What to do if you find a baby bird

To go to duncraft.com--click hereBlue jays and nest

Now that nesting season is upon us, it's not unusual for our Customer Service ladies to get phone calls from customers saying that they have found a baby bird on the ground, and asking what they can do about it.  Here are some answers that might help.

If you have found a baby bird on the ground, try to resist the temptation to "rescue" it.  It's almost impossible for the average person to provide the proper care and diet for baby birds.  They require live insect foods and need to be fed about every 20 minutes. Sadly, baby birds seldom survive when people attempt to take them in and feed and care for them.  In most cases the best thing to do when you find a baby bird out of the nest is to simply leave the bird alone. If the baby is feathered and hopping on the ground, or perched on a low branch, you can be sure the parents are close by, watching over it and feeding it.  It's normal for some baby birds to leave the nest before they are fully ready to fly.  The sooner you leave the area, the sooner the parents will be able to come back and tend to it.  However, if you have unrestrained outdoor dogs or cats, put them inside immediately and keep them inside until the baby bird is gone.

Rarely, you may find a live baby bird on the ground that has no feathers and is obviously not going to survive without your intervention.  Look for the nest and if possible, place the baby back in it and then leave the area.  The parent birds will not abandon the baby because you have touched it.  Birds have a very poor sense of smell and they won't be able to detect your human scent.  If you can see the nest, but cannot get to it for some reason, an acceptable solution would be to nail a small, open container as near to the nest as possible. Line it with dried grasses and put the baby in it for the parents to find.  They will hear and recognize the baby's chirps.  Or, if a nest has blown down with eggs or babies in it, you can nail a small basket to the tree where the nest was and put the remainder of the nest with the eggs and the babies in that.  Watch from a distance to see if the parents come back.

If you have watched the nest or baby bird for several hours and there has been no sign of the parents, it would be best to call a wildlife rehabilitator for advice.  Your local SPCA or Fish and Game Department will help you find one.  Don't move the baby bird or eggs until you have heard from the rehabilitator. They may prefer to retrieve the baby themselves or have special instructions for you.  Rehabilitators are licensed to do this work and are specially trained on how to take care of injured or abandoned birds and animals.  

     

Duncraft, Inc.   102 Fisherville Road   Concord NH  03303

800-593-5858

To go to duncraft.com--click here

Do you feed birds in summer?

To go to duncraft.com--click hereSummer Tanager on a bird bath

Many people restrict their bird feeding to the winter months and stop feeding during summer. But there are many reasons to continue feeding the birds all year long. Do you feed the birds in summer?  If you do, please post below and tell us about your summer feeding experiences!
 
One of the great reasons to feed birds in summer is to invite into your yard all the colorful migratory birds that have returned to us after the long winter. Grosbeaks, orioles, tanagers, mockingbirds, catbirds, and bluebirds are just a few of the summer birds that you can attract to your yard to enjoy their amazing colors and beautiful songs.
 
And although food is more plentiful in summer, it’s still possible that birds aren’t getting all the nutrition they need. Land development, stormy wet weather, droughts and any number of other circumstances can limit the availability of food for birds.  And an adequate food supply is especially important for nesting birds. Not only do they have to feed themselves, but also their constantly hungry babies. And many birds raise several broods each summer.
 
Here are a some bird feeding tips that will help you attract summer birds and provide them with the added nutrition that birds might need: 
 Orioles enjoying grape jelly and an orange
Offer a variety of foods besides bird seed. You can attract many fruit and insect eating birds with chunks of apple and banana for cardinals, robins, mockingbirds and others, oranges and grape jelly for orioles, and nectar for hummingbirds. Insect eating birds will be attracted to live, canned or roasted mealworms, or a snack of live or dried waxworms or fly larvae.
 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Offer suet. Suet is an excellent high-energy food for busy parent birds and it’s easily digestible for nestlings and fledglings. Parent birds will frequently bring their newly fledged babies to your suet feeders and teach them to eat on their own—a delightful thing to watch! And many insect eating birds will be attracted to suet—especially catbirds. But suet can tend to melt and get sticky in very hot weather. Use a no-melt suet, which has a slightly drier consistency and less fat than other suets. No-melt  or "all season" will be stated on the package. And Duncraft’s Can you guess what bird this is? Answer below!“Delight” suets and suet pellents are also no-melt. 
 
If you are using uncovered tube feeders, consider investing in a weather baffle. Weather baffles are great for keeping rain and moisture from seeping into your feeders. Weather baffles can also shade your suet and nectar feeders from hot sun.
 

Check your feeders, seed and suet often, especially after a bout of rainy weather. No bird feeders are completely water proof, and water in your feeders can cause seed to sprout and seed and suet to go moldy—very unhealthy for your Eastern Bluebirdbirds. If you detect mold or sprouting seeds, empty and thoroughly clean your feeders before refilling. 

  

Nyjer seed can be particularly susceptable to damp conditions.  It may look fine in the tube, but Nyjer can become hard and caked up if it's exposed to moisture.  Frequently shake your Nyjer tubes and stockings to make sure the seed is still flowing.  Many times when your finches stop feeding, it's because the Nyjer seed has gotten caked together into a hard mass.

 

Be sure to give your birds water!  Birds get most of their water from the insects they eat in summer and also from berries, but they still enjoy a drink now and then.  And birds bathe frequently in usmmer to help remove parasites, clean their skin and remove oil and dirt from their feathers to keep them in top-flight condition.

 

Enjoy your summer birds--and be sure to post below with any special summer feeding advice you might have and why you enjoy feeding the birds all summer!

 

   

 

Duncraft, Inc.   102 Fisherville Road   Concord, NH  03303

800-593-5656

To go to duncraft.com--click here

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

Why do you love your Duncraft Food Club?

To go to duncraft.com--click here

Click the Banner to find out how to get your 10% off on EVERY food order!

Over the years, thousands of our customers have enjoyed the convenience of Duncraft’s Food Club. The best thing about the Food Club is that members receive a 10% discount on all their food orders, but the convenience of knowing when your specialized order is going to automatically arrive is certainly a close second!

And we’re always trying to improve our Club! Recently we have begun a monthly random drawing—whoever wins gets that month’s shipment absolutely free! And we already have our first winner! Maureen C. Connelly of Albany NY has won her July shipment at no charge—and she’s been a satisfied member since January 2009! Congratulations Maureen!
 
Many of our customers have been loyal Food Club members for over 10 years—so we must be doing something right!
 
How long have you been a member? And how is it working out for you? Post below and let us know!
  
Duncraft, Inc.   102 Fisherville Road  Concord NH  03303
800-593-5656
To go to duncraft.com--click here

Amazing "Miracle Meals"--our newest bird-attracting wonder food!

To go to duncraft.com--click here After many years of inventing and testing seed blends, we’ve hit on another winner! We call it  Miracle Meal. We were amazed at the response we got from our wild birds when we tested this new food. Woodpeckers, grosbeaks, titmice, chickadees, finches and bluebirds, among others,  just went wild for it!  This summer we are introducing four blends of cornmeal based  Miracle Meals. Bluebirds and other birds love  all the flavors and will also feed these delectable mixture to their fledglings. The miracle is how fast birds find the food and simply ... (read more)

Offer your birds water--there are choices for every situation

To go to duncraft.com--click here Water is critical to birds! Birds bathe to keep their feathers in top-flight condition by removing dirt, oils and as an aid in preening. And they really seem to enjoy a good splash. Birds are particularly attracted to moving water—perhaps because moving, flowing water is perceived as being fresher and cooler than still water.   No matter what your situation, you can provide water for birds.  If you have the room, a pedestal bath is the choice most people make because pedestal baths add a focal point to the landscape. You can enhance your pedestal bath with drippers or mini waterfalls to ... (read more)

All about Mourning Doves!

To go to duncraft.com--click here Of all our backyard birds, perhaps one of the most familiar is the Mourning Dove. But how much do we really know about this sometimes under-appreciated bird?  Mourning Doves are one of twelve doves that can be found in the U.S. And besides the Rock Dove, or common city pigeon, they are the most widespread. So, wherever you live, chances are you have Mourning Doves in your area.   Mourning Doves are interesting for a variety of reasons. One interesting fact is that their wings make a whistling sound when they take off in flight. It actually sounds like the bird is chirping, but it’s not. ... (read more)

Butterflies, Bees and Ladybugs!

To go to duncraft.com--click here Imagine surveying your garden and seeing it alive with beautiful, fluttering butterflies, landing here and there, stretching their wings and showing off their amazing colors and patterns!  And then looking closer, watching little ladybugs peacefully negotiating leaves and stems, and bees climbing in and out of flowers, laden with pollen.  These wonderful insects are not just intriguing to watch, they are beneficial in so many ways. Ladybugs love to eat aphids—those little sucking bugs that ruin your roses and other flowers and plants. And they eat many other types of little chewing pests that you may not ... (read more)

Keeping our Wild Birds Healthy

 To go to duncraft.com--click here Feeding is a great way to enjoy birds in our yards.  And many times, especially in winter, our bird feeders provide extra nourishment that birds might not be able to get from natural, wild sources. But it’s important to make sure we are helping the birds rather than hindering them or creating unhealthy conditions. So here are a few tips to make sure our wild birds stay healthy all year long.   First and foremost, keep your feeders clean. Droppings, debris and old seed that has gone moldy can create conditions that spread sickness and diseases among birds. Clean your feeders well at ... (read more)

WaxSnax--the easy way to attract lots more birds!

To go to duncraft.com--click here If you’re looking for a super-easy-to-feed food that all birds crave, you have to try WaxSnax! Not only do familiar backyard birds love them, they’re the perfect food to attract beautiful insect-eating birds that you wouldn’t otherwise see at your feeders. The list of insect eating birds that you might see is a long one, and includes bluebirds, tanagers, wrens, catbirds, thrushes, orioles, cardinals, robins, mockingbirds and waxwings—among others! Feeding WaxSnax is a great way to lure these beautiful birds into your yard.     So what are WaxSnax? They’re roasted wax worms ... (read more)

Attract cardinals to your yard

To go to duncraft.com--click here   For northerners, there is seldom a more welcome sight on a blustery winter day than the flashy red male cardinal and his attractive mate.  Even their call, an exuberant "cheer, cheer, cheer" brightens up a dreary day.   But the Northern Cardinal was not always a northern bird—it was originally a bird of the southeast. As early settlers moved west and northward along the Mississippi River, they cleared the land of dense forests and the cardinal followed, preferring the more open terrain. By the early 1900’s, cardinals had reached southernmost Canada, and by the ... (read more)