January Joy

Myrna Pearman

January is a difficult time of year for many people. The bustle of the holiday season has come and gone, the dark and cold of winter still envelopes us, and the return to everyday realities can be challenging.

One of the best ways to cure the January blues is to enjoy nature!  While reading about nature or watching nature documentaries can boost our spirits, getting outside and being immersed nature is the healthiest option, especially at this time of year. Even short walks around local neighborhoods and through local parks can refresh and invigorate.

Connecting children to nature is especially important. Many studies confirm that direct exposure to nature is essential to a child’s healthy physical and emotional development. The benefits of taking children outside and letting them creatively play cannot be overstated.

When it is too cold or dark for children to go outside to play, an idea might be to alternate screen time with letting children read nature-based books and/or engage in nature-related crafts.

One of the most enjoyable and transformative way to enjoy nature—for adults and children alike—is to bring nature into our own yards and gardens by setting out bird feeding stations.  Backyard bird feeding, which is a hobby enjoyed by millions of people across North America, has become even more enthusiastically embraced over the past couple of years as people have been spending more time at home.

Backyard bird feeding stations benefit our avian neighbors by supplying them with a steady supply of food. But having the birds around benefits us too! Birds, which are fascinating to watch, provide their human observers with a strong connection to the natural world.  Watching feeder birds is a great way to introduce children to nature and can kindle in them a healthy sense of wonder and joy.

Setting up a bird feeder is simple, easy and inexpensive. All that is needed is a sturdy feeder and, to start with, a small bag of medium sunflower chips. Once the birds start coming, this basic set up can be complemented with additional feeding stations and offerings, including black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, quality seed blends and suet. Many pleasant hours of nature watching will be the reward for starting this hobby!

Black Oil Sunflower Seeds: The #1 Bird Seed!

Black oil sunflower seeds hold the distinction of being the most sought-after of all feeder seeds. In fact, sunflowers are not only dined on by dozens of bird species, but they are also eaten by a myriad of other creatures—from bees and many other species of insects to coyotes and deer. So nutritious and packed with essential nutrients are black oil sunflower seeds that they are also added as a dietary supplement for horses.

While there are many different varieties of sunflowers on the market today, all trace their origins back to the wild sunflower (Helianthus annus). Until recently, the most popular type of sunflower seed for feeding birds was the large striped variety. From that original North American stock, Russian researchers undertook a selective breeding program in the early 1900s. The resulting black oilseed variety, which was smaller, had a thinner shell, and more calories per gram, was then marketed around the world and soon became the number one ranking bird seed.

Not only are black oil sunflower seeds the best and most popular feeder fare, but they are also easy to grow. Plants will often germinate beneath bird feeding stations from the seeds that fall on the ground. If a more appropriate location is required, simply pull the small feral plants and use some of the birdseed to plant them elsewhere. With their bright yellow flowers and sturdy stalks, sunflowers add both interest and colour to gardens and flower beds. Once they ripen, the heads can be left on throughout the fall or broken off before the birds can extract all the seeds and set out later in the winter. Several species, especially jays, chickadees and crossbills, love to pick the seeds directly from the sunflower heads.

Black oil seeds can be dispensed in a variety of ways: ground-feeding birds will feed on them if they are thrown directly on the ground (under the canopy of large conifers is recommended since these areas tend to remain snow-free) as well from various feeders, including trays, covered trays, hoppers, and tube feeders that have large portals.

One downside of offering unshelled sunflower seeds is that the hulls can accumulate under the feeders and, if allowed to pile up, can become unsightly and even kill lawn grass. The droppings might also attract mice or voles. The presence of these small creatures isn’t necessarily bad—they can provide some interesting wildlife watching and may even bring in small owls and other small predators. Deer also love sunflower seeds, so if they become a problem, the feeding stations need to be raised so they are out of reach. To reduce the issue of accumulation, discarded hulls can simply be raked up on a regular basis.

BIRDS ATTRACTED TO BLACK OIL SUNFLOWER SEEDS: Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Canada and Blue Jay, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, European Starling, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-winged, Rusty and Brewer’s Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Pine Grosbeak, House and Purple Finch, Red and White-winged Crossbills, Common and Hoary Redpolls, American Goldfinch, Evening Grosbeak and House Sparrow.

Feeding Birds in the Fall

November – a month typified by shorter daylight and dropping temperatures - is a great time to get started on a backyard bird feeing program. Not only will bird feeding stations help our avian neighbors survive the long cold winter ahead, but having wild birds within view is guaranteed to make a Saskatchewan winter more interesting and inspiring.

For those who are new to bird watching and bird feeding, it is important to note that it is the availability of food, not temperature, that determines which bird species can thrive in our challenging winters and which must seek warmer climes. Those that depend on flowers and active insects must leave while those species that are adapted to survive on a paltry diet of seeds, frozen insects, buds and berries, carrion and/or live prey remain behind.

Supplemental food will be readily accessed by many bird species, and fall is an excellent time to start setting up feeding stations because the birds will soon learn where steady supplies are located. Some, like chickadees, might even establish their winter territories to include feeders.  

High quality seed is the foundation of a successful backyard bird feeding program.  To this end, avoid the widely available cheap seed mixtures that are laden with such non-palatable offerings such as milo (grain sorghum) and whole cereal grains (e.g., wheat, oats).  Mother Nature’s seeds are clean, of high quality, and are sold either as single seeds (e.g., sunflower seeds shelled and unshelled, peanuts shelled and unshelled,) or blended using a variety of nutritious and field-tested ingredients.

Myrna Pearman is the Resident Naturalist for Mother Nature’s seed and is the co-author, with Trevor Herriot, of Backyard Bird Feeding: A Saskatchewan Guide. It is available at Early’s or can be ordered from Nature Saskatchewan.  All proceeds from the sale of this book support Nature Saskatchewan’s conservation and education programs.

Check out Mother Nature's Bird Seed today:

While most birds head south at this time of the year a few of our feathered friends will stick it out for winter. Having the right food around can insure that you will have those birds hanging around your yard. As the temperature drops, birds will require food with higher energy content like sunflower or safflower seeds, mixed nuts or suet. You should also consider going with a shelled product as it will reduce the amount of waste underneath the feeder and cut down on the amount of undesirable animals attracted to your yard. Choosing the right feeder is also key to attracting the right birds, smaller port feeders or a mesh nut feeder will attract smaller birds like Chickadees, Nuthatches or Pine Siskans while discouraging larger birds like magpies. Check out our FF10 mesh feeder, 391pine tube feeder or 24211 have a Ball feeder for shelled sunflower seeds and our B00303 Fly Through and 395YH peanut mesh feeder for those mixed nuts. We also have a few hopper feeders that will accommodate both suet and seed like 50153 Lodge feeder 50144YH Deluxe Cedar Chalet or 50181YH Star Barn feeder.

Written by Early's Expert Cory Confrey October 2021

Setting up a bird feeder is easy, fun and very rewarding. Check out our video below: