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April 27th, 2010 by Gene Wolf

Ahh, the birds are nesting, they’re dashing back and forth across your yard in beautiful flashes of color and filling your yard with beautiful song. You can now sit back and enjoy your hard work, and theirs, for the rest of the summer, right? Not quite. Yes, the work you have to do is not as hard as it was in the early spring when you had to put up the houses, feeders and birdbaths, but your work is not over. Keeping your birds happy and healthy takes only a little bit of work over the summer but it’s as important as giving them some place to live.

Your responsibility to the birds you invited to join your family didn’t end when you put up a few birdhouses and set up feeders. For example, even though you have put out a birdbath you should check it every few days to make sure it is still clean. Over the spring and summer leaves may get into it from nearby trees. The combination of heat, sunlight and water can also turn a clean birdbath into an unwelcoming slimy eyesore. Checking your birdbaths every few days will ensure this doesn’t happen. If you see algae trying to get a foothold pour a cup of bleach into your birdbath and stand guard over it while it does its work. After 5 minutes pour out the water, scrub it gently and refill your birdbath with fresh clean water. It’ll be a welcome sight to your birds once more.

Food is also important this time of year. While birds are quite capable of finding their own helping them out doesn’t hurt either. Now you have options depending on the types of birds you have attracted to your yard. Most of us have seed eaters and a few bird feeders filled with seed suited to the birds you have is perfect. If you have insect eaters, like Bluebirds, you can purchase live meal worms and place them in a clean glass or plastic steep sided bowl. I find the inexpensive plastic Glad bowls you can get in a grocery store work very well. The meal worms cannot crawl out and the bowls are so light they can be mounted on almost anything and placed next to the birdhouses.

Feeding in the winter and feeding in the summer are two totally different things. In the summer you have to deal with summer showers, heat and humidity. Much to my embarrassment I learned years ago that these three things can turn the seed in any feeder into a cement hard mass. Please check your feeders every few days to prevent this from happening. If you notice that you have a feeder your birds are not frequenting and the seed level is not dropping you probably have the beginnings of Mt. Rushmore forming in it.

As mentioned earlier it’s important to make sure your birds have an adequate supply of fresh clean water. However one thing many people don’t realize is that the placement of your birdbath is critical and that does not necessarily mean right near your birdhouses. If you place your birdbath near a hedgerow or even in your flower garden you may be putting it in a perfect spot for stalking cats to lie in wait for your birds. Once in a birdbath a bird can see for a distance but they cannot see nearby and under the birdbath because their view is obstructed by the edge of the birdbath. If a cat was hiding in your flowers or in the taller grass near a hedgerow you have set the perfect trap. Try to place your birdbath in an area as open as possible so your birds can see the area clearly before going to the birdbath. This will make it much more difficult for any stray cats to take advantage of your birds.

The lazy hazy days of summer are coming and you deserve a break from all the work you did in the late winter and early spring to get set up for your feathered friends. However just a little more work throughout these days helps your friends greatly and they repay you with song and brilliant flashes of color. Isn’t that a great trade?

Wolf Mountain Birdhouses looking for resellers. If you’ve ever wanted your own business here’s your opportunity. If you’re interested go to Wolf Mountain Birdhouses and look for the announcement concerning resellers.