– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension
Happy New Year Readers!
Now that you’ve enjoyed your tree, re-purpose it for the birds!
A new year lays before us with a whole calendar of days to fill with aspirations and memories in the making. Over the past year, many of us have learned to embrace the moment, find joy in the little things, and tell people how much we care about them every chance we get, knowing that tomorrow is waiting on the horizon, but not promised to each of us. I hope that each day you will wake with a sense of purpose and that on the days that purpose seems lost, you will persist to another bright morning.
Something that brings me joy in the mornings of cold winters is the colorful flutter of songbirds at my bird feeder. The area in which we live is prime for a variety of songbirds to inhabit with a plentiful mix of grassy meadows, early successional, and mid-successional forests. A fun way to draw songbirds close to your windows for viewing is to recycle your live Christmas tree into a buffet for birds.
After fully removing the holiday trimmings from your tree, wrap it in a tarp or an old sheet to reduce mess and move it outdoors again. Choose an area that is highly visible for you where the tree can be secured. Redecorate the tree with materials that are both biodegradable and edible for wildlife. Use strings made of natural biodegradable fibers to attach suet treats, fruits, nuts, mini feeders for seed, and/or unbuttered popcorn to the branches for the birds to enjoy. Other wildlife may be drawn to the tree as well. Redecorate as often as you wish and dispose of the tree when desired by removing and composting the branches and chipping the stump.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, there are many household food scraps that can be safely fed to birds in the winter. These can include seeds from melons and squashes that have been air dried and stale baked goods, however, do not offer food that are moldy. Also remember that table scraps may attract undesirable wildlife like European starlings, house sparrows, rats, or raccoons. These species can be a real problem in urban and suburban areas, so be considerate of your neighbors before feeding leftovers and only provide kitchen scraps that can be consumed before nightfall each day.
There are a variety of birds including robins, thrushes, bluebirds, and waxwings who are rarely spotted at seed feeders, because seeds are not a primary source of food for these species. Fruit on the other hand can be quite attractive. Soften dried fruits by soaking them in water first and feeding in a shallow tray. Mockingbirds, catbirds, tanagers, and orioles may also be enticed by apples, oranges, and other fresh or frozen fruit.
When our tree is ready to leave the living room, we will retrim the tree to bring additional delight to our family and the birds throughout the often-tedious months of January and February.
Consult the resources available online at https://feederwatch.org/ to find more details about winter birding.