WHAT TO FEED

WHAT TO FEED

Written by Colin Bartlett

With fall now upon us, now is a good time to look at the type seed and feeders in the backyard to make sure they’re ready for winter. When it comes to bird seed there are many grains available on the market but there are only a few seeds that the birds really feed on. The preferred seeds are black oil sunflower seeds, white millet, hulled sunflower seed, peanut halves, nyjer, and cracked corn. By using bird seed that the birds prefer to feed on, it is easier to keep your feeding area cleaner and attract different species to your backyard. 

Many wild bird seed mixes are filled with extra seed such as wheat, oats, milo, and red millet to name a few and are considered filler seeds. These filler seeds are what the birds are sorting through to find the seeds that they prefer and provide the greatest nutritional value for them. The filler seed that is wasted creates extra work in cleaning and may attract unwanted guests.Providing individual seed types in separate feeders will help to keep things cleaner than a mixture as only the birds that prefer that seed will visit the feeder and feed with less sorting.

Black oil sunflower seed is the most common seed to use. It is high in protein providing energy for the birds, which about seventy percent of the bird will feed on. Even the little chickadees prefer the black oil sunflower seeds. Although the birds prefer black oil sunflower seeds they will make a bit of a mess. The reason, birds sort seeds by weight so they are looking for the heaviest seeds, as this will provide the most energy.

To provide a sunflower seed without the mess it is best to use a medium sunflower chip seed. This sunflower seed has no shell and makes very little mess. All birds feed on the hulled sunflower seed, but since it is a raw seed with no shell the bird feeder needs to have good protection from the weather to keep the seed dry.

Fall and winter is when we see many of the sparrow species visiting the feeders and is a good time to add white millet to the feeding station. Use the white millet seed in a hopper or tray style feeder and not a tube feeder, as these birds prefer to sit and feed on a platform than use a perch. The feeder should also have good coverage to protect the seed as it can clump easily when wet.

Peanut halves are high in protein and are best if they are blanched and skinless, as roasted peanuts reduce the nutritional value. Many birds feed on peanuts including the little chickadees and crush up a few peanuts for the towhees and juncos to enjoy.

Peanuts in the shell can used for the Steller’s Jay and squirrels as they like to use these to cache away for the winter.

Cracked corn is not a common seed for many birds but is preferred by the California Quail. It is best to use a ground feeder that is easy for the birds to feed on and keeps the area clean. Sparrows will feed on cracked corn but only after it has absorbed a bit of moisture, which softens to corn for easy digestion.

Providing the type of seed that birds prefer will provide you with a wide variety of birds to watch and plenty of activity in the backyard all winter.

Happy birding!!

Nanaimo bird report, August 27, 2017,

Nanaimo bird report”

Explore Nature ---Go Birding

To report your sightings call the birdstore at 250-390-3669 or e-mail
thebirdstore@shaw.ca

Please remember that when reporting a sighting leave your name and phone number with the date and location of the sighting.

Sunday Bird Walk, August 27 2017:

The Sunday bird walk went to the Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.  The morning was sunny with cool winds.  Wood Ducks, Green-wing Teal, Hooded Merganser and two Pied-billed Grebes were seen at the start of the walk. We had great views of a Cooper’s Hawk perched at the top of a conifer tree next to the trail. Two Cedar Waxwings were spotted at the top of a snag, giving us great looks.  A Western Tanager stopped at the top of a tree long enough to give us a good look at it.

Pied-billed Grebe: Ralph Hocken Photo.

Twenty-two birders including a visiting birder from Seattle saw and heard following twenty-nine species:

Canada Geese

Mallard,

Wood Duck

Green-wing Teal

Hooded Merganser

Pied-billed Grebe

Great Blue Heron,

Turkey Vulture,

Cooper’s Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Glaucous-winged Gull

Eurasian-collared Doves

Rock Doves

Tree Swallow
Northern Flicker

Anna’s Hummingbird

Orange-crowned Warbler

Cedar Waxwing

Northwestern Crow

Common Raven

California Quail

Chestnut-backed Chickadee,
Red-breasted Nuthatch

Marsh Wren

Western Tanager

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Purple Finch

American Goldfinch

House Finch

House Sparrow 

Western Tanager: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Wednesday August 23

A Great Horned Owl was seen at Neck Point Park on the trail near the last Beach. 

The Tuesday Birdwalks will resume on September 5, 2017.

The Sunday Birdwalk on September 03, 2017 will be going to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.  Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 a.m. or at end of Raines Road at about 9:30 a.m.

Good birding

Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD NATURE STORE

314 Metral Drive Nanaimo B.C.
V9T-2L8

Phone: 250-390-3669Fax: 250-390-1633 

Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca

Blog: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com

FALL AND THE STELLER’S JAY

FALL AND THE STELLER’S JAY

Written by Colin Bartlett

The first day of fall is this Friday September 22 and a sure sign that fall is in the air is the call of the Steller’s Jay which has begun to echo about the neighbourhoods. Usually we can expect to see jays visiting our backyards beginning as early as late August and in the past couple of week’s sightings of Steller’s Jays at backyard feeders have been reported. Just this past week I heard the jays around my neighbourhood in the hospital area and one has stopped by for a few peanuts.

The Steller’s Jay is not a Blue Jay, they are two different species. The Blue Jay is lighter in colour, and a little smaller than the Steller’s Jay. Also the Blue Jay is seen east of the Rocky Mountains and the Steller’s are seen only on the west side of the Rockies.

Usually you will here the Steller’s Jay before you see it and it is easy to identify a Steller’s Jay by their load call of shack-shack-shack but they are also good mimics of other bird’s calls. Other than identifying the Steller’s Jay by its call, you can identify it by beautiful deep blue on the back with a black head, chest and a large crest which can be raised and lowered at will. Just above the bill the Steller’s Jays on the island have a light blue marking compared to those on the mainland that have a white marking. As for size they are a little bigger than the American Robin at eleven inches and have a wing span of about seventeen inches.

Steller’s Jays can be one of those birds that you either love or hate. When they first return it is great to see a new species in the backyard but sometimes they can be a little too cheeky and pushy. According to the pecking order of birds, those who get to eat first, the jay’s rank high because of their size. To keep the jays from scaring off the other birds and from hoarding all the food, wrap your bird feeder with a 2x2 stucco mesh or chicken wire. It sometimes takes a little time for the smaller birds to get use to the wire around the feeder but they will be able to get through to the feeder and it will help deter the jays. Once you have done this place another feeder out away from the main feeder, giving the larger birds their own feeding area.

Jays feed on a wide variety of food from insects to small vertebrates, fir cones and other natural seeds depending on the region. As for the backyard bird feeders the Steller’s Jay prefers peanuts, whether in the shell or shelled, sunflower seeds and suet. They will also take table scraps but this is not recommended. Jays also hoard and cache away food for the winter just in case of rough times, and yes they do know where they have stored the seeds, but they do not need to use their cache of seeds when there is a steady supply of food at the bird feeder.   

Birds are energy efficient, and will weigh each shell and take only the ones that are heavy. To observe this place out six to ten peanuts in the shell for the Steller’s Jays along a deck railing or on a table and watch as the jays pick each peanut and checks the weight. They are looking for the heaviest peanuts, which should provide the biggest seeds and most nutrients. Although the jays will take the heaviest peanuts first, in the end they will take all the peanuts.

Last fall there were many reports about the disappearance of the jays were not to far away, they were up in the woods feeding on the bumper crop of natural seed last year. This year we will have to wait and see what the jays are up to and if we will see many around and for how long. Although the Steller’s Jay may seem to be a bit of a bully around the feeders they are a colourful bird to see and create a lot of activity around the backyard.

Good birding!!