Watching birds at backyard feeders is one of life's greatest simple joys-but with that joy comes responsibility. "Just as you wash your own dishes for guests before you have a party, it's good to wash your bird feeders periodically," says Emma Grieg, project leader for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. "It helps reduce the spread of diseases transmitted by germs left by sick birds."
To-Do List
Emma recommends cleaning your seed feeders every two weeks. If you see sick birds, you should clean your feeders more often or consider taking them down. But if you have few visitors and everyone seems healthy, you can clean a little less often. It's important to regularly check your birdseed, suet and other foods to ensure they haven't gone moldy or rancid, especially in hot or wet weather.
Bu hikaye Birds & Blooms dergisinin August/September 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Birds & Blooms dergisinin August/September 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Sense or Nonsense? - Why some birds can taste and smell - but others can't
Does a porcelain berry taste like a blueberry to a gray catbird? Does a block of lard smell like frying bacon to a northern flicker? The short answer is no. While some avian species do have a well-adapted sense of taste or smell, they can't distinguish between flavors and odors the way humans can. They're not picking up every ingredient in the suet you put out, says José Ramírez-Garofalo, an ornithology researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the director of Freshkills Biological Station in Staten Island, New York.
Maple Mania - Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
Food-Focused and Fierce - Meet Canada jays and learn why they eat almost anything they can find
Even if you haven't heard of Canada jays, you've heard of their relatives. Members of the corvid family, they belong to the same group as American crows, blackbilled magpies, and jays including blue, Steller's and scrub. "Unlike many of the other jays, a Canada jay doesn't have a crest of any kind; it just has a rounded head," says Dale Gentry, director of conservation for Audubon Upper Mississippi River.In 2018, the Canada jay's name was changed from gray jay, but Dale thinks the former adjective was fitting. "Most of its body is shades of gray with some white," he says. "There are different subspecies that have different physical traits, but most of them have some lighter coloring on their foreheads, upper breasts and throats, each with a darker streak that starts at each eye and goes back."
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