Monday, December 7, 2009

winter in the wildlife garden


It is cold and getting colder. Temps are predicted to be around -20 degrees F (not including wind) and highs are forecasted to be in the low single digits for the next few days. And, on top of that, there is the wind. It is below zero now, and it is only getting colder. This is an important time to think about wildlife in the garden.

While working in my woodworking shop yesterday (where it was very warm, by the way), I spent a lot of time watching birds and what they were up to in the garden. It was a lot of fun and gratifying to see the wildlife garden in action. I even braved the cold and -20 degree wind-chill to take some pictures (maybe “brave” is too strong of a word).

Winter roosts
The northern flicker in the photo above has been spending the night in the nest box to escape the cold. This is the same male that excavated the nest box this past spring and raised a clutch in our yard (he has a distinguishable nape crest). Although it is important to clean and fill nest boxes annually, especially ones that you fill with nesting material (see here for information), it is important to leave these boxes empty for the winter and not refill them until February.

Brush piles, bird nesting boxes, snags and rock piles are such important features for a variety of wildlife species in the garden. These elements allow birds and other animals to escape conditions that would otherwise be inhospitable and unavailable in a "clean" yard- that is a yard with only a manicured lawn and some nicely pruned specimen trees.

Feeding
We don't feed very much, even in the winter by most standards (click here for more information). Our primary feeder is our garden- the seeds, berries, insects and others results of our garden design. For example, downy woodpeckers are spending a lot of time drilling our aspens looking for borers (click here for the fascinating, never ending borer story), and flickers are emboldened by the cold to excavate our anthill in search of cold weary (and defenseless) ant. These are the most reliable and most diverse feeders we have.
Pictured above is a song sparrow sitting on one of our fallen snags eating seeds from an aster. We do feed suet in the winter (click here for directions to build an easy one), and black sunflower seeds though not the latter for some time. Just having suet available for winter birds, seems to attract the fewest pest species.
Knowing what species are likely to visit your feeders is important in determining what to set out as food. Generic “bird food” usually end s up unused or wasted, or attracted non-native or pest species (like eastern squirrel species, European starling, house sparrows or house finches). In our yard, the primary winter birds include black capped chickadees, red breasted nuthatches, northern flickers, dark eyed juncos, downy woodpeckers, and others.
One unconventional feeder that is really effective is a natural suet feeder. Though this might look a little odd to some, a deer, elk or antelope carcass is just what lots of birds love, including chickadees, nuthatches and magpies. This is what store-bought, conventional suet feeders try to imitate. After butchering game, I will usually hang a ribcage in the backyard for birds to peck at and feed on. Yesterday as I watched, the chickadees and nuthatches never went to a typical suet feeder, but rather spent all their time feeding on the deer ribcage. Consider hanging your ribcage for the birds, or if you don’t hunt, and you are interested in adding a conversation piece/ feeder to your yard, stop by a wild game butcher, I am sure they will give you a ribcage.

16 comments:

  1. Wonderful little birdies! Great idea with the ribs. I always noticed birds on our discarded deer carcass as well.

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  2. I would never have thought birds would be attractd to a rib cage as you've demonstrated.

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  3. Great article, David! I'm going to link to it in this week's best of the web on Saturday. I love all the birds in your garden.

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  4. Hi Dave- I spent some time adding feeders and making sure that the shrubbery was still upright for the birds today! I never knew about animal carcasses and will add that to the mix next year. Until then it's suet and jelly (for the waxwings) and seed feed. They seem OK with all of that. I do need to add a water source that stays open though and haven't figured out just what yet.

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  5. Whew, that's something I couldn't try in my climate; the smell would be incredible and no doubt some birds would love the maggots -- but I wouldn't!

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  6. Does it draw other wildlife? I have problems with possum, racoon & even fox coming up on my deck to get to the bird feeders. Not to mention neighborhood dogs! Jen

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  7. -20???? Question: how are you heating your shop? -20 is impressively cold. My shop wouldn't heat up much in that kind of cold (god forbid we should ever have a day that cold here), and I am looking for some solns.

    I love how you've got so much natural food for the birds in the garden.

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  8. Hi Susan,
    Thanks for your comments. I heat my shop with a kerosene heater (like this one, not an endorsement, http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11708106/Kerosene_Heater.jpg) - not really a great solution, but it works well. My shop is small and well-insulated and the heater heats it up fast. If I were building shop from scratch, I'd do it differently, butt you know how it goes...
    Maybe I'll post some shop pictures soon.
    David

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  9. Thanks everyone for your comments- based on a couple of them I should proably clarify some things about the ribcage idea. I'd only recommend doing this in the winter (after hunting season), when birds really need the food,it is cold (keeps the smell down) and bears are asleep. Since I live in the middle of town, bears are not a problem at my house, bu they are not too far away, either, including the famous trampoline bear that was a few blocks from my house. I hang the rib cages so other animals don't eat them, though my backyard is fenced and dog-proof.
    I hope this helps.
    David

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  10. I've thought about a kerosene heater, but worry about the smell. Right now I've got a small electric heater that trips the fuse box every time I fire up the table saw. Not very satisfactory. Maybe I'll look at the kerosene more closely.

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  11. A kerosene heater does have its downsides. Right now kerosene is expensive (about $35/ 5 gallons- about 3 times what it was a few years ago),it is an open flame, and some complain about the smell. Although with heating grade kerosene (K1), it is really clean/ refined, and I have never had a problem with the smell. Keep the wick clean and it will run efficiently and burn off any odor. on the positive, they really crank out the btus. Plus by buying the kerosene by the 5 gallon can, I can budget my heat and bill.

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  12. Thanks, David. I was manly worried about the smell. There are usually few weekends in winter when I need a heater, so I'm not too worried about the expense. The ope flame *could* be a problem, but the ones I've seen look pretty safe.

    Do you have to ventilate for fresh air (CO buildup)?

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  13. Even though my shop is well insulated, I think it is leaky enough that it gets fresh air. Plus, it is not like I run the heater 24/7, nor do I usually run it continuously when I am working in there. It usually heats the shop up so well I end up turning it off after a while. As far as i know, I have never passed out from the lack of oxygen in there, but I don't remember.

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  14. David, this is my first visit to your blog. I came over from Carole's weekly link post. Great blog - love your garden and all the birds. You'll need to get into Carole's ecosystem garden showcase so folk can see your lovely prairie garden.

    I can't seem to figure out how to comment with my nature/gardening blog in the signature. You probably know anyway since we've been following each other on Twitter - it's http://LovingNaturesGarden.com

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  15. Wow! What an interesting post. I've heard of hanging out old bananas to attract butterflies (put them in a suet cage) but not rib cages for birds! The only birds we feed are hummingbirds - the neighborhood has quite a few feeders and we have probably an overlarge population of Anna's as a result, but as long as we keep on doing it, I guess it is OK.

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