Help Bird Life By Buying Gifts For Your Friends

It is really easy to help bird life and the more people that do it then the better it is for wild birds! If you are a bird watcher or just generally a lover of nature then you might also want to try and encourage your friends to get involved in helping the wild birds where they live as well.

Of course you can talk to them about what you do and how you help your own garden birds and they may well sound like they are interested too, but often people ado not take action and this is where you can help them very easily.

So therefore if you want to help all of your good friends and also your relatives to start caring for the wild birds that visit their gardens, then a great way to get them started is to buy them a gift of a bird feeder or bird house, such as one of the many different ones that are shown on the pages in our bird store.

Any of the products you see in the bird shop will make an ideal gift for anyone who has even the slightest interest in nature, wildlife or their local birds.

And of course it really does not matter where they live or whatever type of garden or yard they have as there are items that are suitable for any location. In fact bird feeders and next boxes can be used by any property owner, whether they have one acre of their own woodland or only a small balcony on their home.

By feeding the birds and helping them with nesting houses or even just providing a better wildlife habitat for them to use they will be contributing to a very useful “help the birds” policy.

There really are no bounds to what anyone can do to help and as a result many more people will be able to enjoy all the pleasures you can get from bird feeding and doing our bit for nature conservation.

In the bird shop we have a very wide range of affordable bird feeders, and also of course bird houses that really will make great gifts at any time of the year and for any occasion. If you are going to give a bird feeder as a gift it is also a good idea to also give a pack of the right bird food as ell so that they can get started feeding the birds right away.

Similarly if you are going to give a nest box or bird house as a gift then you could also buy them a book about the types of birds that they might expect to see nesting there in the spring or summer. Alternatively or in addition you could provided them with information about wild birds and conservation, so that they might get even more interested in the subject.

When you go to order any of these great products for wild birds as a gift you might also want to send it directly to them and include a nice gift card and a message with the product.

And if you already know that the recipient of your gift is interested in other wildlife species and not just the birds then you could consider buying them something from the other wildlife departments in the store.

Help your friends enjoy nature more!

There are many books, dvds and other literature that will contain all that they will need to help them learn about and help other types of wildlife such as moths and butterflies, bats and a ton of other animals.

Do what you can to help – our wildlife needs us!

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Visit the BIRD SHOP here.

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Why Wild Bird Feeders Really Do Help The Birds All Year!

By putting up bird feeders in your yard or garden you are actually providing a very valuable supplement to all the other natural food that is already out there for your local wild birds to eat.

But the bird food you provide will not comprise the main bulk of their food most of the time or their diet every day as birds are always on the lookout for things to eat. And of course if they find food in the wild that is what they will prefer.

This is because all wild birds will normally just depend on those food sources that they will normally find well away from all of your bird feeders or bird table and they will always find these with an incredible built-in efficiency it seems.

However when natural food is in short supply then the birds will keep looking and eventually find what you are providing for them, so in the winter feeding is extremely helpful to all your wild birds as those food sources in the wild simply become less and less as they become exhausted by the birds that find them.

So this is why feeding the birds is so important, especially during the colder seasons. So if the supplemental food that you are giving the birds just stopped overnight then the birds would suffer as they have already become reliant on your food sources.

As you can see there are many good reasons for you to feed all of wild birds and for the whole year round as well. There can be many reasons for their wild food sources drying up such as a particularly hot summers or habitat loss due to fire or development etc.

Feeding During The Seasons

SPRING

It also has to be said that the early spring season is an extremely important season to be feeding wild birds in your yard as at this time most of their wild natural food sources are gone as they have been totally consumed during those preceding winter moths.

When you feed the birds in your garden you will find that these bird food supplies as well as a fresh water supply are going to be especially attractive also to many of those migrating birds that will pass through at this time of the year as well.

Any supplemental bird feeding station of any type will for sure provide a very useful food supply for many different types of birds that are local to your area. During the rest of the spring if you have a good constant supply of the right types of bird food and a water source then this may entice some of those birds that visit to feed, drink and bathe to also start nesting on your property if you are lucky.

It is a well know fact that a good supply of natural bird food is necessary for your will birds to get into breeding condition during early spring as that will then help them successfully fledge a new brood of baby birds to maintain the local bird population for that species.

SUMMER

During the summer we find that this is always the season that provides wild birds with greatest natural supply of food in the wild away from your yard. But for many of your wild birds this is also the actual time that they will have their greatest need for food as they have many other little mouths to feed as well.

As the demands of a new nest of rapidly growing and very greedy young birds, the parents must be constantly looking for food all day long both to feed themselves and also their new babies. And of course during their very rapid growth phase all of these young birds will need the best high protein diet that they can get.

The best way for most parent birds to do this is to feed all of their young bird family with a diet that is made up mostly of insects. You can help though with a suet feeder that will supply both the parent bird and their young as well with more of the protein that they need to grow quickly and fledge as strong baby birds.

Another great food to feed the birds with at this time is live mealworms are these are just like the insects that the birds need form their natural wild food supplies as they are a really excellent source of the protein that they need during this time in their development.

Also in the summer your bird feeding can attract many types of fruit eating birds just as well as those that are seed or insect eaters. It is best to cut the fruit open that it shows the inside to the birds to tempt them in and make their access to the fruit easier. You can simply put the fruit out on a tray or up on one or more feeding spikes in your yard.

Summer is also the right season for feeding all those nectar eating birds that are visiting at this time of the year. There are over fifty species of birds that will visit any sugar water feeders that you put out. Obviously there are different birds visiting in different areas, but just search online to find those that might occur in your area. The sugar solution that you can feed them with is just the same that you can feed to the hummingbirds that also abound during this season.

FALL

The big season for natural foods for the birds, that includes items such as fruit and insects, is the fall, and just as well as this is a season where there is a great demand for food from the birds. The reason for this is that the wild bird populations at this time are at their highest levels simply due all the new birds that have fledged during the earlier breeding season.

Once again for migrating birds, who will be returning home at this time of the year, a protein rich diet is what they need. So this means they are still looking for insects and this is extremely important to them is important as migrant birds will need to replace their feathers before they start their big migration.

In addition these wild migratory birds need to put on extra fat that they will use to power them during their days of constant flight on these sometimes very long migrations to their wintering grounds which can be thousands of miles away.

There are two types of see that you should feed at this time and these are Sunflower seeds and Nyjer seeds as they are both very rich in oils, which will help all these birds to increase their own body fat quickly before migrating. And of course therefore when you are feeding the wild birds in the early part of the fall season then there is a much better chance of that you will see some of these fall migrants in your yard.

WINTER

For pretty much all the birds where you live in the nation is the Winter season that is going to be the most difficult of all seasons for finding food and this is especially true for those wild birds that live full time in the northern states.

In the winter the much colder weather and often freezing conditions combined with very short days always means that they will need even more food than usual and they will have to find it in less time too!

The worse part of the winter scenario for wild birds is this is also the time when all the natural sources of food for these birds are very scarce or non-existent. This is why you supplemental feeding of the wild birds in your yard at this time of year is going to be the most useful to all of our local wild bird populations and you will notice this due to the much higher bird numbers at your feeders.

During the winter months you should provide your wild birds with both seeds and suet as well as an unfrozen fresh water supply. Heated bird baths are excellent for providing a source of water to the birds when the weather gets really cold.

How To Buy The Right Bird Table For Your Birds

When it comes to choosing and then buying a bird table, or even a bird house or bird feeder for the wild birds that visit your garden or yard, then you will of course want to make sure that it is effective so you can see it in use by as many different bird species as possible.

A bird table is simply a small table or platform placed outside in the open on which you can provide food for the wild bird species that visit the property where you live. So sometimes they are hung or they may be free standing with a single platform on a post that may also have a roof on it to protect the bird and more importantly the bird food or seed from the weather.

What you may need before you start is some good advice that is designed to actually provide you with an overview of exactly which type of bird table you will need for your own local bird populations. Of course the same will also apply to bird houses and bird feeders before you buy them too.

And this will apply whether this is your very first one or even if you are just wanting to upgrade to something better or replace one that is broken..

You will have many options to look at and these will include those ready made and easy to assemble bird tables that can be delivered directly to your door and that you can installed very quickly into your yard or garden or even patio or deck.

If you are more practical when it comes to work working skills then you could even make the effort and design one yourself and then you can also build it yourself as well, and to be honest this is probably the cheapest option you are going to find for a well built and long-lasting bird table.

By getting exactly what you need it will save you time and some money, so take your time to get the right one if you can. You will then have literally many long hours of fun and enjoyment feeding the wild birds from your bird table and your bird watching skills will also improve by seeing all those different kinds of birds in your garden each day.

First of all go online and research some of the subjects that will help you to make the right choice. For instance try and read something that is a general introduction to the different types of bird tables and then make the decision on which type of bird table is going to be right for you.

At some point you will also have to learn the secrets that you will need to put into practice to attract the right bird species. You may also need to know how to make sure that all the kinds of birds that you will attract with food on your bird table will get on well together when they all visit.

For many of you will also need to discover how to keep away those unwanted predators away such as cats, squirrels and those bigger greedier birds like pigeons. Of course part of this will involve learning all about the right types of food to feed on the bird table and which type of seed is best to have on your bird table to attract the species you want to see each day.

In addition you will need to understand the best locations in your yard to have any new bird table to attract all kinds of different birds and for you to see them better from within your home. This really is an easy way to start birding and it will help you improve your bird watching skills very quickly indeed, especially if you also buy some binoculars and a bird identification guide that is relevant to your area.

When it comes to money and costs then try to appreciate form the get go what options you will have if there is a preset budget in mind and also gauge your preference as soon as you can, including the need for those little extra that can put the price up. By this stage you should really know exactly what you need to look out for when it comes to buying bird tables.

Of course you will also need to learn at some point just how to look after your new bird table in the best way possible both for the benefit of you and the birds. This way your new bird table will last for years, so get all the knowledge you need including all those basic cleaning and maintenance tasks that will help to keep it well preserved right throughout the year and in all types of weather conditions.

But if you are going to build your bird table yourself then without doubt you will have to know the basics for building any type of bird table from scratch and this could include drawing up your own bird tables plans and specification first.

Good luck with your new bird table!

How To Stop Squirrels Stealing Bird Food From Feeders

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I guess the single most frustrating and downright infuriating thing a person is likely to face in backyard birding is the theft of bird food and the destruction of feeders. And we know already that pretty much all the bird watchers I know probably would answer this strongly and that this would be the food stealing squirrels that visit our back yards every day.

For sure the worst of these pesky little tree rats will drive off every bird in the yard if they can and then eat up all the expensive bird seed we put out and as an added insult you will notice that the more determined of these squirrels will also rip your expensive bird feeders to shreds in the process of their continuous attacks.

So just what can anyone do to stop these squirrels and their antics? Is there any hope at all in really stopping them?

Well fortunately there is. So when you set them up and your bird feeder is hung correctly from a branch or thick twig or you have them suspended from a horizontal line then you can help the situation greatly. Just by installing some sort of tilted baffle and make this at least eighteen inches in diameter and located right above your feeder then it might just do the right trick for you.

A great top bit of advice for you if you are using suspended feeders is to also try hanging them up from a simple three to four foot length of thick nylon line instead of using some metal wire for support.

And then when you can hang you bird feeders from a horizontal wire you can also place lengths of plastic tube right around this line and then the tubes will automatically spin whenever a crazy squirrel simply attempts to walk along them.

However if you have a feeder that is simply mounted up on top of a pole then you will probably need to install a wide baffle right below the bird feeder, because then you will find that the squirrels will climb the pole but get not further. In this situation the wide baffle should not tilt but be fixed so the squirrel cannot get passed.

At home in your yard or in the shed you can easily make your own baffle like this quite easily and quickly from a small garbage can lid or any similar round shaped and flat object.

Alternatively you could just go out and buy a ready made wide baffle that simply fastens to the pole beneath the bird feeder easily with a small metal clamp.

For me though it is only a truly squirrel proof feeder that could easily be found in many of the nations bird gardens is a straight tube feeder, probably made of plastic, that is usually mounted on a pole but which is located no less than about ten feet or so from nearby cover or other squirrel launch pads..

Often this type of bird feeder setup has a sixteen inch or so wide baffle, which is fastened about a foot or so just below the feeder’s bottom. Some of these baffles are designed to also serve as a bird feeding tray that will also help by catching extra seed that is spilled by the birds from above. These designs will always work very well indeed!

From the off you must first try to plan carefully and make your bird feeders more inaccessible to the squirrels if you want stop them more easily. This is of course no easy task for us all when you are found to be dealing with a crazy animal that is as acrobatic as a squirrel.

The problem is that these tree dwelling creatures can easily and often leap up to eight feet horizontally or simply jump about eleven feet or so down from a roof or tree branch directly onto your bird feeders. So you should always try to position all of your feeders whatever is in them at least ten feet or more from squirrel jumping off points for the best protection.

Whenever you have bird feeders in a yard, which has too just many squirrel launching platforms like this, such as fences or rooftops and trees, then things will be more difficult and it may be seemingly impossible to keep those pesky squirrels off your bird feeders for very long.

And if you find that the squirrels are chewing hard and breaking up all your feeders in to tiny bits then you will have little choice, and you will really need to switch to new brands of bird feeders that are made from some types of indestructible materials.

Today you will find that all the best top bird feeders will also have their seed ports reinforced with strong metal and that they will often come with guarantees against their destruction by your back yard squirrels.

So by simply using more sturdy and well built squirrel proof bird feeders like these, you should find that they will last you in service for several years in time and this will then also be the real proof of their long term effectiveness.

If you need to buy a feeder that can stop the squirrels then visit the Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders website to see the whole range of these types of feeder currently available and my recomendation to you would to take a close look at the very popular Squirrel Buster Plus feeder, which I have used for years very sucessfully in my own back yard.

Good luck stopping those squirrels!