel around? The main problem is that they are an introduced species to the west and like other introduced species, such as starlings and House Sparrows, they end up taking over food sources for many different native species as well as territory, possibly limiting the breeding of native species of both birds and mammals.

The native range of the Eastern Grey Squirrel is the eastern United States and Canada and into parts of Manitoba, but have been introduced into the western provinces and states. The Eastern Grey Squirrel was introduced to Vancouver and expanded to take over the lower mainland. Since their introduction to the lower mainland the native Red Squirrel has almost disappeared from the area.

As for size our native Red Squirrel is a small squirrel compared to the Eastern Grey Squirrel, with a total length of approximately 30 centimeters. Their body and tail colour is a solid rufous or reddish-brown with a bit of a grey colour on the belly. Another identification marking to look for is a white-eye ring. The Eastern Grey Squirrel is larger in size than our native Red Squirrel at about 45 centimeters in length. By their name it is assumed that they are grey in colour, which some are but they also come in other shades like black, brown and a mixture.

The Red Squirrel is also territorial and that is why we only see them one at a time, and they are very vocal especially when someone or something is in their territory. As for the Eastern Grey Squirrel their territories tend to overlap and they work together in groups finding food.

The Eastern Grey Squirrel is aggressive and has a great chewing ability allowing they to break into hard seed cones and also wood and some plastics. When it comes to bird feeders the Grey Squirrel can easily chew a larger opening to get to the birdseed quickly, but some manufacturers now use polycarbonate plastic and metal parts in their feeders to keep the squirrels from destroying them. Usually our Red Squirrel is not as aggressive and just eats what it can get.

A few things that can be done to prevent the squirrels from stealing all the birdseed or destroying a feeder, is to place a squirrel baffle, above your hanging bird feeder. This prevents the squirrel from climbing down or jumping on to your bird feeder. Some squirrel baffles also work on small posts to keep the squirrel from climbing up. Even with a small thin metal post, a squirrel or other rodent can shimmy up the post. To stop them place a larger diameter tube around the post, such as a four to six inch p.v.c pipe about 4 feet tall, so they are unable to shimmy up. If using a wood post, wrapping some sheet metal around the post up near the bird feeder will also work. As good as squirrels climb they also can jump a good distance, so place the bird feeders in an open area where the squirrels cannot jump onto the feeder from a tree branch.

Another option is to give the squirrel a place of their own to feed, away from the bird feeders but where you can still enjoy them. A supply of black oil sunflower seed or peanuts is their preferred seed.

At some point in time a squirrel will visit your backyard feeders and there are two ways to deal with it, battle them or understand how they operate and use baffles on the feeders and maybe let them have their own space, so you can watch them and the birds and not lose the battle with the squirrels.

Happy birding!!

ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD - Written by Colin Bartlett

The first Christmas Bird Count record of an Anna’s Hummingbird in Nanaimo was in 1975. Since this time we have seen the population expand throughout many areas of Nanaimo, Cedar, Ladysmith, and Nanoose Bay, including higher elevations such as Westwood Lake and upper Lantzville during the winter. We also know of the Anna’s Hummingbird as far North as Alert Bay and Port McNeil area.

Last winter was hard on the Anna’s Hummingbird with all the snow and very cold temperatures but their abundance this past spring seems to shows that they survived the winter and the hardiness of such a small bird. A big part of their survival was the available sugar water provided by hummingbird feeders.

For feeding the hummingbirds just use regular white table sugar mixed with water at a ratio of one part sugar to three or four parts water. This mixture is good for the hummingbirds all winter and does not need to be increased when colder. Do not use honey as this could be fatal to the hummingbirds and red food colouring is also not necessary as there is red on the feeder to attract the hummingbird and they already know where the feeder is located. Change the sugar water every week and keep it fresh, even with the cooler temperatures the sugar water can go bad taking away a hummingbird’s source of energy on a cold day.

It is also good to bring your hummingbird feeder in at night so that the hummingbird will consume warm nectar in the morning keeping their body temperature up. If your feeder freezes have a second feeder available to replace it with while the other thaws out. To keep things really warm place your hummingbird feeder below a light bulb or heat lamp to keep it from freezing. During the real cold of winter it may also be necessary to remove the perches from your hummingbird feeder, as the movement of their wings or hovering will keep their body temperature up.

For hummingbirds to survive the cold winter nights they will find roosting place that is protected from the wind, rain and snow such as evergreen trees and shrubs or in a corner next to the window of a house and even in a greenhouse. The Anna’s need to find a good sheltered roost even though they have plenty of feathers they do not have any down feathers, so at night to conserve energy a hummingbird will go into a hypothermic stat known as torpor. This internal mechanism hummingbird will slow and lower their body temperature and metabolic rate so the hummingbird can conserve enough energy to survive the night and a little extra to start the morning.

Hummingbirds are fascinating creating and being able to observe them year round is quit a treat.

Good birding!

Colin Bartlett is a birder and proprietor of The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store,