Hi Everybody!!
I am digging out from the deep freeze in South Texas. This morning was 18 and yesterday 24 degrees. This is rare for my area, very rare. Arctic Vortex is what the news called it. The day before the Big Chill, birds started diving into deep South Texas to escape the worst of the storm. I have birds everywhere! The Snaps below are from January 5, 6 and 7. The links to the photostudies in my G+ Photo Albums are also listed. Your info from Wikipedia is about "Bird Feeding". I encourage you all to remember our fine feathered friends in this extreme winter. They need seed!
A big Surprise: I waited all morning to see if the hummingbird returned after 18 degrees. HE DID! He made it through the night. He came out today around 10:45. I can't believe he is making it in this cold. The sun came out today and all the birds were happy and singing. Tonight is only 40. I did go running out at sunrise to experience this 18 degrees that my Canadian friends live in. WOW-did I run inside as fast as old Granny could Go! Stay Warm and Enjoy the birds!
Hungry Birds Clips by G+ Auto Backup!
bluejay
squirrrel, female cardinal, blue jays
inca dove
Link to album photostudy:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5966300319726168145
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_feeding
Bird feeding
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History[edit]
James Fisher wrote that the first person recorded as feeding wild birds was the 6th century monk Saint Serf of Fife who tamed a pigeon by feeding it. In the harsh winter of 1890-91 in Britain national newspapers asked people to put out food for birds. In 1910 in the United Kingdom, Punch magazine declared that feeding birds was a "national pastime."[1] Bird feeding has grown into the United States' second most popular hobby behind gardening.[2]To celebrate the bird feeding hobby, February was named National Bird-Feeding Month by congressional decree in 1994.[3]
Activity[edit]
See also: Bird food
Bird feeding is typically thought of as an activity of bird enthusiasts. People who feed wild birds often attempt to attract birds to suburban and domestic locations. This requires setting up a feeding station and supplying bird food. The food might include seeds, peanuts, bought food mixes, fat, kitchen scraps and suet. Additionally, a bird bath and grit (sand), that birds store in their crops to help grind food as an aid to digestion, can be provided.
Feeding bread to waterfowl at parks, lakes and rivers is also a popular activity.
Types[edit]
Certain foods tend to attract certain birds.[4] Finches and Siskin will be attracted by Niger,[5] and Jays love corn. Hummingbirds,sunbirds and other nectivorous birds love nectar. Mixed seed and black oil sunflower seed is favoured by many seed-eating species. Birds such as white-eyes, barbets, and some thrushes will take fresh and cut fruit. Different feeders can be purchased specialized for different species.
Garden birds can be fed using peanuts, seed, coconut (but never desiccated coconut) or fat (but not oils that are liquid at room temperature) using a variety of feeders.[6]
After the station is established, it can take some weeks for birds to discover and start using it. This is particularly true if the feeding station is the first one in an area or (in cold-winter areas) if the station is being established in spring when natural sources of food are plentiful. Therefore, beginners should not completely fill a feeder at first. The food will get old and spoil if it is left uneaten for too long. This is particularly true of unshelled foods, such as thistle seed and suet. Once the birds begin taking food, the feeder should be kept full. Additionally, people feeding birds should be sure that there is a source of water nearby. A bird bath can attract as many birds as a feeding station.[citation needed]
Impact[edit]
A study conducted in Sheffield, England, found that the abundance of garden birds increased with levels of bird feeding. This effect was only apparent in those species that regularly take supplementary food, raising the possibility that bird feeding was having a direct effect on bird abundance. In contrast, the density of feeding stations had no effect on the number of different bird species present in a neighbourhood.[7]
The use of bird feeders has been claimed to cause environmental problems;[specify] some of these were highlighted in a front-page article in The Wall Street Journal.[8]
Prior to the publication of the Wall Street Journal article, Canadian ornithologist Jason Rogers also wrote about the environmental problems associated with the use of bird feeders in the journalAlberta Naturalist.[9] In this article, Rogers explains how the practice of feeding wild birds is inherently fraught with negative impacts and risks such as fostering dependency, altering natural distribution, density and migration patterns, interfering with ecological processes, causing malnutrition, facilitating the spread of disease and increasing the risk of death from cats, pesticides, hitting windows and other causes.
Economy[edit]
Large sums of money are spent by ardent bird feeders, who indulge their wild birds with a variety of bird foods and bird feeders. Over 55 million Americans over the age of 16 feed wild birds and spend more than $3 billion a year on bird food, and $800 million a year on bird feeders, bird baths, bird houses and other bird feeding accessories.[12] The activity has spawned an industry that sells supplies and equipment for the bird feeding hobby.
In some cities or parts of cities (e.g. Trafalgar Square in London) feeding pigeons is forbidden, either because they compete with vulnerable native species, or because they abound and cause pollution and/or noise.[citation needed]
goldfinch
Link to album photostudy:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5966299060035156097
chipping sparrow
hundreds of goldfinch
female and male cardinal
blue jay
the old crow
Boo!
Link to album photostudy:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5966294547829403953
an angel?
enclosed courtyard feeding station: Snake Bridge
Goldfinch and warbler
goldfinch
male cardinal and goldfinch
*Big Surprise*
The 'Lone Hummer' made it through the cold blast from the North Pole. (3 days of sightings-this is the same bird in different light)
January 5
January 6
January 7 (timestamp on images off one hour)
...this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek. See You next time! I did not have snow with this Arctic Vortex. By what I have seen of real snow everyone else got, I do not want any. My Google Snow is just perfect! Goodnight!
O+O
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