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While I was growing up, my father took charge of keeping the bird feeders full at all times.
"I don't get it," I proclaimed in a fit of pique during high school. "You're just enabling them. Shouldn't those birds all fly south for the winter? What happens if you go out of town and don't refill the feeder? They rely on you and so they'll starve to death."
Dad ignored my petulant counsel and just continued feeding, setting up different feeders in our wooded back yard, stocked with different kinds of food. As a result, sparrows, finches, doves, cardinals and even the occasional hummingbird found their way into the paths of my parents' binoculars.
What I didn't know at the time was that many birds don't migrate, and so a well-stocked bird feeder in the neighborhood makes a big difference, particularly in months like February, which is cold and bitter in the Northern hemisphere. It makes sense, then, that February is National Bird Feeding Month.
While it's certainly easy enough to run out and buy a bag of birdseed, it's also easy to make homemade food for the birds that grace your property.
Why make homemade bird food instead of just using commercial feed? Mary Cromer of Red-Shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove and Beyond explains, "Whenever I have the time to make homemade suet food, I do so. It is enjoyable making different combinations with ingredients such as peanut butter melted in, with a selection of fruits, seeds, and nuts. After I let them set up and place them in regular suet feeders, it also gives me a feeling of accomplishment in taking care of nature in an even more personal way."
Heather of Heather of the Hills says she loves making homemade bird food. "This is the second winter I have made homemade suet dough for my feeder friends, and they really went to town on it this weekend," she said in a recent post. "The Tufted Titmice were the biggest customers by far, often waiting in line to take their turn at the little dish in which I offer the dough." Heather's post links to a terrific page of do-it-yourself bird food recipes, including a Bluebird Blend, Woodpecker's Pick and Suet Cupcakes.
Angela and Brian of Savvy Homemade provide a range of bird food recipes, including a recipe for homemade bird food blocks that can be hung from a tree outside--no bird feeder required!--and a recipe for homemade hummingbird nectar, for those who live in climates that attract those wee hovercrafts to their flowers.
On the Country Meadow blog, Rebecca posts an interesting-sounding recipe for Bird Bread, which she feeds a parrot that she owns. She's is able to slice it, freeze the slices, and then just take out what she needs for the week.
Although this terrific and adorable video from the Toronto Botanical Garden is more a lesson on how to make a seed ball that will result in sunflowers than instant bird food, it's still worth watching. As the garden educator in charge points out, the sunflowers that grow from such a seed ball will then bring birds to the garden, where they can feast on the seeds in the flowers themselves. Consider it delayed-gratification bird food.
Not only is it a great step-by-step lesson in how to make the ball itself, but because you can actually watch kids completing the project, it's clear how easy it would be to replicate with a small group of kids at home or at a school.
Genie blogs about gardening and food at The Inadvertent Gardener, and tells very short tales at 100 Proof Stories. She also tells stories with photos at 5x52.
