January 11, 2008
Backyard tip of the week:You can make great use of your leftover bread crumbs, stale bread and other baked goods by putting them out for your feathered friends. It only takes a minute and you'll be helping the planet by keeping those items out of the trash. The birds even seem pleased to pick through the scraps from when I crack nuts by hand. Stay away from meats and other perishables, but feel free to be inventive and see what you can find - the birds are sure to enjoy it!
Backyard sightings for last week:
A large variety of woodpeckers were spotted. The biggest of the bunch was the red-bellied wood-pecker. Descending in size, the next was the downy wood-pecker, followed by the white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. I've even seen the elusive hairy woodpecker in the backyard in the past.
Woodpeckers are very friendly when it comes to backyard bird-feeding. You can easily attract several types to your yard. Their food of choice would probably be whole or shelled peanuts, though woodpeckers will happily visit suet feeders as well as sunflower seed feeders.
Other backyard sightings this week include northern cardinals and dark-eyed juncos, white-throated sparrows, eastern goldfinches, house finches and purple finches, tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, blue-jays, the occasional pair of crows, a couple of grey squirrels, a pair of European Starlings, and an opossum who was seen foraging at night during the unusually mild weather.
Cool sighting of the week:
The Carolina wren was the first bird ever seen to visit the new songbird feeder by the bedroom window. He was also seen taking a peanut in his long beak.
What To Look For: If you live in a wooded area, keep an eye out for the very large pileated wood-pecker. At over a foot tall, you'll recognize him as being very similar in appearance to Woody Woodpecker!
© 2008 BackyardTV.com