Cats and Birds information on net.

For a bird watcher, the best part of feeding wild birds in the back yard is that you don't have to hunt for them; they come to you.

But food alone won't bring flocks of birds to your yard. These feathered creatures also need water and shelter, which in the depths of winter are more important than food.

Late autumn, winter and early spring are prime bird-feeding seasons because the seeds, berries and insects available in the summer are gone or buried under snow. Water sources are also frozen or dried up, leaving birds searching for water. They also seek places to get out of the cold and wind.

So the formula for attracting a bevy of birds is this: a high- energy menu for breakfast and dinner, a shallow pool of water, and a landscape nearby of shrubs or the thick foliage of evergreen trees.

First the food. Birds tend to feed most heavily twice a day. They use a lot of energy staying warm during long, cold winter nights. At first light, they look for a meal. In late afternoon, they need to eat again in order to get through the next night.

"People love to use the black oil sunflower seeds for food because you get the widest variety of birds with it," says Sherry Little, owner of Pet Vittles in the Spokane Valley.

Black oil sunflower seeds, which are solid black, attract finches, woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches. Many birds won't bother with the sunflower seeds with white stripes.

Mixed bird food is also widely available, and Little includes a house blend among her offerings -- a mixture of black oil sunflower seeds, shelled sunflower seeds, white millet and cracked corn.

"We include corn because the game birds -- quail and pheasant -- like it, and it's a high-energy carbohydrate that keeps the birds warm," Little says.

The Cadillac of bird seed is niger thistle, which has very high oil content. Because it's a tiny seed, feeders are available specifically for this food. It's also expensive, and sometimes it's mixed with other seeds.

Suet and cut fruit such as orange and apple slices also attract birds. Suet mixed with seeds and dried fruit is available in cakes that slide into wire baskets. Hang the suet-filled basket against the trunk of a tree where woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees can grip the bark to eat.

Some bird-feeding techniques are as low-tech as poking half an orange or an apple chunk onto a nail pounded into a tree.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:01 AM