Decorate a Holiday Bird Tree!

   
This year, why not decorate a special Holiday Tree for the birds with bird-edible ornaments and tasty treats? It can be a tree bare of leaves or a beautiful evergreen. Either way, bird trees look festive and charming in your yard and attract a lot of bird-attention!
Although Duncraft creates new holiday shapes each year that are perfect for decorating and gift giving, it's also fun to make your Click to request a free catalog!own treats for the birds. Try stringing popcorn and cranberries on thread and drape it around the tree. And of course, there’s the old favorite—pine cones coated with peanut butter and then rolled in birdseed. Tie them to the tree with a red bow! You can make a simple high fat food by mixing equal parts shortening, peanut butter and seeds. Shape it into balls, push a loop of twine into the center for hanging and then freeze on a flat surface. You can add other ingredients too, if you wish. Wheat germ, cornmeal, raisins, chopped orange, pears and bananas can be added in varying amounts.  When frozen, your ornaments can be transferred into a freezer bag until needed. Or slice apples thinly and hang each slice with twine.
  
Bird Seed Ball SamplerIf time doesn’t allow for making homemade treats, don’t despair! Try Duncraft's nutritious bird seed treats. Our grapevine star is the perfect topper for a small tree, and gingerbread men, teddy bears and our Holiday Seed Garland make decorating a snap. Or combine a few of our treats with some of your own.
  
Feeding the birds year-round is a hobby most of us enjoy, but feeding birds during the holidays is especially fun and rewarding—it provides much-needed nourishment for the birds and brings families together to enjoy nature, each other, and the beauty of the season.
 
 
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Duncraft, Inc.  102 Fisherville Road  Concord NH  03303
800-593-5656
 
www.duncraft.com

A Visit to Plum Island, Massachusetts

  Map of Plum Island off the coast of Massachusetts

Plum Island is an 8 mile long barrier island off the coast of Newburyport, Massachusetts. At the southern end is Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Located on the Atlantic Flyway, it’s a vital stopover for migrating songbirds, waterfowl and shorebirds and a wonderful place for birdwatching. In fact it’s known as one of the top-ten birding sites in the country with over 300 species of migratory birds being seen there.

 

 

The beaches are home to Piping Plovers, gulls, terns and sandpipersBeach side sand duneThe western marshes are a haven for ducks, egrets and many other shorebirdsMarsh view

Cormorant taking flight Marsh reeds and grasses and a distant Snowy Egret

Trumpeter swans in the distanceQuaint seaside window

At the time of my visit in late September, most of the migratory birds were gone, but there was still an abundance of egrets, ducks, swans and cormorants to be seen in the salt and freshwater marshes on the west and gulls and terns along the beach on the eastern side. And non-migratory songbirds were plentiful among the thickets of bayberry, marsh elder and sweet gale. At this time of year, with a minimum of human visitors, the refuge is quiet and peaceful with beautiful vistas. If you’re a bird and nature lover, definitely make this refuge a stop if you ever visit New England!

 

Duncraft, Inc.  102 Fisherville Road,  Concord  NH  03303

800-593-7878

www.duncraft.com

 

Top 10 Winter Bird Feeding Mistakes to Avoid

by Bill Thompson, III

If you feed the birds in your yard, you probably know that there are some things that work and others that fail miserably. In the spirit of David Letterman's famous Top Ten Lists, here are the Top Ten Winter Bird Feeding Mistakes to Avoid.

10. Filling your tube feeder with mixed seed  If you do this, all the seed will run out onto the ground, making the sparrows, pigeons, and blackbirds very happy. Solution: Use sunflower seed instead.

9. Ground feeding in the same place all winter If you scatter seed on the ground all winter in one place, you will create a stinky, messy, unhealthy zone that will be hard to clean up in the spring. Solution: Change feeding spots several times, especially during wet weather.

8. Ignoring feeder hygiene  Yes, it's cold outside, but dirty feeders can still make birds sick. Solution: Wash your feeders at least monthly in a light (9:1) water-bleach solution. Rinse thoroughly and allow to air dry.

7. Buying your seed at the grocery store  OK, some stores do sell good seed mixes, but most just sell cheap mixes. And there's a reason this seed is so cheap. Solution: Read the label. The ingredients should be sunflower, millet, and cracked corn. If wheat, milo, barley, and other seeds are listed as main ingredients, get your seed elsewhere.

6. Feeding last year's leftover seed  Seed, like any other food, ages. Moths and weevils eat the seed. If your old seed is full of cobwebs, it's been invaded by flour moths and is no good. Solution: Throw it out and get new seed.

5. No feeder variety  Ground feeding is fine, but many birds prefer to use hanging or raised feeders. If you're feeding on the ground and are wondering where the chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers are, try this: Solution: Use hanging feeders (hopper style, or tube or satellite feeders) and limit the ground feeding; you'll soon get some other, smaller songbirds to visit your feeders.

4. Believing that no thistle seed means no goldfinches  This is not true. Sure, goldfinches, siskins, and other finches love thistle (or niger) seed. But it's an expensive seed to offer exclusively. Solution: All these species will come readily to feeders that stock only black-oil sunflower seed. Augment this with thistle if you wish.

3. Feeding birds lots of stale bread  The birds may seem to love your stale bread, but bread to a hungry bird is like popcorn is to a hungry human: Lots of filler, but no real nutritional value. Bread also attracts mostly starlings and house sparrows. Solution: Offer apples, oranges, meat scraps, rendered suet, mealworms, or other nutritional foods instead.

2. Trying to baffle squirrels  Losing the squirrel wars? Solution: Offer dried corn, either cracked or still on the ear, elsewhere in your yard, away from your bird feeders. You might distract the squirrels for an entire day. And you might learn to love them!

1. Taking down your feeder so the birds will migrate  It is simply not true that your feeders keep birds from migrating. (By the way, hummingbirds don't migrate on the backs of geese, either.) Birds that migrate know when to leave. Your feeders, no matter how nice and well-stocked they are, will not delay a migrant sparrow, finch, or grosbeak for even one second. Solution: Feed birds all year long if you like doing so. And don't worry, be happy!

 

Reprinted with permissions from Bird Watcher's Digest© Copyright 2001 Bird Watcher's Digest. All Rights ReservedReproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium withoutexpress written permission is prohibited.

Blog Selections: Migrating Warblers

Blog selections: Migrating Warblers September 6, 2011[edit] Here are a few interesting blog posts about migrating warblers. Enjoy! The Warblers Are Coming Migrating Warblers pass through the Tri-State area in early Spring, some stay for the Summer. The migration starts slowly, builds up, then fades. Mid April is usually the beginning of the best time to see and photograph Warblers in our … Publish Date: 04/08/2011 18:46 http://naturephoto411.blogspot.com/2011/04/warblers-are-coming.html My Work Here is Done | Big Year 2011 Warblers were everywhere. Ryerson Woods along the Des Plaines River seemed to have several migrating warblers in ... (read more)

Duncraft's NEW Eco-Friendly Bird Feeders

Duncraft has been a busy place lately, making lots of new Eco-friendly products right here in Concord, NH. We've recently added new manufacturing equipment specifically for producing bird feeders and houses out of recycled plastic. The plastic we use has been made from type 2 recycled milk jugs, laundry detergent and bleach containers and other heavy plastics. When recycled into planks, this material can be used to make beautiful bird feeders that are Eco-friendly and last a lifetime. The colors are vibrant, never fade and the material won't ever warp or crack. And since the material is non-porous, it's super easy to keep clean and sanitary.Come look at all ... (read more)

"The Best" Duncraft's #1 Best Window Feeder!

Duncraft’s newest window feeder lets you see birds up-close in amazing detail. Duncraft’s Mirrored Window Feeder attaches to the outside of any window with four strong suction cups, so birds come right to the window to get their bird food. Best of all, it has optical-quality mirror film on the back. Birds see only their own reflections as they eat, so sudden movements inside the house won’t startle them. They continue to feed, unaware of anything behind the window. That means you get continuous, close-up views of the birds! Even young children can approach the window and watch birds without frightening them away. And it’s great fun for ... (read more)

"The Best" - The Squirrel Buster Plus, Duncraft's #1 Best Selling Feeder

What does it really mean to be "the best" when it comes to bird feeders? Is it defined by the number that are sold? The effectiveness at resisting squirrels? The versatility of how it can be used? Or is it something else? However you choose to define it, though, it's clear that the best feeder we offer is the Squirrel Buster Plus, Duncraft's most popular bird feeder. Let's look at all of these qualifications to see how the Squirrel Buster Plus is the best at what it does. From a sales standpoint, no other bird feeder can top it - it's Duncraft's #1 best selling feeder. It's hard to argue with those numbers, and yet - WHY is the Squirrel Buster ... (read more)

Four Simple Supplies for Beginning Birdfeeding

People feed birds for lots of reasons, but the main reason most people begin feeding birds is simply to bring birds into their yards where they can see them better. Watching birds arriving at your feeder or birdbath is a constant pleasure, and even the most experienced backyard birder never tires of watching birds and their interesting behaviors. If you are just beginning birdfeeding, you will get the best results (meaning more birds!) by just knowing a few basics. Seed: Start with Black Oil Sunflower seed! It’s inexpensive and it’s available with the hulls still on, or you can purchase whole sunflower hearts or chips where the ... (read more)

Platform Feeders for the Greatest Variety of Birds!

)   Platform feeders, often called “fly-through” feeders, are any feeders that have an open, flat tray for placing a variety of foods. Platform feeders come in lots of styles--some with roofs, or removable screens for cleaning and drainage; they can be ground or hanging feeders, they can be extremely simple or very ornate. But one thing all platforms and fly-through feeders have in common is that they attract the widest variety of birds. Large birds feel much more comfortable feeding on a stable platform than trying to squeeze themselves onto a precarious perch! And small birds that are able to maneuver easily on a swaying tube ... (read more)

Feeding Fruits and Nuts in Winter

In summer birds use most of their energy foraging for food and nesting. Food is plentiful and birds have a wide variety of fruits, berries, seeds, insects and nuts to choose from as well as the food they get at our feeders. A varied diet is almost guaranteed!  However, in winter birds use the majority of their energy stores just to keep warm. And by mid-winter, the majority of fruits and berries left on shrubs are gone and insects are non-existent. While it’s easy to keep the feeders stocked with seeds, consider supplementing with fruits and nuts so birds continue to get a varied diet with lots of high-energy foods. While many fruit-eating birds ... (read more)