Birds in Winter

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Not only is it interesting to attract birds in winter, but any near-by orchards will profit by having such birds as chickadees, nut-hatches, and woodpeckers living near them.  It is also desirable to encourage native sparrows to stay in your community to help clean up weed seeds.  

Pheasants, quail, and other seed-eating birds may be attracted by establishing a feeding station at a little distance from the camp and then moving the station a little closer every day, until its visitors may be watched from the windows of a cabin.  An old table with burlap nailed between the legs on the upwind side may be convenient to shelter the food.  A large cardboard box with a seat or a bench inside may be placed among the weeds and bushes near a feeding station.  Peek holes should be cut in the sides of the box so that the birds can be seen easily.  Friendships between Scouts and birds will be established with little difficulty.  A group of tree sparrows feeding less than a yard from your head justifies the work it took to establish their acquaintance.

 Window feeding stations may be established by building a shelf outside the window and placing over it some sort of shelter. The sides must be more or less open if you wish the more timid species to visit your station.  Cracked grain or small grains and sunflower seeds may be spread on the shelf as food for the chickadees and sparrows, and suet may be tacked to the window casings or shelter supports as food for the nuthatches and woodpeckers.  

If you never have had birds make regular visits to your camp you have missed an opportunity.  At first the birds may not flock to the station as you had hoped, and you may be just about ready to give up hope that they will ever come.  Just be patient and some day you will be surprised.  If suet is tacked on near-by trees to which the birds come without fear, they may be induced to come to your station when these extra supplies are exhausted or removed.  The suet should be fastened to its support by a coarse netting or by being bound securely by strong string.  Unless this is done, the whole mass may be carried away bodily by squirrels or other creatures.

To be most successful, feeding stations should be started in late October or November.  They may, however, be successfully established during any winter month.