Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412050020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEVE KARK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Over the years we've found that our winter birds have a strong preference for sunflower seeds, especially the black-oil variety. We buy the seed in 50-pound bags, and it is not unusual for us to go through 150 pounds in a single winter.
Some of that is taken by squirrels, but I see no reason they shouldn't have their share. They do have a bad habit, though, of selfishly sitting atop the feeder and scaring off the birds. Also, every once in a while they'll gnaw off the lid so they can get at the treasure trove of seed within. We've established a truce of sorts; the squirrels generally limit themselves to ruining one lid per season.
A pair of binoculars is helpful, as is a good guidebook. (Kit and George Harrison's "Birds of Winter" is a handy choice, though either the Audubon or the Peterson guide for the Eastern United States is excellent anytime.)
Before long, even novice birdwatchers should recognize the various birds by the peculiarities of their feeding habits.
For instance, it didn't take long to discover that chickadees and nuthatches don't mind hanging upside down from the feeder. Others, like cardinals and jays, strive to maintain a more dignified, upright position as they feed.
Indeed, the white-breasted nuthatch, a common visitor to our woods, actually spends most of its time creeping around upside down. It will fly to a spot on the tree above the feeder and work its way down the trunk, searching as it goes for spider eggs and other delicacies hidden in the bark.
Approaching from above, the nuthatch often misses the morsels hidden in the downward facing cracks in the bark, so nature has adapted another bird, the brown creeper, to work its way up the trunk, feeding on these "leftovers" as it goes.
On some days, it seems that the nuthatch, the black-capped chickadees and tufted titmice are at the feeder from sunup to sundown.
Often, they'll pick out a sunflower seed and fly to a nearby limb, where, grasping their prize in their tiny feet, they'll peck the seed until it opens and feast on the tender kernel within.
In their book, the Harrisons point out that because of the cold, birds that frequent winter feeders have to maintain energy levels that are roughly 20 times higher than during the summer months. So it's no wonder they spend so much time eating.
On the other hand, seeing them so often at the feeder at this time of year has also led to a common misconception, they say.
Many people believe that once they start feeding birds they must continue to do so all winter or the birds will starve. However, say the Harrisons, the results of a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin - where it is considerably colder than the New River Valley this time of year - have shown that birds obtain only about 25 percent of their daily energy requirements from feeders. The rest they get from the wild, as they always have.
During severe winters, however, the study also found that feeders do help. Under these conditions, survival rates for birds that visit a feeder can be twice as high as they are for those that rely entirely on food from the wild.
Scientific study or not, I'll still worry about "our" birds when we go away on a trip to avoid the cold ourselves. And I'll continue filling the feeder whenever I can. Even if it means 200 pounds of seed this year.
Steve Kark is an instructor at Virginia Tech and a correspondent for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau. He writes from his home in scenic Rye Hollow, in a remote part of Giles County south of Pearisburg.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***