December 26, 2023 • 19 mins
There is no harder time for birds than trying to survive in the harsh, bleak and cold conditions winter can bring - and there is no better way to help them through it than by feeding them on a regular basis!
Winter is extremely tough on birds that do not migrate to warmer areas. Not only can it be hard to find adequate shelter from the cold and precipitation, they have to be wary of predators that are hungry for food sources as well.
Today's podcast from Jim and Mary centers on the best way to feed and help birds have the food and protection they need to make it through the cold, harsh winter - and have them ready to help you and your garden next year by controlling insects and consuming thousands of weed seeds too!
Winter is extremely tough on birds that do not migrate to warmer areas. Not only can it be hard to find adequate shelter from the cold and precipitation, they have to be wary of predators that are hungry for food sources as well.
Today's podcast from Jim and Mary centers on the best way to feed and help birds have the food and protection they need to make it through the cold, harsh winter - and have them ready to help you and your garden next year by controlling insects and consuming thousands of weed seeds too!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the Simple garden Life Podcast, a program dedicated to keeping the yart
of gardening simple, fun and alwaysrewarding. Now Here are your hosts,
Jim and Mary Competti. Hello andwelcome everybody to the Simple garden Life Podcast.
I am Jim competting along with mywife Mary, Mary. How are
you doing today? I'm doing great? How about you? I cannot believe
(00:22):
it, but this is our lastpodcast of our third season. Been crazy
that we've been doing this now forthree years and really looking forward to the
fourth season next year. We havesome great new topics coming out, all
kinds of things about starting seeds andgrowing you know, vegetables and flowers,
just a little bit more of whatwe've been doing in the last three years.
Right. We absolutely love talking aboutgardening, but there's some other topics
(00:44):
that we like talking about as well. Yeah, there are, and you
know, especially in the winter time, we talk about birds. Bird articles
on our sites always seem to doreally well, and that's because so many
people and gardeners, you know,love to feed birds and they know the
benefits birds can bring, that's right, from help to pollinate flowers vegetables to
eating insects. Birds are really beneficialto everybody. Oh yeah, absolutely.
(01:07):
I mean they can help control mosquitos, they can help control ticks, and
as you said, you know hummingbirds. There's so many birds that do
so many great things for garters.It's a little wonder that they love to
take care of them. And there'sno better time to help birds than in
the winter when they can really struggle, especially you know, birds that for
some reason won't choose to fly southmigrate. Yeah, so there is a
(01:30):
portion of birds and you know itwhen you look outside that decide, you
know, to stay where they're at, and those birds can struggle. You
know, you have cardinals and bluejays and that. The list can go
on and on. But in thewinter time. We often hear this whenever
we put an article out. Sometimesyou'll always get one comment back. It's
like, I don't know why wehave to help birds or animals. They've
been doing this their entire lives.They should, you know, for centuries,
(01:53):
and they don't need help. Theproblem is the birds don't live in
the same environment in a lot ofcommunities that they used to live in thousands
of years ago, right where thereused to be lots of trees, forest
protection. There are now homes,streets and cars, and a lot less
chances for food and a lot morechances that a hungry eagle or a hungry
hawk can find them. So theydo need help, and it can be
(02:14):
a struggle, especially during bad winters. And that's why feeding you know,
birds in the winter time is probablymore important. It is more important than
any other time of the year.You know, in the spring, summer,
and fall, they have access toall kinds of insects, all kinds
of food, nuts, berries.In the wintertime, those disappear, right.
They're very hard to find under especiallysnow blanketed areas. You know,
(02:35):
they don't have the protection. Theyhave to be out there so other animals
can see them. So it's avery dangerous time for birds. Yeah,
and then to take matters into theirhands, you know, Unlike squirrels who
can store some food away for themselves, birds don't do that. They can't
do that. So they wake upevery morning with one thing in mind,
survival. And that means they haveto find enough to eat to keep their
(02:58):
bodies warm, and then they haveto fill themselves up enough to keep their
bodies warm overnight. And when youtalk about expending energy. Birds most species
will burn more energy in the winterthan they do in the summer months,
because they're just trying to stay warm, you know, and they don't have
that ability in the wintertime. So, you know, I think we've established
why feeding them as important. Butalso there's the joy and the fun of
(03:20):
it. For a lot of gardeners, I know, we're the same way.
There's something special about looking out onthat barren landscape and seeing your bird
feeder filled with cardinals or blue jaysor you know. They add a little
bit of life to winter. Absolutely, and you'll see all windows across America
or even around the world to havebird feeders out there, even if you're
not a gardener. Everybody likes tosee the birds coming and you know,
feeding off the feed that they getin the bird feeders. Oh absolutely,
(03:44):
So let's cover that. That's whatwe're going to talk about today, is
the best way to help feed birdsin the winter and help them stay alive
so that they're around next spring tohelp out. And you know, as
we always say, you know,we'll have all of our notes on simple
Garden Life on the article. Youcan always find it on the site.
You feel free to email us atthe farm at ow garden dot com if
you have any questions or suggestions.We still have some open slots next year
(04:08):
for some podcast titles, so alwaysfeel free to drop us a line.
We love being able to do this. And today's topic we'll get into now,
which is how to feed these birdsand keep them alive until next spring.
All right, Mary, We willcover you know, some of the
extra things a little bit later,but let's start off with talking about you
(04:29):
know, what feeds and seeds aremost important and are the best to feed
birds, because that is really thebest way to help them out. Absolutely,
there's all types of products. I'llthe market of what type of bird
seed, bird feed, but they'rereally anything that is a high calorie,
high fat bird feed is the best. Yeah, you're looking for things that
are going to give them a quickboost of energy that they can eat and
(04:53):
it's going to power them up.And there's some of the best of the
best. And really when it comesto number one on the list, and
we talk about this sunflower seeds,but a special variety which are black oil.
Sunflower seeds black oil are just loadedwith fat. They're the most nutritious
of all sunflower seeds, and theyexactly let they sound. They're that dark
(05:13):
black sunflower. You can find themin twenty five pound bags. We'll have
some links on the side if youneed to buy them online, but they're
usually in local feed stores. Youknow, they double the calorie content of
a traditional sunflower most seeds. Nowpeople say, well, should I not
be feeding them regular sunflower seeds?They are still extremely nutritious, right,
It just happens to be that theblack oil sunflower seed has double the calories
(05:35):
that a typical stripe sunflower seed has. Absolutely, and you just want to
make sure that they're included in yourfeeds. So we're going to go through
these feeds and people always ask,well, should I just feed them that?
And the answer to that is no. You want to have, you
know, a variety. First ofall, different birds prover different things.
But the more variety, it's justlike a human diet. You know,
if you eat all, you know, oranges every day, that may be
(05:58):
great invited and seeing anything else,but it's not going to give you everything
you need. So you want tohave a little variety, right, You
need a more complex diet. Sobeyond black oil sunflower seeds, next on
that list, believe or not,or something that everybody enjoys usually are peanuts.
Peanuts another think about the oil thatare in peanuts. You can open
up a peanut butter jar and yousee that oil right on top right now.
Again, also high calorie, highfat, it is, it is,
(06:20):
and so different things for different birdsthough. So if you have blue
jays, blue jays are notorious forabsolutely loving peanuts. Unfortunately, blue jay's
and we have an article on this, can sometimes get a little bit aggressive
in protecting that food source from otherbirds. So blue jays love whole peanuts,
and so if you can get likewhat they call them blue jay feeders
(06:41):
or sock feeders and fill them withpeanuts and put them in another location,
they'll tend to go there. Theylove cracking them open and eating them.
And then for your other birds inyour feeds, if you can mix some
peanut pieces whole peanuts cracked peanuts,that makes them go a little bit longer.
But either way, you're giving allof those birds a lot of food
and a lot of high energy,high fat, which is exactly what the
(07:04):
end of needs. So we've talkedabout sunflower seeds and black oil is the
best peanuts now that the peanuts arecan being left in the shell. Oh
absolutely, for the For the bluejays, it's perfect and most birds will
still get them. But like Isaid, sometimes it's nice with them in
the winter to put them in aseparate area, so you're getting those blue
jays a little bit farther away.So the third one, and this is
a really good one, but anotherone that you don't want to use just
(07:25):
by itself, but crackcorn. Youknow, crack corn is good for a
lot of reasons. First of all, it's great on your budget. It's
one of the cheaper bird feeds thatyou can use. You know, a
lot of people feed it to theirchickens. We have for years and why
because it gives them that big boostof energy and help keep them warm in
the winter. Does the same thingfor birds. Not quite as much as
(07:48):
the sunflower seeds and the peanuts,but pretty high source. But when you
count in that, it is prettycaloric and that has a lot of carbs
and it can help them and thenyou're not pain as much. It's a
nice feed to mix in there,right, And this is a good you
know, like you said, it'sgood to have a mixture of all three
of the black oil, sunflower seeds, the peanuts, and the crack corn,
(08:09):
because you do want to attract differentvarieties of birds and try to feed
everybody that you can during the winter. Yeah, it's really true. So
I'll tell you what those are.Some three we call them the big three,
I guess, and the really threemains. We're going to come back.
We're going to take a quick breakand we're going to talk about some
other things to supplement in there thatcan really help. And then also we're
going to talk about helping them outwith something that people forget about in the
(08:30):
winter, which is how important wateris still to birds. You know,
in fact, it's more important.It helps you know, they have to
be hydrated in order to be ableto eat the food and burn the energy.
So we'll cover those and ways tohelp them right after this, and
we are back talking about birds andfeeding them and keeping them alive. And
you know, we covered the mainfeeds that you want to have in that
(08:52):
feed er. You know, sunflowerseeds, the black oil, the best
crackcorn, and then peanuts. Thoseare all good. Any type of nuts
they're going to love. But supplementingthe feeds is an important way it keeps
just think about again humans, youknow, we like to have something a
little bit different now and then.Yeah, so for birds, one of
the things they love in the summertimeobviously are the berries and the nuts.
(09:15):
And there are some berries available inthe winter, you know, bushes,
you'll see them a lot of timesthey're dried, but as the winter goes
on, there's less and less andless available. So that's something you can
really put in, whether it's driedfruit, dried fruit pieces, mix that
into your feed. They absolutely lovethat same thing with nuts. Those are
two of the best, right andyou know, having that variety and that
mixture can give them a boost ofenergy, but it helps them survive through
(09:39):
the winter, which is so important. And you know, instead of just
putting everything in a bird feeder,you can also it's beneficial to scatter some
on the ground as well. Thereare ground feeding birds and that is a
great point it kind of especially whenfeeders can get busy in the winter time.
It gives multiple places for the birdsto be able to feed, and
there are some birds that prefer bedown, especially if there tends to be
(10:01):
a few aggressive birds up top andit does help, You're right, especially
when you get snowpack. It canbe on top and give them something right,
and birds naturally will scrape some downand drop them on the ground,
So that helps. But when youfirst fill your bird feeder, scattering you
know a handful or two below itis going to be beneficial as well.
Yeah, absolutely, So you knowyou get past that and you think about
(10:22):
it. The next best thing,well, I shouldn't see the next It's
actually a great thing is sue it. And a lot of people love you
know. You see the sew itblocks, you'll see them store. Sometimes
they'll have the seeds cover them.They put them in the shapes of cakes,
yeah, bells, or they're verynice. But they are such a
vital source of nutrients for birds.You know, you can actually make your
own at home. We actually havean article on Simple Garden Life on how
(10:46):
to make your own sewet blocks.If you just go to the search bar
and type in sue it, it'llbe right there. But boy, all
it is is a rendered fat andthen a bunch of food bird seed.
It might be the sun our seeds. It might be cracked corn, it
might be dried fruits. All gelledinto that. They're much better to use
(11:07):
in the in the cold months,the winter months, because they do go
bad quite quickly from the heat.So a lot of people do not feed
in the winter or excuse me,in the summer with those. But ah,
the birds absolutely love them. It'sit's a huge energy source for them.
Yeah, we actually used to makeour own with the kids when they
were little. We just take pinecones and we'd slather peanut butter between there
and then dalse them in the seedsand hang them out on the trees.
(11:30):
It's a great way and I'm gladyou brought that up because you know,
you can use your imagination when you'refeeding birds. It doesn't have to be
a purchase suet block, it doesn'thave to be a bird feeder. You
can make your own tray feeders,you can make your own sew it.
The peanut butter example is fantastic,and take pine cones or just a great
vessel and you can hang them andthen you can, like you said,
sprinkle them with other types of nutsor just the peanut butter. Trust me,
(11:52):
they're going to like that as well. But it's just a great way
to keep the birds So we've talkedabout some of the best foods of all
and those really are the cream ofthe crop. And you can purchase seeds
with that mixture in there, ora portion of that mixture. But just
when you're when you're looking for winterfeeds and you're looking at specific products,
just look out for the fillers.You know, so many times there's so
(12:13):
many fillers throwing it there are justof no value. And if you see
at the end of a week inthe winter time especially, there's a bunch
of leftover stuff underneath your feeder,that's that's filler, and they're not going
to eat it, and you're payingfor that and they're not eating it.
So that's why making your own ormixing some of your own with some of
these great seeds can really go along way. Right, And again,
look for a high calorie, highfat seed nuts on berries and just like
(12:35):
people, you know, that's ourcomfort food in the wintertime. Yep is
it is? So all right,So we've talked about the feed. Now
let's get into that water subject.And Mary, I think we had a
question that probably leads right into thatperfectly our question of the week this week,
right, it comes from Karen fromTraverse City, Michigan. She asked,
I know water is important for birds, but I can't keep my bird
(12:56):
bathroom freezing over in the winter.That would be a problem Michigan. Yeah,
do you have any suggestions for howI can keep fresh water available?
Yeah, well, Michigan, it'sa problem in a while too. Yeah,
it does get cold. So acouple things here. A great,
great, great question, Karen.By the way, so a lot of
people don't even leave their bird bathsout. They might be stone, they
might be very worried about them crackingfrom that ice. There's a couple solutions.
(13:18):
But also I want to explain somethingabout birds that a lot of people
don't realize. In the winter,Let's first talk about the bird bath.
If it can handle being outside andit freezes over, it's still important.
We'll cover that in one second.But if you really want to, there
are bird bath heaters. If youhave the ability to have something plugged in
that you can put it in thereand it'll keep that water through the coldest
(13:41):
temperatures, keeps it fresh. Theycan come down and get it, they
can still use it. A lotof people do that. There's actually just
electric ones you can put on yourdeck that can hold water. However,
and this is important, understand thatbirds can still get hydration from frozen water.
You know, they will come down, they will peck at it.
They will you know, chickenis aregreat for this. They're gonna take it
(14:03):
right off. They're gonna take thesnow they're gonna get, so don't worry
as much. However, it's niceto have some type of a source of
water out there. So even ifyou have to bring your bird feeder in,
take a pail out there and itmay freeze over, but they're still
going to be able to get somehydration from it until it freezes in after
it freezes too. But water isextremely important. If they don't have access
(14:24):
to it, they're gonna struggle.Right. We get the question a lot
too of should I put warm waterout or cold water? You know what,
just put out normal normal cold water. You don't have to heat it.
It's not actually good for them,just just normal water. It's going
to freeze a little bit. Again, they can still get hydration from the
frozen water. If you have alot of snowpack on the ground. Don't
worry. They're getting their water rightthere there. You know, they're taking
(14:46):
that snow in it and doing it. So that's that's really good from from
the standpoint of water. Now let'stalk about you know, the shelter.
So birds other than chickadees. Chickadeeswill believe it or not, find bird
houses in the winter and use them. The whole has to be like an
inch and a quarter to an inchand at eight they'll use it. And
(15:07):
chickeny's crazy, it sounds they'll storesome food in there too if they can.
Yes, squirrels and other things kindof find that out at the points,
but they will use that. Soyou know, if you have a
couple of small houses, leave themout, that's fine, but it's where
you locate them. And it's alsothe things that you can do other than
birdhouses that can really help birds.Biggest thing of all is like ornamental grasses,
(15:31):
perennial bushes, things, thickets.Those if they can at all be
left up over the winter, willdo more to help your birds than anything
else. Yeah, they'll use thatas a shelter absolutely. You know,
they're looking for a place at nightin the middle day to stay stay warm
and to stay safe, stay hiddenfrom other predators. Yeah, I mean,
you know, there's nothing that sticksout like a small bird with a
(15:52):
snow background to a hawk, andyou know, it's this whole thing of
nature. I mean, you can'tblame the hawk hungry too, and he's
looking for his food. But ifyou're trying to help these birds out and
you have your feeders right out inthe middle of the open, it's it's
putting them at risk too. Soyeah, you have to think about that.
And you talked about the grasses,and those are huge because if you
(16:12):
can keep them up, not onlydoes it give them the shelter at night
where they can hide out and staya little bit warmer and give them a
wind break, it also protects themfrom predators and so very very big and
very key to do that. Asfar as additional houses for other birds,
we've had that ask before and they'renot going to use them. You know,
they're going to find nature as theirbest best way to kind of stay
(16:33):
safe. So that's where it's reallyimportant. And then last, but not
least, I just want to kindof cover this people ask about and we've
done several articles on this about youknow, the beloved squirrel who also he
also likes the nuts and seeds.Yes, we have a walk that Mary
and I take every day in thewinter time and we pass a bird feeder
that's up on a window sill abouttwo feet from a tree, second story
(16:56):
windows, second story windows still andwe laugh because every single day the same
squirrels up. They're just going totown. He's like, I love this,
you know, and you have tobe caroling. Yes, they're going
to take some feed. But thereare ways to help here, you know,
locating your if you if you havea feeder that you're trying to put
them in, putting a squirrel baffle, which is basically an upside down cone,
(17:17):
and as long as your pulls fiveand a half to six feet tall
your bird feeder, they're not goingto be able to spring up to that
and get underneath it. That's agreat way to protect it. Now,
there are some Houdini squirrels that cannavigate it, but to help protect most
of them, Yeah, and youcan get squirrel proof feeders. But again,
the word squirrel proof is kind offunny to me because there are some
amazing squirrels that even find their wayinto those. It helps you know,
(17:40):
what the best way to protect yourbird feed and it's very easy to do
and it sounds crazy. Is ifyou have a little cayenne pepper, you
know, when you get your birdseed, mix that in. It's really
crazy. But you know, tous and to mammals, heat the CAPSI
in there hurts and you know it'sa little hot on the tongue and squirrels
don't like that. Crazy as itsounds, it doesn't affect the birds in
(18:03):
the least. So you you know, mix a little in there. They
even make hot pepper bird foods.If squirrels are a real issue for you,
that is the answer they I know, but it's not. It doesn't
hurt anybody, even makes the squirrelsgo away a little bit. So hey,
there's some of our favorite winter tipsfor birds. And like I said,
you know, this is the lastof our season three. We're really
(18:26):
excited for next year as well.We have a lot of fun doing this
and love hearing your comments and suggestions. So again, you can email us
at the farm at Old World Gardenor excuse me, the farm at ow
Garden and just you know, reachout to us and let us know what
you're thinking. We love to hearfrom you. Mary. This has been
a great season. I'm really rewarding, exciting. We've got a lot of
(18:47):
new followers and a lot of greattopics for next year. Absolutely all right,
I think it's time remember whatever youdo, find the fun and gardening
and grow something beautiful. Happy guardeningeveryone. We hope you've enjoyed this episode.
Subscribe to the Simple Garden podcast oniTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or most of your favorite podcast apps. You can also head over to simplegardenlife
dot com where you can listen andread all of the show notes to every
(19:08):
episode. And if you have anyquestions, any ideas for show topics,
or if you want to share yourfavorite garden tip, email us at the
farm at owgarden dot com. Untilnext time, Thanks everyone,
Welcome to the Simple garden Life Podcast, a program dedicated to keeping the yart
of gardening simple, fun and alwaysrewarding. Now Here are your hosts,
Jim and Mary Competti. Hello andwelcome everybody to the Simple garden Life Podcast.
I am Jim competting along with mywife Mary, Mary. How are
you doing today? I'm doing great? How about you? I cannot believe
(00:22):
it, but this is our lastpodcast of our third season. Been crazy
that we've been doing this now forthree years and really looking forward to the
fourth season next year. We havesome great new topics coming out, all
kinds of things about starting seeds andgrowing you know, vegetables and flowers,
just a little bit more of whatwe've been doing in the last three years.
Right. We absolutely love talking aboutgardening, but there's some other topics
(00:44):
that we like talking about as well. Yeah, there are, and you
know, especially in the winter time, we talk about birds. Bird articles
on our sites always seem to doreally well, and that's because so many
people and gardeners, you know,love to feed birds and they know the
benefits birds can bring, that's right, from help to pollinate flowers vegetables to
eating insects. Birds are really beneficialto everybody. Oh yeah, absolutely.
(01:07):
I mean they can help control mosquitos, they can help control ticks, and
as you said, you know hummingbirds. There's so many birds that do
so many great things for garters.It's a little wonder that they love to
take care of them. And there'sno better time to help birds than in
the winter when they can really struggle, especially you know, birds that for
some reason won't choose to fly southmigrate. Yeah, so there is a
(01:30):
portion of birds and you know itwhen you look outside that decide, you
know, to stay where they're at, and those birds can struggle. You
know, you have cardinals and bluejays and that. The list can go
on and on. But in thewinter time. We often hear this whenever
we put an article out. Sometimesyou'll always get one comment back. It's
like, I don't know why wehave to help birds or animals. They've
been doing this their entire lives.They should, you know, for centuries,
(01:53):
and they don't need help. Theproblem is the birds don't live in
the same environment in a lot ofcommunities that they used to live in thousands
of years ago, right where thereused to be lots of trees, forest
protection. There are now homes,streets and cars, and a lot less
chances for food and a lot morechances that a hungry eagle or a hungry
hawk can find them. So theydo need help, and it can be
(02:14):
a struggle, especially during bad winters. And that's why feeding you know,
birds in the winter time is probablymore important. It is more important than
any other time of the year.You know, in the spring, summer,
and fall, they have access toall kinds of insects, all kinds
of food, nuts, berries.In the wintertime, those disappear, right.
They're very hard to find under especiallysnow blanketed areas. You know,
(02:35):
they don't have the protection. Theyhave to be out there so other animals
can see them. So it's avery dangerous time for birds. Yeah,
and then to take matters into theirhands, you know, Unlike squirrels who
can store some food away for themselves, birds don't do that. They can't
do that. So they wake upevery morning with one thing in mind,
survival. And that means they haveto find enough to eat to keep their
(02:58):
bodies warm, and then they haveto fill themselves up enough to keep their
bodies warm overnight. And when youtalk about expending energy. Birds most species
will burn more energy in the winterthan they do in the summer months,
because they're just trying to stay warm, you know, and they don't have
that ability in the wintertime. So, you know, I think we've established
why feeding them as important. Butalso there's the joy and the fun of
(03:20):
it. For a lot of gardeners, I know, we're the same way.
There's something special about looking out onthat barren landscape and seeing your bird
feeder filled with cardinals or blue jaysor you know. They add a little
bit of life to winter. Absolutely, and you'll see all windows across America
or even around the world to havebird feeders out there, even if you're
not a gardener. Everybody likes tosee the birds coming and you know,
feeding off the feed that they getin the bird feeders. Oh absolutely,
(03:44):
So let's cover that. That's whatwe're going to talk about today, is
the best way to help feed birdsin the winter and help them stay alive
so that they're around next spring tohelp out. And you know, as
we always say, you know,we'll have all of our notes on simple
Garden Life on the article. Youcan always find it on the site.
You feel free to email us atthe farm at ow garden dot com if
you have any questions or suggestions.We still have some open slots next year
(04:08):
for some podcast titles, so alwaysfeel free to drop us a line.
We love being able to do this. And today's topic we'll get into now,
which is how to feed these birdsand keep them alive until next spring.
All right, Mary, We willcover you know, some of the
extra things a little bit later,but let's start off with talking about you
(04:29):
know, what feeds and seeds aremost important and are the best to feed
birds, because that is really thebest way to help them out. Absolutely,
there's all types of products. I'llthe market of what type of bird
seed, bird feed, but they'rereally anything that is a high calorie,
high fat bird feed is the best. Yeah, you're looking for things that
are going to give them a quickboost of energy that they can eat and
(04:53):
it's going to power them up.And there's some of the best of the
best. And really when it comesto number one on the list, and
we talk about this sunflower seeds,but a special variety which are black oil.
Sunflower seeds black oil are just loadedwith fat. They're the most nutritious
of all sunflower seeds, and theyexactly let they sound. They're that dark
(05:13):
black sunflower. You can find themin twenty five pound bags. We'll have
some links on the side if youneed to buy them online, but they're
usually in local feed stores. Youknow, they double the calorie content of
a traditional sunflower most seeds. Nowpeople say, well, should I not
be feeding them regular sunflower seeds?They are still extremely nutritious, right,
It just happens to be that theblack oil sunflower seed has double the calories
(05:35):
that a typical stripe sunflower seed has. Absolutely, and you just want to
make sure that they're included in yourfeeds. So we're going to go through
these feeds and people always ask,well, should I just feed them that?
And the answer to that is no. You want to have, you
know, a variety. First ofall, different birds prover different things.
But the more variety, it's justlike a human diet. You know,
if you eat all, you know, oranges every day, that may be
(05:58):
great invited and seeing anything else,but it's not going to give you everything
you need. So you want tohave a little variety, right, You
need a more complex diet. Sobeyond black oil sunflower seeds, next on
that list, believe or not,or something that everybody enjoys usually are peanuts.
Peanuts another think about the oil thatare in peanuts. You can open
up a peanut butter jar and yousee that oil right on top right now.
Again, also high calorie, highfat, it is, it is,
(06:20):
and so different things for different birdsthough. So if you have blue
jays, blue jays are notorious forabsolutely loving peanuts. Unfortunately, blue jay's
and we have an article on this, can sometimes get a little bit aggressive
in protecting that food source from otherbirds. So blue jays love whole peanuts,
and so if you can get likewhat they call them blue jay feeders
(06:41):
or sock feeders and fill them withpeanuts and put them in another location,
they'll tend to go there. Theylove cracking them open and eating them.
And then for your other birds inyour feeds, if you can mix some
peanut pieces whole peanuts cracked peanuts,that makes them go a little bit longer.
But either way, you're giving allof those birds a lot of food
and a lot of high energy,high fat, which is exactly what the
(07:04):
end of needs. So we've talkedabout sunflower seeds and black oil is the
best peanuts now that the peanuts arecan being left in the shell. Oh
absolutely, for the For the bluejays, it's perfect and most birds will
still get them. But like Isaid, sometimes it's nice with them in
the winter to put them in aseparate area, so you're getting those blue
jays a little bit farther away.So the third one, and this is
a really good one, but anotherone that you don't want to use just
(07:25):
by itself, but crackcorn. Youknow, crack corn is good for a
lot of reasons. First of all, it's great on your budget. It's
one of the cheaper bird feeds thatyou can use. You know, a
lot of people feed it to theirchickens. We have for years and why
because it gives them that big boostof energy and help keep them warm in
the winter. Does the same thingfor birds. Not quite as much as
(07:48):
the sunflower seeds and the peanuts,but pretty high source. But when you
count in that, it is prettycaloric and that has a lot of carbs
and it can help them and thenyou're not pain as much. It's a
nice feed to mix in there,right, And this is a good you
know, like you said, it'sgood to have a mixture of all three
of the black oil, sunflower seeds, the peanuts, and the crack corn,
(08:09):
because you do want to attract differentvarieties of birds and try to feed
everybody that you can during the winter. Yeah, it's really true. So
I'll tell you what those are.Some three we call them the big three,
I guess, and the really threemains. We're going to come back.
We're going to take a quick breakand we're going to talk about some
other things to supplement in there thatcan really help. And then also we're
going to talk about helping them outwith something that people forget about in the
(08:30):
winter, which is how important wateris still to birds. You know,
in fact, it's more important.It helps you know, they have to
be hydrated in order to be ableto eat the food and burn the energy.
So we'll cover those and ways tohelp them right after this, and
we are back talking about birds andfeeding them and keeping them alive. And
you know, we covered the mainfeeds that you want to have in that
(08:52):
feed er. You know, sunflowerseeds, the black oil, the best
crackcorn, and then peanuts. Thoseare all good. Any type of nuts
they're going to love. But supplementingthe feeds is an important way it keeps
just think about again humans, youknow, we like to have something a
little bit different now and then.Yeah, so for birds, one of
the things they love in the summertimeobviously are the berries and the nuts.
(09:15):
And there are some berries available inthe winter, you know, bushes,
you'll see them a lot of timesthey're dried, but as the winter goes
on, there's less and less andless available. So that's something you can
really put in, whether it's driedfruit, dried fruit pieces, mix that
into your feed. They absolutely lovethat same thing with nuts. Those are
two of the best, right andyou know, having that variety and that
mixture can give them a boost ofenergy, but it helps them survive through
(09:39):
the winter, which is so important. And you know, instead of just
putting everything in a bird feeder,you can also it's beneficial to scatter some
on the ground as well. Thereare ground feeding birds and that is a
great point it kind of especially whenfeeders can get busy in the winter time.
It gives multiple places for the birdsto be able to feed, and
there are some birds that prefer bedown, especially if there tends to be
(10:01):
a few aggressive birds up top andit does help, You're right, especially
when you get snowpack. It canbe on top and give them something right,
and birds naturally will scrape some downand drop them on the ground,
So that helps. But when youfirst fill your bird feeder, scattering you
know a handful or two below itis going to be beneficial as well.
Yeah, absolutely, So you knowyou get past that and you think about
(10:22):
it. The next best thing,well, I shouldn't see the next It's
actually a great thing is sue it. And a lot of people love you
know. You see the sew itblocks, you'll see them store. Sometimes
they'll have the seeds cover them.They put them in the shapes of cakes,
yeah, bells, or they're verynice. But they are such a
vital source of nutrients for birds.You know, you can actually make your
own at home. We actually havean article on Simple Garden Life on how
(10:46):
to make your own sewet blocks.If you just go to the search bar
and type in sue it, it'llbe right there. But boy, all
it is is a rendered fat andthen a bunch of food bird seed.
It might be the sun our seeds. It might be cracked corn, it
might be dried fruits. All gelledinto that. They're much better to use
(11:07):
in the in the cold months,the winter months, because they do go
bad quite quickly from the heat.So a lot of people do not feed
in the winter or excuse me,in the summer with those. But ah,
the birds absolutely love them. It'sit's a huge energy source for them.
Yeah, we actually used to makeour own with the kids when they
were little. We just take pinecones and we'd slather peanut butter between there
and then dalse them in the seedsand hang them out on the trees.
(11:30):
It's a great way and I'm gladyou brought that up because you know,
you can use your imagination when you'refeeding birds. It doesn't have to be
a purchase suet block, it doesn'thave to be a bird feeder. You
can make your own tray feeders,you can make your own sew it.
The peanut butter example is fantastic,and take pine cones or just a great
vessel and you can hang them andthen you can, like you said,
sprinkle them with other types of nutsor just the peanut butter. Trust me,
(11:52):
they're going to like that as well. But it's just a great way
to keep the birds So we've talkedabout some of the best foods of all
and those really are the cream ofthe crop. And you can purchase seeds
with that mixture in there, ora portion of that mixture. But just
when you're when you're looking for winterfeeds and you're looking at specific products,
just look out for the fillers.You know, so many times there's so
(12:13):
many fillers throwing it there are justof no value. And if you see
at the end of a week inthe winter time especially, there's a bunch
of leftover stuff underneath your feeder,that's that's filler, and they're not going
to eat it, and you're payingfor that and they're not eating it.
So that's why making your own ormixing some of your own with some of
these great seeds can really go along way. Right, And again,
look for a high calorie, highfat seed nuts on berries and just like
(12:35):
people, you know, that's ourcomfort food in the wintertime. Yep is
it is? So all right,So we've talked about the feed. Now
let's get into that water subject.And Mary, I think we had a
question that probably leads right into thatperfectly our question of the week this week,
right, it comes from Karen fromTraverse City, Michigan. She asked,
I know water is important for birds, but I can't keep my bird
(12:56):
bathroom freezing over in the winter.That would be a problem Michigan. Yeah,
do you have any suggestions for howI can keep fresh water available?
Yeah, well, Michigan, it'sa problem in a while too. Yeah,
it does get cold. So acouple things here. A great,
great, great question, Karen.By the way, so a lot of
people don't even leave their bird bathsout. They might be stone, they
might be very worried about them crackingfrom that ice. There's a couple solutions.
(13:18):
But also I want to explain somethingabout birds that a lot of people
don't realize. In the winter,Let's first talk about the bird bath.
If it can handle being outside andit freezes over, it's still important.
We'll cover that in one second.But if you really want to, there
are bird bath heaters. If youhave the ability to have something plugged in
that you can put it in thereand it'll keep that water through the coldest
(13:41):
temperatures, keeps it fresh. Theycan come down and get it, they
can still use it. A lotof people do that. There's actually just
electric ones you can put on yourdeck that can hold water. However,
and this is important, understand thatbirds can still get hydration from frozen water.
You know, they will come down, they will peck at it.
They will you know, chickenis aregreat for this. They're gonna take it
(14:03):
right off. They're gonna take thesnow they're gonna get, so don't worry
as much. However, it's niceto have some type of a source of
water out there. So even ifyou have to bring your bird feeder in,
take a pail out there and itmay freeze over, but they're still
going to be able to get somehydration from it until it freezes in after
it freezes too. But water isextremely important. If they don't have access
(14:24):
to it, they're gonna struggle.Right. We get the question a lot
too of should I put warm waterout or cold water? You know what,
just put out normal normal cold water. You don't have to heat it.
It's not actually good for them,just just normal water. It's going
to freeze a little bit. Again, they can still get hydration from the
frozen water. If you have alot of snowpack on the ground. Don't
worry. They're getting their water rightthere there. You know, they're taking
(14:46):
that snow in it and doing it. So that's that's really good from from
the standpoint of water. Now let'stalk about you know, the shelter.
So birds other than chickadees. Chickadeeswill believe it or not, find bird
houses in the winter and use them. The whole has to be like an
inch and a quarter to an inchand at eight they'll use it. And
(15:07):
chickeny's crazy, it sounds they'll storesome food in there too if they can.
Yes, squirrels and other things kindof find that out at the points,
but they will use that. Soyou know, if you have a
couple of small houses, leave themout, that's fine, but it's where
you locate them. And it's alsothe things that you can do other than
birdhouses that can really help birds.Biggest thing of all is like ornamental grasses,
(15:31):
perennial bushes, things, thickets.Those if they can at all be
left up over the winter, willdo more to help your birds than anything
else. Yeah, they'll use thatas a shelter absolutely. You know,
they're looking for a place at nightin the middle day to stay stay warm
and to stay safe, stay hiddenfrom other predators. Yeah, I mean,
you know, there's nothing that sticksout like a small bird with a
(15:52):
snow background to a hawk, andyou know, it's this whole thing of
nature. I mean, you can'tblame the hawk hungry too, and he's
looking for his food. But ifyou're trying to help these birds out and
you have your feeders right out inthe middle of the open, it's it's
putting them at risk too. Soyeah, you have to think about that.
And you talked about the grasses,and those are huge because if you
(16:12):
can keep them up, not onlydoes it give them the shelter at night
where they can hide out and staya little bit warmer and give them a
wind break, it also protects themfrom predators and so very very big and
very key to do that. Asfar as additional houses for other birds,
we've had that ask before and they'renot going to use them. You know,
they're going to find nature as theirbest best way to kind of stay
(16:33):
safe. So that's where it's reallyimportant. And then last, but not
least, I just want to kindof cover this people ask about and we've
done several articles on this about youknow, the beloved squirrel who also he
also likes the nuts and seeds.Yes, we have a walk that Mary
and I take every day in thewinter time and we pass a bird feeder
that's up on a window sill abouttwo feet from a tree, second story
(16:56):
windows, second story windows still andwe laugh because every single day the same
squirrels up. They're just going totown. He's like, I love this,
you know, and you have tobe caroling. Yes, they're going
to take some feed. But thereare ways to help here, you know,
locating your if you if you havea feeder that you're trying to put
them in, putting a squirrel baffle, which is basically an upside down cone,
(17:17):
and as long as your pulls fiveand a half to six feet tall
your bird feeder, they're not goingto be able to spring up to that
and get underneath it. That's agreat way to protect it. Now,
there are some Houdini squirrels that cannavigate it, but to help protect most
of them, Yeah, and youcan get squirrel proof feeders. But again,
the word squirrel proof is kind offunny to me because there are some
amazing squirrels that even find their wayinto those. It helps you know,
(17:40):
what the best way to protect yourbird feed and it's very easy to do
and it sounds crazy. Is ifyou have a little cayenne pepper, you
know, when you get your birdseed, mix that in. It's really
crazy. But you know, tous and to mammals, heat the CAPSI
in there hurts and you know it'sa little hot on the tongue and squirrels
don't like that. Crazy as itsounds, it doesn't affect the birds in
(18:03):
the least. So you you know, mix a little in there. They
even make hot pepper bird foods.If squirrels are a real issue for you,
that is the answer they I know, but it's not. It doesn't
hurt anybody, even makes the squirrelsgo away a little bit. So hey,
there's some of our favorite winter tipsfor birds. And like I said,
you know, this is the lastof our season three. We're really
(18:26):
excited for next year as well.We have a lot of fun doing this
and love hearing your comments and suggestions. So again, you can email us
at the farm at Old World Gardenor excuse me, the farm at ow
Garden and just you know, reachout to us and let us know what
you're thinking. We love to hearfrom you. Mary. This has been
a great season. I'm really rewarding, exciting. We've got a lot of
(18:47):
new followers and a lot of greattopics for next year. Absolutely all right,
I think it's time remember whatever youdo, find the fun and gardening
and grow something beautiful. Happy guardeningeveryone. We hope you've enjoyed this episode.
Subscribe to the Simple Garden podcast oniTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or most of your favorite podcast apps. You can also head over to simplegardenlife
dot com where you can listen andread all of the show notes to every
(19:08):
episode. And if you have anyquestions, any ideas for show topics,
or if you want to share yourfavorite garden tip, email us at the
farm at owgarden dot com. Untilnext time, Thanks everyone,
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