Happy President’s Day!  Post a caption for this cute pic and you could win a $15.00 Duncraft Value Card.  Winner will be chosen on Friday, February 24th.  Check back each Monday for a new image and a new chance to win!

It takes 75 lbs. of sunflower seeds in the shell to get 25 lbs. of 100% bird edible, sunflower heart meats. Two thirds the weight of sunflower seeds is shell that can’t be eaten by the birds! So why should customers pay for inedible bird food? With Duncraft’s No-Waste blends, they don’t have to.

No matter how tough the times, bird lovers continue to spend money feeding their birds.  Backyard bird feeding is a wonderful hobby that can be enjoyed by everyone and requires little expense—just the cost of a bird feeder and bird seed.

But these days, customers aren’t just grabbing cheap bird seed from the big box stores, hoping to save money. They’re looking for value—just what are they paying for?

Because bird seed is sold by the pound, cheap bird seed blends may contain inexpensive filler seeds that birds just won’t eat, such as wheat, milo and red millet. You can see all the milo, wheat, and un-cracked corn in the picture to the right–click to see full size. All that seed ends up on the ground, uneaten. Not to mention all the discarded shells from the sunflower seeds. So, how much bird-edible food did the customer actually get? Probably not half what they paid for.

Duncraft’s selection of No-Waste bird seed blends are nearly 100% bird edible.  Customers don’t pay for inedible shells or unwanted seeds. Only sunflower heart meats and chips, peanut bits, shelled tree nuts, cracked corn, dried fruits, millet and Nyjer seeds go into No-Waste blends—birds eat every bit! And since there’s no build up of shells under the bird feeders, critters aren’t attracted and feeding areas stay clean and healthy. For bird lovers looking for real value in bird seed, Duncraft’s No-Waste blends are the answer.

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All summer, both insect and seed-eating birds eat enormous amounts of insects for the high level of protein they provide.  Some birds such as grosbeaks, tanagers and many warblers eat caterpillars and insects at the top of the tree canopy, while others, such as towhees and wood thrushes concentrate on the bugs and beetles of the forest floor.  Other birds are able to take insects in flight, such as swallows, bluebirds, phoebes and martins.  Even the seed-eating birds such as chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, blue jays and other birds you see at your feeders eat lots of insects in the summer.

Feeding insect foods to your birds in winter can really boost their protein intake when live insects are not available. These days, there’s such a large selection of insect foods the only difficulty is choosing which foods to offer. Here we’ll list some of the insect foods available to you and your birds.

Live Mealworms:  Mealworms contain about 58% pure protein and are an excellent food year round. Because they move, they are a strong visual attractant that birds can’t resist. Feeding live mealworms in winter might seem odd.  Yes, if it’s below freezing, the mealworms will freeze, but winter birds are accustomed to eating frozen foods and it won’t bother them.  However, the Audubon Society warns against freezing mealworms intentionally and feeding them in spring.  Birds will bring the frozen mealworms back to their nestlings and frozen foods are not good for the babies.  Live mealworms are not for the squeamish, but birds love them.  They do need to be fed and refrigerated in an aerated container.  Mealworms generally arrive with complete instructions.

Dried or Roasted Mealworms: Since all the protein in mealworms is contained in the exoskeleton, dried mealworms have almost as much protein as live mealworms and they require no special storage.  You can leave them in the container they arrived in and they have a very long shelf life.  Mix them with your seed blends, or serve them alone from a dish or on a platform feeder.

Canned Mealworms: Canned mealworms retain their natural juices, so they are much like live mealworms, but of course they don’t move. They’re very convenient to use.  Once opened, canned mealworms will go bad after a time and they do have to be refrigerated.

Foods containing insects:  Mealworms can be combined with other foods to make them even more nutritious.  Suet with mealworms is available in cakes, pellets or Nuggets.  Duncraft also offers its exclusive Amazing Insect Miracle Meal which is scrumptious and easy to feed.  Or your birds may enjoy mealworms mixed with cranberries and/or blueberries.

WaxSnax  WaxSnax are actually Waxworms which are the larvae of the wax moth.  They are a very robust food loved by birds.  They are available live, but Duncraft only offers the dried ones.  Like dried mealworms, they have a very long shelf life and require no special storage.

Visit Duncraft’s Insect Foods category for all the wonderful insect foods you can choose from to feed your birds this winter!

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We’re all familiar with the age-old tale of “the birds and the bees” – yet even though birds are included in this childhood allegory, they’re not exactly among the best exemplars of what we might deem “romantic love” among animals. Despite the fact that many of your beautiful backyard birds are in fact monogamous, this applies only if we take monogamous to mean that two birds stay together throughout one nesting season and no longer.

Monogamy can also be stretched in these instances to mean a pair that stays together to raise a brood in one season, but switches partners midway through that same season to produce another brood. Even though the male bird has technically already formed a pair bond with the female bird, he moves on to another female bird. This is not out of any lack of imagined faithfulness – studies have shown that mortality rates among first-year songbirds is extremely high, so optimal reproduction is the point of this “promiscuity.” Whatever the case may be, this monogamy is less a product of any kind of romantic notions and more a factor of simply practical demands.

What happens if a mate of one of these birds dies mid-season, however? With our romantic mindset, we might suppose that the surviving bird is simply too broken-hearted to ever try and find another mate. Since it’s been established that birds care little for the romantic aspect of things, however, this is very rarely the case, if ever. All these birds will simply move on to finding a new mate. Some will do it immediately and within the same season, others will scrounge around for sustenance and join a flock after breeding season, and still others will assist in raising the other birds’ newborns – but all will be on the lookout at some point or another for a new mate.

Then there are the birds, such as doves and robins, whose bonds last over several seasons and are commonly referred to as mating for life – even though the surviving bird may still look for a new mate after the other one’s death.

Even those birds that truly do mate for life – among them swans, geese, and eagles – do so primarily because it works to their advantage. They expend a good deal of energy migrating, establishing their territory, and the like, so why bother wasting extra energy and time every year attempting to find a different mate? This way, they can better focus on their primary aim, which is reproduction.

At the end of the day, although birds may not conform to our notions of romance and monogamy, we can take comfort in knowing that they’re simply doing their part to ensure that beautiful birds will keep coming back to feed and bathe in your yard for years to come.

- By Sean Peick (Guest Writer)

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This weeks winner is Donna B with the caption “I know I owe you money, just put it on my bill!” Every Monday is a another chance to win a $15.00 Duncraft Value card!

Post a caption for this cute pic and you could win a $15.00 Duncraft Value Card.  Winner will be chosen on Friday, January 27th.  Check back each Monday for a new image and a new chance to win.  Good luck and have fun!

Back in October, Duncraft employee George, came home from a walk to find an interesting sight.  A beautiful Barred Owl was on the lawn outside his house.  George tiptoed past the owl so as not to alarm him and went inside to get his camera.  While taking a few pictures, George noticed something amiss.  Although the owl was alert, it seemed only able to hop and made no attempt to fly away.

The only conclusion George could make was that the owl had possibly flown into a nearby window on the house and was injured.  After several attempts to contact the local Audubon Society for assistance with no success, George decided to call the Loudon police department.

Luckily, George was able to contact Corporal Jason Fiske, a police officer, but also an avid animal lover.  Jason frequently rescues animals and was the perfect person for the job.  Jason quickly arrived on the scene and calmed the bird.  Then he picked it up and put it in a cardboard box for the ride to the local wildlife rehabilitator.

We have good news!  When the bird arrived at the rehabilitator, it was quickly examined for injuries.  They told Jason that the bird had a minor wing injury that would quickly heal and the bird would be released in no time.  Jason reported back to George about the good news.

Although he heard no more information about the owl, George is quite sure it’s now living its life back in the wild.  Hopefully it will steer clear of George’s house in the future, and we were glad to hear the story had a happy ending. Thank you George, for sharing your story and for remembering the camera!

There are many names for this wonderful owl of the Arctic.  Sometimes they’re called the Arctic Owl, the Great White Owl or Harfang.  One of the largest and heaviest of the North American owls, the adult Snowy male is almost pure white.  Juveniles have beautiful dark scalloping on their feathers that lightens but never disappears on mature females and they have heavily feathered legs.

In summer and in breeding season the Snowy owl is a bird of the Arctic Circle and open tundra, preying on the abundant supply of lemmings. In winter these stunningly beautiful owls follow other prey, and in North America they can come south as far as Wisconsin, Illinois and Washington state in search of food.  On rare occasions they’ve even been seen in Georgia and Texas!

Their southward migration is irruptive–some winters hundreds of Snowy Owls can be seen in the southern reaches of its range, delighting birdwatchers,  while in other years only a few arrive.  One of the reasons for this may be the population of lemmings. When the lemming population drops, the owls seek other foods including Arctic and Snow hares, rats, squirrels, moles, fish and birds such as ptarmigan and waterfowl–all of which can lead them to the southern most portions of their range.  They’ll also follow trap lines and prey on caught mammals.

The Snowy Owl has few predators, among them other owls and Golden Eagles.  However, nesting birds attract more attention.  While nesting both sexes will defend their nest of 5 – 14 eggs or offspring against Arctic foxes, wolves, and other predators by diving at the predator or exhibiting distraction behaviors.

So, keep watch, because the Snowy Owl is an active bird that travels great distances.  Someday you might chance to see one in your state.

Listen to the Snowy Owl!   

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Not even the most avid backyard birders can necessarily lay claim to being a trained ornithologist. This has the potential to lead to a lot of mistaken identities when telling all your friends what kind of birds you attract, or worse – buying the wrong kind of seed for a bird that you think is actually another bird. Armed with a field guide, however, you can easily make yourself – if not into an ornithologist – into at least someone who is capable of telling one bird from another. That is, assuming you understand the terminology those guides use to describe different parts of the bird. I mean, if a field guide told you that the distinctive part of one bird was to be found in the lore, while another bird was easily identified by its bright wing coverts, how many of you would be able to easily figure that out? Probably not that many – which is why I’m including a handy list of common avian anatomical terms below. That way, the next time a field guide tells you to look for the eyering, you know what it’s talking about.

Crown - The top of a bird’s head

Eyering – A circle of feathers around the eye that is a different color from the rest of the head

Upper Mandible - The upper part of the beak

Lower Mandible - The lower part of the beak

Lore – The area that can be found between a bird’s eye and bill on the side of the head

Wattle - A fleshy flap of skin that hangs around the head or neck

Nape – The back of the neck

Primary Feathers - Located on the outside edges of the wings, these are the feathers that are narrowest and longest

Wing Coverts – These are the feathers that are located on the leading edge of the wings. They cover the bases of the primary and secondary feathers.

Mantle - A bird’s back along with its folded wings

Breast - This area is found right below the front of the neck, and is a normal spot for distinctive color markings

Underparts - Spanning from wing to wing, this denotes a bird’s underside

Tail Feathers – The feathers on the tail

Happy Birding!

- By Sean Peick (Guest Writer)

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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 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 shortening, peanut butter and enough seeds or other foods to create a stiff consistency.  Shape it into balls or pat flat and cut with a cookie cutter. You can use a pencil to create a hole for hanging with twine.  You can add other ingredients too, if you wish. Wheat germ, cornmeal, raisins, chopped orange, pears and bananas can be added in varying amounts.  Freeze until needed. Or slice apples thinly and hang each slice with twine.

It’s a common question among backyard birders – where do the birds that don’t migrate south for the winter sleep during those frigid nights? Not only that, but how on earth do they manage to stay warm? The answers to these questions may surprise you.

First, where they sleep. It may sound like a cop-out, but it’s true – most birds will sleep anywhere they can that they think will keep them warm. Songbirds such as cardinals, finches, and blue jays will usually seek out patches of thick vegetation, such as brambles, briers, or grape vines. Other naturally-occurring shelters that these birds will use include conifers and ivy-covered walls. Other songbirds – like woodpeckers, wrens, nuthatches and titmice – will seek out cavity-like shelters similar to the ones that they nest in.

Yet these shelters alone will not do the trick of keeping a bird warm during the winter nights. Birds have thus developed several other biological mechanisms and behaviors that aid them in their quest for survival. For starters, birds have much higher metabolisms than do humans, and consequently have much higher internal body temperatures. It varies by the bird, but the average body temperature is around 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Even with this higher starting point, it is hard for birds to maintain their temperature, having a disproportionate large amount of surface area to heat up relative to their core volume that generates it. So how do they overcome this? First, foremost, and most obvious are their feathers. Feathers are a great source of insulation against the cold, and many birds even grow extra feathers in the winter to further provide warmth. Not only this, but the oil that covers the feathers also provides another source of insulation. As a last option, birds will also fluff their feathers out – doing this creates air pockets that provides still more insulation.

It’s not just the feathers, however. Birds’ legs and feet are covered with specialized scales that are able to minimize heat loss. Not only that, but birds have the ability to constrict blood flow to their limbs via their control over the temperatures over their legs and feet – which further minimizes the heat loss. It’s also not uncommon to see birds tucking their limbs and other uncovered body parts underneath their feathers to afford them the same insulation that the rest of their body is getting.

So the next time you see one of your beautiful backyard birds looking for a place to sleep on a winter’s evening, don’t assume that it’ll be the last time you see that bird alive. Odds are that, thanks to its survival mechanisms, you’ll see it flying around again the next day, eating your seed as usual.

- By Sean Peick (Guest Writer)

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