OCR Text |
Show Good Time For Backyard Bird Feeding Winter is the ideal time for backyard bird feeding. With cold temperatures and natural nat-ural food covered by ice and snow, it is vital for birds to find enough food to maintain their body temperatures, says Division Nongame Biologist Bio-logist Bob Walters. Bird feeders will attract birds which have migrated from higher elevations, as well as year-round residents common com-mon to urban areas. A wide variety of birds may be spotted at bird feeders. These include mountain and black-capped chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, dark-eyes juncos. pinion jays, common flickers and downy woodpeckers. Walters stresses the im-'. im-'. portance of a continuous winter feeding program, 1 since the birds come to depend on the food supply, i In the spring, an abundance of natural food will make bird feeding unnecessary. The period of December to March is best for feeding, says Walters. There is a danger in starting backyard ! feeding programs too early. Migratory birds may stay at the feeder instead of going south. t. i . |