Wing Haven Gardens

For the Birds!!!

Baby Birds
Often what we assume is an “orphaned” baby bird is not orphaned at all. Although a baby will occasionally jump from his nest before he can perfect his flying skills, his parents are usually quite aware of his eager anticipation to fly and will continue to feed and care for the baby even though he might be unable to get back into the nest. Other times a baby has just fledged from his nest and is simply accompanying his parent on the hunt for food. In this case, the parents may be nearby collecting food, or simply waiting for you to leave the area.

The best plan of action is to leave the baby bird alone and watch from a distance. If you feel the area is not safe or the parent has not returned for some time, you can try putting the bird on a safe perch off the ground. (The bird’s parents will not abandon the bird because you have touched it!)

A baby bird that has fallen from his nest looks quite different from one who appears to have been abandoned or lost. Nestlings have little or no feathers and may still have closed eyes. If you know which nest the bird fell from and feel that it is safe to return him to it, you can do so, carefully making sure not to startle the other babies who might still be there. Your scent will not keep the bird’s parent from caring for it! If you are unable to return the baby to the nest, or you are unsure as to which nest he came from, we suggest the following:

Place the nestling in a small box with some soft, warm materials (grasses, leaves, or shredded newspaper) and nail the box to a tree or hang it from a limb in the area where he was found. The box does not have to be very high -- the main goal is to get the nestling off the ground where he could become easy prey for cats, dogs or other animals. The baby will generally call out to its parents who will continue to care for him.

Bird Bath Maintenance
Water brings a great variety of birds to the garden, and, since birds use birdbaths for drinking and bathing, it is important to keep the water clean and free of chemicals. During the height of the summer, it may be necessary to check the water in the birdbath daily to insure that it is clean and plentiful. If your birdbath is near a feeder, you need to be sure to clean it often since bacteria may form on any seed shells that may fall in the water.

In most cases, you can use the strong flow of water from the garden hose to clean and refill them. At Wing Haven we swish the baths with a brush before refilling them with clean water. If it’s necessary to use something stronger, you may clean the bath with a clorox solution (10:1 water to clorox); however, be sure to rinse the bath thoroughly.

Don’t forget to keep your feeders clean, too. The 10% clorox solution works well for feeders. Or, try putting hummingbird feeders and other small feeders in the dishwasher on a light cycle.

Bird Feeding Tips

Bird Feeder Primer

Ground-feeding table. This screen-bottomed tray sits several inches off the ground. Place the feeder in an open location, at least 10 feet from the nearest shrub so that birds a chance to flee in the event of a cat attack. Doves, juncos, sparrows, towhees, goldfinches, and cardinals enjoy feeding at ground level.
Sunflower-seed tube feeders. If you are going to put out just one feeder, this is the best choice. Be sure to select one with metal ports around the seed dispensers to protect it from nibbling squirrels. Hang the feeder at least five feet off the ground and near a window so you can enjoy the visitors. These feeders are especially attractive to small birds such as chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, goldfinches, and purple and house finches.
Suet Feeder. Suet is readily eaten by titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. In addition, wrens, creepers, and warblers occasionally pick at these mixes. You can hang suet chunks from a tree in an onion bag or a half-inch hardware-cloth basket or in a more durable cage feeder. Avoid feeding suet when temperatures climb into the 80-degree range; it turns rancid and drippy and may damage feathers.
Hopper Feeder. Hopper feeders provide dry storage for several pounds of mixed seed and should be placed on a pole about five feet off the ground. Hopper feeders attract all of the species tube feeders attract, as well as such larger birds as jays, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and cardinals.
Thistle Feeder. Especially designed to dispense niger or thistle seed, these feeders have tiny holes that make the seed available only to small-beaked finches such as goldfinches, redpolls, and pine siskins. Thistle-seed-dispensing bags are not recommended, since squirrels can easily tear holes in them and waste this expensive seed.

What's on the Menu

Black-oil Sunflower seed is the preferred seed of many small feeder birds; it attracts jays, red-bellied woodpeckers, finches, goldfinches, northern cardinals, evening grosbeaks, pine grosbeaks, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and grackles. (Squirrels also find these seeds irresistible!)
Millet is the favorite food of most small-beaked ground-feeding birds; millet attracts quail, doves, juncos, sparrows, towhees, cowbirds, and red-winged blackbirds.
Cracked corn is about as popular with ground-feeding birds as millet, but it is vulnerable to rot, since the interior of the kernel readily soaks up moisture. Feed small amounts, mixed with millet, on feeding tables or from watertight hopper feeders. Avoid fine cracked corn, since it quickly turns to mush; coarse cracked corn is too large for small-beaked birds. Cracked corn attracts pheasants, quail, doves, crows, jays, sparrows, juncos, and towhees.
Milo, wheat, oats are frequently mixed into low-priced birdseed blends. Most birds discard them in favor of other food, which leaves them to accumulate under feeders, where they attract rodents. Milo attracts quail and doves.
Thistle (niger) is the preferred food of American goldfinches, lesser goldfinches, house finches, and common redpolls. Niger works best in special thistle-seed feeders with small holes that restrict the flow of the tiny black seeds. The best feeders have holes below the perches to permit feeding by goldfinches, which can hang upside down and excludes grackles and other less desirable birds.
Suet, Whole or Crushed Peanuts and Peanut butter-cornmeal mixes attract woodpeckers, jays, chickadees, titmice, bushtits, nuthatches, brown creepers, wrens, kinglets, northern mockingbirds, brown thrashers, starlings, and yellow-rumped and pine warblers. Birds especially appreciate these high-energy foods when the weather is cold. Some worry that birds will choke on sticky peanut butter. Although there’s no evidence that they do, we can eliminate any risk by mixing it with corn meal or oatmeal. Plain beef suet is an excellent high-energy food; however, it can quickly become rancid in warm weather. Many of the commercial suet cakes and dough's can be used in our climate and are available in most stores that sell bird-feeding supplies. Or make your own—see the recipe below.
Fruits. Robins, thrushes and waxwings don’t usually show up at feeders because seeds are not a major component of their diets, but we can tempt them with fruit. Soften dried raisins and currents by soaking them in water before offering them at the feeding station. Mockingbirds, tanagers and orioles are attracted to sliced fresh fruit. Fruit can be placed on a platform feeder or simply on a plate on the ground.
Leftovers. Many people throw out scraps of stale bread, cake or doughnuts for the birds. Although there’s nothing wrong with this, be sure that the food is not moldy. Table scraps can attract starlings, house sparrows, rats and raccoons.

A Favorite Recipe: Peanut Butter Cake for the Birds
This is the perfect winter treat for insect-loving birds—keep in mind that the squirrels love it too!

28 oz jar peanut butter (preferably crunchy)
½ cup vegetable oil
3+ cups dry oatmeal
3+ cups dry corn meal

Melt peanut butter in saucepan. Mix in oil while heating. Remove from stove and mix in oatmeal and corn meal. The mixture should be like a thick batter and smells delicious.

Spoon onto wax paper squares (2 heaping tablespoons/square). Fold wax paper around in a square and place in freezer.

Makes about 8 freezer cakes to be placed in wire suet baskets. This mixture is ideal for cold days in winter—and, unlike suet mixtures, won’t become rancid on our warm winter days.

A Few Tips

To attract birds to a new feeder, try placing seed below the food station on aluminum foil. The shine from the foil will draw the birds to the new seed source.
Black-oil sunflower seeds possess thinner shells and a higher percentage of fat content per weight as compared to the larger striped sunflower seeds. The black-oil seeds area better bargain for the birds.

Grow your own Birdfeeders!

Bee-balm, trumpet honeysuckle, and trumpet creeper. These red tubular flowers are among the hummers’ favorites. Although they feed at flowers of other hues, they instinctively explore red blossoms first.
Petunias, impatiens, and fuschias. Bring hummingbirds to your doorstep or porch with a hanging basket or pot of blossoms. Old-fashoined, single-flowered varieties offer more nectar thana hybrids bred for impressive size.
Redbud and fruit trees. House finches and goldfinches like to eat redbud and fruit tree petals in the spring.
Coneflowers. Purple coneflowers attract many colorful creatures. Butterflies and hummingbirds enjoy the nectar from their fresh flowers, and the goldfinches arrive after the petals have faded to devour their tasty seeds.
Sunflowers. A host of species feed on oil-rich sunflower seeds, and you can choose a cultivar to fit your space.
Daisies. From asters to zinnias, flowers in the daisy family provide great summer color plus winter food for sparrows, juncos, finches and cardinals. Options include New England asters, black-eyed susans, coreopsis, cosmos, gaillardias and zinnias. Don’t deadhead them—allow them to remain until the birds have gleaned the seeds!

Fall

What Fall Means to the Birds
(From Songbirds in your Garden by John K. Terres)

In fall, food and cover gradually decline. Berries are eaten up by birds or fall to the ground. Leaves fall and the range of shelter for birds shrinks. Insects die from frosts or hibernate in the ground and in other places inaccessible to many birds. Weather gets colder and the days get shorter, which means that birds have less time to hunt for food than during the long summer days. Here is what birds especially need in fall:

Food: They look for the fleshy fruits and seeds that persist on plants above the snows of early winter. This is a good time to plant many kinds of trees, shrubs, and vines.
Shelter: Pines, spruces, and other evergreens become increasingly important to birds, for shelter against the cold and storms of early winter. Bird nesting boxes and roosting boxes will help. Fall is the best time to put them up because the bird nesting boxes, if weathered, may be more acceptable to birds the next spring.
Water: Keep birdbaths thawed and fill them with fresh water daily.

Fall Migration

Watch for the changes that fall brings to the bird population in your garden.

By mid October the White-throated sparrow will have settled in, and our cheerful catbirds will depart until next spring.
Watch the weather report. Birds like to fly ahead of cold fronts because they can take advantage of the tailwind to make their journey faster and easier. When the cold fronts come through, chances are that your yard will be teeming with birds the following day.
Keep an eye on the sky. Remember to look up. Although many migrating birds won’t land in your yard, you may spot some exciting birds in flight.
Keep an eye on any berries or fruits in your yard. They’re the perfect foods for birds passing through.
Watch for changes in plumage—male goldfinches lose their brilliant color and switch to winter drab, and “stars” will appear on the tips of starlings’ feathers.
Keep your hummingbird feeders up until freezing temperatures threaten; more than one late migrant has been saved by a forgotten feeder.
You may see a lot of activity at your feeder as cold weather approaches. Now’s the time to clean your feeders and stock up on birdseed.
Fresh water is always important. Don’t forget to keep the birdbath full.

Garden Makeover

You can make your yard a haven for wildlife, too. Visit the Audubon website (http://magazine.audubon.org) for articles and advice on everything from butterfly gardens to bird feeders to ponds.

Hummingbirds

Sugar Water for Hummingbirds
If you are just beginning to attract hummingbirds, it is best to use the rich solution of one-part sugar to two-parts water because hummingbirds prefer the sweeter mixtures. After mixing the sugar and water, boil it for several minutes. This will help to slow fermentation after the syrup is put outside in the feeder. After filling the feeders, the extra quantity may be safely stored in your refrigerator.

Once hummingbirds are coming to your feeders, dilute the solution to one-part sugar to four-parts water. The rich solutions of sugar water can cause enlargement of the liver with harmful effects.

Hummingbird feeders
Many people fear that leaving nectar feeders out in the fall will make hummingbirds delay their migration to Central America. In fact, fall is the time of year when birds need food the most, to fuel up for their journey.

While decreasing natural food supplies are one sign that it is time to migrate, birds also take their cues from weather and shorter daylight hours. It is also important to realize that feeder birds, even your regular visitors, get food from lots of sources. Hummingbirds regularly munch on insects and spiders and visit a large variety of flowers, in addition to your feeder.

So, go ahead and leave your feeder up as long as the birds are visiting! A good rule of thumb is to take the feeder down when you have not seen any hummingbirds for 10 days. Remember to thoroughly clean the feeder and refill with fresh nectar every 3-4 days, even if the decreasing number of visitors means the feeder is not empty, and wish your last visitors well as they depart for warmer countries.

Hummingbird Heaven
Ever wish that your yard were a haven for hummers? Start planning and planting now, and, by next summer, your garden may be a hummingbird heaven…

Choose a spot. Your hummingbird garden need not be large—a window box or hanging basket will do. You’ll probably want to choose a location near a window or deck so that you’ll be able to enjoy them.
Think vertically. Use trellises, trees or other structures to support climbers. Add window boxes, hanging baskets, or pots to provide additional growing places.
Go native. Our native plants and local hummingbird species have a long association. A few southeastern natives include the cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), coral bells (Heuchera americana), red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), and cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit).
Go for the red. Choose red, tubular flowers. Hummers are also attracted to orange, blue and pink flowers but find yellow and white less attractive. (Fragrant flowers are not usually a good source of nectar for hummingbirds.)
Plant in masses. Plant groups of the same species (3 or more plants) to provide large quantities of nectar.
Help them feather their nests. Hummingbirds usually line their nests with soft plant fibers so include some fuzzy plants—pussy willows, cinnamon ferns, dandelions, and thistle can provide nest-building materials.
Keep them clean. Like most birds, hummers like to bathe in shallow water—even in the drops that collect on leaves.
Plant a tree. Hummingbirds often use trees for perching and nesting. If there are no trees nearby and you have no space in which to plant one, use a dead branch with small twigs—remember, hummers have tiny toes.
Stay away from insecticides. Hummingbirds can ingest poisons when they eat insects.
Be persistent. It may take a while for the hummers to discover your garden of luscious, red flowers. However, once they do, they are likely to stick around and will usually return the following year.

Hummingbird Plants
Although there is a wide range of plants that gardeners can use to attract hummingbirds, the following plants were selected for the “top ten” by Operation Rubythroat, an international project studying the behavior and distribution of the ruby-throated hummingbird. All ten plants occur naturally within its breeding range.

Trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans)
Bee balm (Monarda didyma)
Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
Red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Canada lily (Lilium canadense)
Indian pink (Spigelia marilandica)
Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia)
Rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense)

Injured Birds
Birds become injured for many reasons – window collisions, confrontations with animals and vehicles, or illness just to name a few. If you find an injured bird, we suggest the following:

First, determine if the bird is able to fly. If it is, leave it alone.
If it appears to be stunned from a collision with a window, assess the area for danger. If you feel the area is unsafe, move it to an area where it can rest and recover.
Should the bird require more specialized care as a result of a broken wing or other visible injury, place the bird in a small, enclosed box with soft material inside. Do not attempt to feed or give water to an injured bird. Contact Wing Haven (704/331-0664), the SPCA or the Audubon Society for a referral to a licensed rehabilitator.

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to be in possession of any type of wildlife if you are not a licensed rehabilitator. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the birds in your area, contact Wing Haven for more information.

Nesting Boxes
Late fall is the best time of year to mount new nest boxes and clean out the old ones. To clean an existing nest box, dispose of the old nesting materials and wash the house with a mixture of ½ cup baking soda in one gallon hot water. Next spray the interior with white vinegar. It’s best to clean out your nest boxes early in the day so that they’ll be dry and back in place by nightfall. Always wear gloves when doing this chore.

If you’re in the market for a new nest box, you may want to consider the following as you construct or shop for a home for the bluebirds, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches or wrens that frequent your backyard.

Nest boxes should be constructed of wood at least ¾-inch thick to insulate the interior from cold and mid-summer heat. Be sure to avoid treated lumber.
Look for nest boxes that are assembled with galvanized or brass screws.
A roof that extends at least 4 inches beyond the front of the box will keep out the rain and predators that might reach the roof.
The floor should have several quarter-inch drain holes to prevent flooding in the event that water does get in the box.
There should be ventilation holes or slots near the top of the box to permit warm air to escape on hot summer days.
The interior of the box should be unpainted—earth tone paints or stains on the exterior are OK.
Nest boxes must be able to be opened for periodic cleaning and monitoring.
All nest boxes should be protected with a predator baffle—it’s better to have one or two successful boxes than 10 that will be raided by predators!
Nest boxes should not have a perch. Perches give House Sparrows a place from which to defend the nest box and keep other more desirable species away. (House Sparrows are a major threat to bluebirds and other cavity-nesters. These exotic pests destroy eggs and kill the young and adults of our native species.)

These tips are the recommendations of Scott Shalaway. To learn more, consult A Guide to Bird Homes and Building a Backyard Bird Habitat by Dr. Shalaway.