Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Little Love for the Feathered Folk


I read recently that North American bird species have declined more than 50 % over the past 40 years. BirdLife International has a detailed article stating the reasons for the decline of birds and what the world as a whole needs to do to help.
The wonder of our wild birds is a joy for us all. Birds help control the insect population, help to fertilize and pollinate plant life and who can forget hearing the happy chirping of birds in the morning? The first thing that you can do to help your local birds is to set-up feeders.
We have a feeder on an upstairs balcony and outside on our living room balcony we have a bell shaped seed cluster inside a mesh bag. You can pick them up at local hardware or garden stores for a very reasonable $5. My son loves to watch the birds come to our balcony and the squirrels can't get at it because it is hung from the top. Mixtures of sunflower seeds, millet, cracked corn and suet are best. And you can enjoy the view and help local wildlife through the winter at same time.
*Please remember that windows can be lethal to birds, when light plays of the surface. Be aware of your window placement in relation to light during the day before you decide where to place your feeders.*

2 comments:

Suzie Ridler said...

Oh that is so sad they're disappearing! I like to make my own suet now and then and after a big snow I put out all my bread and leftover baked goodies with lots of wild sunflower seeds. I'm glad you're feeding them too. Poor little guys need all the help they can get!

Heather said...

I would love to set out a bird feeder, but our condo rules prohibit it. (There are too many pigeons around, and they do not want to encourage them to take up homes in our buildings.)