{"id":2276,"date":"2024-03-19T12:39:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T16:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbannaturestore.blog\/?p=2276"},"modified":"2024-03-19T12:39:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T16:39:04","slug":"lets-do-a-little-extra-for-our-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/19\/lets-do-a-little-extra-for-our-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"LET\u2019S DO A LITTLE EXTRA FOR OUR BIRDS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The weather this winter has certainly been anything but normal.\u00a0 You may have noticed that some of our early migrators were even earlier than usual.\u00a0 I had my first red-winged blackbird on February 19th!\u00a0 Last year I didn\u2019t see, or hear them until March 6th.\u00a0 The grackles and cowbirds arrived shortly after.\u00a0 Some Robins will spend the winter with us if there is a sufficient amount of berries for them to dine on, but the ones who flew south are beginning to appear in our yards and gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spring officially arrives tomorrow, and the forecast for the next couple of weeks is going to be much more seasonal with cooler temperatures.\u00a0 So what can we do to help?\u00a0 Offering seed<\/a> for most of our songbirds is great, but how can we help the robins, thrashers, mockingbirds and other non-seed-eating birds?\u00a0 Even though I have included Robins in the group, I have seen them readily going to my fly-through and ground feeders for sunflower hearts.\u00a0 Offering fruits such as mashed bananas, cut up apples, seedless grapes, halved, and mealworms would certainly be inviting and appreciated.\u00a0 You can also add a few sunflower hearts<\/a> into the mix.\u00a0 This selection of goodies can be served in any kind of tray feeder.\u00a0 You can also continue to supplement their diet with this mix throughout the summer months!\u00a0 Fresh water is also important, so keep those bird baths <\/a>clean and refreshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aside from providing food and water, there are a few more important things to add to the list.\u00a0 Now is an ideal time to clean and maintain your feeders by washing them with a combination of vinegar or bleach, 1 part to 9 parts of hot water.\u00a0 You not only want to clean the inside of the feeder, but also the feeding portals, perches, roof, and while you\u2019re at it, give the pole or bracket a wipedown too.\u00a0 Make sure to rinse thoroughly and air dry before refilling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We have more bird strikes on windows during migration periods than any other time of the year.\u00a0 If you have ultra violet window alerts<\/a>, now is the time to replace them with new ones.\u00a0 Ultra violet alerts will fade after exposure to the sun.\u00a0 Changing these alerts before spring and fall migration will save many birds.\u00a0 Remember to put them on the outside of your windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can also put out nesting material for our feathered friends. If your lawns and gardens haven\u2019t been treated with pesticides, you can collect yard debris and add it to a suet feeder for the birds. Please do not add dryer lint as the chemicals from dryer sheets or laundry detergent aren’t safe for nestlings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With nothing to do but sit in the nest waiting for mom and dad to bring food, they will peck away at the nest.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring migration is like Christmas time for birders.  I hope you delight in sightings of all of the birds moving back into our neighbourhoods, and their delightful bird songs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Spring Birding!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jane Paradis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand Ambassador<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban Nature Store <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The weather this winter has certainly been anything but normal.\u00a0 You may have noticed that some of our early migrators were even earlier than usual.\u00a0 I had my first red-winged blackbird on February 19th!\u00a0 Last year I didn\u2019t see, or hear them until March 6th.\u00a0 The grackles and cowbirds arrived shortly after.\u00a0 Some Robins will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[48,26,60,61,21,76,30,17],"class_list":["post-2276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uns-birding-blog","tag-birdbath","tag-birdseeds","tag-birdwatching","tag-canadawildbirding","tag-janes-birds","tag-unsbirds","tag-unsblogs","tag-urbannaturestore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.mppdev.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}