Tips on How to Maintain a Bird Feeding Station Properly

You’d think that once a bird feeding station is up and running, your task is over. It’s not. A bird feeding station requires regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly. Here are some practical tips on how to maintain it the right way.

• Replace water every day. It’s a must to provide birds with a daily supply of fresh water. It’s also good to experiment with various types of foods like bird seeds, fruits and vegetables to attract different species of birds.

• Store the bird food in a clean and dry environment. This is to lower the risk of bacterial contamination, which can bring illness to birds. Remember that moisture is a breeding ground for bacteria.

• Keep the feeding station clean at all times. Again, this is for the sake of the birds’ health. After you’re done cleaning the station itself, move on to the ground beneath the feeders. Use a rake to get rid of spilled seeds, hulls, dead grass or other debris that may have accumulated underneath the feeder.

• Buy your food from a reputable source, this way you can be sure that you are giving the birds the right type of food.

• Practice proper hygiene when handling the feeding station. Don’t forget to wash your hands first before and after cleaning the station or stocking it up with new food or water.

• Check for defects. Find time to look around the feeding station. Look at the feeder and see if there are any cracks or chips. This may cause for moisture to seep in and seeds to get spoiled, spreading disease to birds. Look for signs of insect damage, rust, flaking, loose connections, or loose screws. Perches should be stable and secure, as should the feeder. An unstable one can easily collapse. Replace anything that’s broken or defective before it causes injury to birds.

Maintaining a bird feeding station isn’t as hard as some people think. With these tips, you can keep one running properly and attracting a wide variety of bird species into your backyard.

Highly Nutritious Bird Seeds for Your Pet Bird

Birds are charming little creatures that anyone would love to have as companion. And like most pets, they too require the right nutrition to stay in great shape. Birds need carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals. If you have a pet bird, you’d probably want to include highly nutritious bird seeds in his diet. 

Though packed with nutrients, no single seed can provide a bird with all his dietary needs. So variety is the way to go. Here are some of those that you may want to consider feeding your adorable pet. 

Black-oil Sunflower 
Black-oil sunflower contains 43 percent fat, 13 percent fiber and 16 percent protein. It’s a favorite of doves, goldfinches, grosbeaks, nuthatches, titmice, woodpeckers, Chickadees, Northern Cardinal and Pine Siskin. 

Cracked Corn 
Not so much of a popular seed for birds, cracked corn usually attracts Jays. This particular seed has only two percent fat, two percent fiber, and eight percent protein. 

Nyjer 
This one’s quite hefty on the fat content having 40 percent. It’s also rich in protein (22 percent) and fiber (14 percent). It’s popular among doves, finches, goldfinches, Common Redpoll, Indigo Bunting and Pine Siskin.

Safflower 
Safflower’s nutritional content includes 38 percent fat, 21 percent fiber and 14 percent protein. Doves, purple finches, and titmice are the biggest fans of safflower seeds.

Striped Sunflower 
Striped sunflower is big on fiber (20 percent), protein (23 percent) and fat (26 percent). It’s much loved by grosbeaks, titmice, woodpeckers, Northern Cardinal and Chickadees. 

Sunflower Hearts 
This seed contains a whopping 56 percent fat, only four percent fiber, and fairly good amount of 24 percent protein. It attracts the following birds: doves, finches, Dark-eye Junco, Common Redpoll, Chickadees, goldfinches, grosbeaks, titmice, woodpeckers, Pine Siskin, and nuthatches. 

Apart from bird seeds, it’s also great to add fruits and vegetables to your bird’s diet. Corn, carrots, yams, peas, broccoli, apples, bananas and grapes are some great choices. Not only would these items provide essential vitamins and minerals, it also helps to avoid turning your pet into a picky eater. Also, remember never to feed your pet with spicy food, chocolates, wine, or caffeinated beverage. Be sure to consult your vet first before feeding your pet with any food. 

What Is Bird Suet?

If you're a bird lover, then you've probably stocked bird suet in your backyard feeder during the winter. But nowadays, bird suet has many uses beyond winter. During the spring, it can help give nesting birds the increased energy that they need. During the summer, it can be a good substitute for insect-eating birds. 

This will come in handy during the times when insects are hard to find. During the winter, suet can aid wild birds in storing the fat that they will need to migrate or to weather winter. Let's not forget suet's traditional use – it can replace the nutrients and energy that birds have used when they're trying to survive a long and chilly winter.

Bird suet comes from fat – most of the time, rendered animal fat. In today's health-conscious world, fat is often looked down on. But fat is actually important for both birds and humans. Together with carbohydrates and proteins, fat is one of the three sources of calories that can be found in one's diet. 

Calories are what gives us energy. In fact, the calories or energy is concentrated. Compared to proteins or carbohydrates, fat can give birds over twice the caloric energy. This is important for birds because their metabolism is very fast. Therefore, the energy from fat will actually help birds go about their activities for a longer period of time without eating meals.         

Modern suet is also about much more than fat. It can also contain fruits, seeds and insects. For those who want to put suet in their bird feeders during the summer, there are now melt-resisting types of suet. There is also suet that uses vegetable fat instead of animal fat. 

The more varied a suet's ingredients are, the more it will appeal to a wide range of birds. Buying varied suet will also give birds a bigger dietary benefit than plain suet. There are many forms of suet – cakes, balls, or logs. 

Make sure to put suet feeders at a height of five feet from the ground. Position it close to a tree trunk. This is because a lot of birds that like suet are cling feeders, meaning that they hang to tree trunks in order to look for insects.

The Importance of Wild Bird Rescue Projects

Wild bird rescue activities play very important roles in the preservation of Mother Earth. This is essential especially nowadays, those wild animals, such as wild birds, are slowly disappearing in its natural habitat. Most of these animals are either being illegally hunted by men or have gone fading due to abnormal changes in their natural habitats. These abnormal changes are brought upon by climate change.

In fact, there are many environmental groups nowadays that are fighting for the protection of wild birds. Their cause has reached different areas across the world. This just shows that people are now getting more conscious on the importance of wild birds. Plus, it is important to preserve its natural habitats. There were cases before wherein wild birds in a certain part of Asia suddenly had its population decrease. This was because a part of its wild-forest was converted into a mountain resort.

The Importance of Keeping Wild Birds

The following are some of the salient points why wild bird rescue programs and activities are needed nowadays:

- First, wild birds are now endangered. Whatever part of the world, the population of wild birds is deteriorating. This is a wake-up call for everybody especially the concerned stakeholders and agencies. It is in this situation that wild birds, which are being held captive with private owners, should be set free.

- Wild birds in the forests and other wildlife fauna are needed in order to maintain the equilibrium of the environment. These wild birds also play important roles in the food chain cycle. Without their presence, there will be an abnormal flow of the cycle.

- Wild birds are nature’s gifts.  It is nice to know if our forests are being habituated by all different kinds of wild birds. Existing wild bird rescue projects of some private groups construed this claim. Wild birds, which were illegally held captive, were set free to the forests and joined its kind there. Seeing the blooming growth of their population has always been a refreshing to the eyes and feeling of the person who has witnessed this.

- Wild birds should be set free to the wilds for its specie to propagate further. Their propagation is so important because wild birds are now endangered. If they are free to fly out in the open and be with their kind, it is most likely that their population will keep on growing.

In order for our wild birds to increase its population and preserve its kind, these basic steps can be heeded:

Strict international environmental laws.

The presence of international laws relating to environmental protection should not be left alone in papers. These laws should be properly implemented also. Any person or group that violates such laws should be punished accordingly. Doing this strict implementation will serve as a warning for people who are doing and are planning to get into this illegal activity of hunting forest animals such as the wild birds.

More wild bird rescue projects.

Although there are already existing projects that promote on the rescue and preservation of wild birds, still it is not sufficient. There should be a joint effort among all stakeholders and the government in pursuing projects such as this.

Sincerity.

Above everything else, it is very important that all concerned agencies and individuals are sincere in pursing projects such as this. If there is sincerity, the survival of the projects will last long.

Your Guide to Lovebirds Breeding

Lovebirds are one of the most interesting species of birds. It’s not surprising to find people into lovebirds breeding. But as these birds are somehow delicate, you need to know how you can go about the task with surefire success. To help you in this regard, read the following useful tips.

Get the right pair.

Before you laugh, you need to get a male and female lovebird for mating. While this might sound funny at first, experienced lovebirds breeders would know that it’s very hard to tell love birds apart. Relying on the birds’ physical differences is very tricky. That’s why bird owners need to get a specialized DNA kit to identify the gender of the birds. However, it’s more advisable to have the identification done by professionals. This would help avoid hurting them or worse, creating trauma.

Provide a good and spacious breeding cage.

There are actually two types of breeding you might want to consider. Group breeding means that you would have several pairs in one spacious cage. Meanwhile, those who are just starting out might want to consider traditional breeding which only involves a pair of lovebirds. Whatever the type, you should ensure that the birds have big a cage for playing and flying around. Also, the material of the cage should be evaluated. Some wire mesh for breeding cages can prick the birds’ feet. Ensure that your cage is made for lovebirds breeding by choosing materials that aren’t accident stimulators.

Give the birds enough daylight and food.

Lovebirds aren’t fans of the dark. As such, it’s best that you give them adequate lighting. Some even go as far as putting soft, artificial light in cages. Aside from these, you can prep your lovebirds up for breeding by giving them enough food and water. Give your birds seeds, fresh fruit, and vegetables to keep them nourished. Their water container should have fresh supply every 12 hours. Clean the cage as much as you can. Note also that lovebirds must at least be 10 months old before breeding.

Attach a nesting box.

This shouldn’t be much of a problem as almost all nest boxes you see in stores are compatible with love birds. During lovebirds breeding, the birds fancy putting materials inside their boxes. With this, you have to put non-poisonous twigs from willows and fruit trees near the cage. You’ll see them stripping these twigs and putting them inside the nest box themselves. Some breeders also advise putting some flax leaves everyday as lovebirds use them in their nests as well.

Observe the birds from time to time.

Funny as it might sound, lovebirds also need privacy. Breeding won’t push through if they are continuously watched by people or other birds. You’ll know that breeding has been successful if the female spends longer time in the nesting box. At this point, you need to prep up for more food and water suppliers. Generally, lovebirds lay around four to six eggs. Never inspect the eggs and hatchlings while the birds, particularly the female, are around. Both parents will feed the hatchlings from the food supply you provide them.

Venturing on lovebirds breeding is not difficult as long as you have the heart for it. The trick is to research more about the species.  Other than that, simply enjoy the company of these truly lovable birds.

Peach Faced Lovebirds: Proper Care and Feeding

Lovebirds make very good pets at home. Even for those novice bird enthusiasts, keeping a lovebird is generally easy. There are basically different varieties of lovebirds. One of the most popular ones is the peach faced lovebirds. What are these types of birds then? Why are they very popular? How do you go about in properly taking good care of them?

The traits of these birds are typically very tiny in size but are known for its big personality. These types, love playing and interacting with people, especially with their owners, and they are very playful with new toys. When in their cage bars, these birds are often found weaving their nesting materials. Except when sleeping, drinking, or eating, you can always find these birds very active and always playing. Peach faced lovebirds think of themselves as if they were on the top of the ladder. They are often noticed wanting to go after almost anything that it believes it can conquer. And since they are active all the time, they turn any ordinary activity into an interesting game. However, at the end of the day, these birds are the sweetest particularly to their owners, often snuggling and settling down with their humans to rest. 

At home, you need to spend a great deal of your time with them. Just like any other pets, they will bond with you and will treat you as a good friend, willing to do anything just to protect you. Because they have high energy, expect them to be playful with you most of the time. 

In terms of behavior and health concerns, these peach faced lovebirds are territorial and nippy, thus it is important that you handle and reinforce them with good behavior. These breeds love to indulge themselves with seeds so better provide them with plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits or whole grains. Typically, pellet bird diet is essential as their base for nutrition. However in most cases, they are hesitant to eat pellets unless they are used to it and they were weaned onto it the moment they started eating. 

When determining the age of these pet, you can easily tell its age thru the color of its beaks. Adult birds often have orange, red, light gray or horn-colored beaks while the younger ones have black-marked beaks. 

The cage should be big enough for them to stretch their wings and legs comfortably. Add some toys or anything that catches their attention, otherwise, they might get bored and think about escaping. Cardboard tubes and mirrors make good toys. Take note that these birds are great escape artists. With that, try to secure their cages with the right locks to avoid escapes. Just like our lovable pet, once they tried to escape and one of them do made it successfully. Fortunately, we caught it before it flew away.

Also, their cages should always have ample supply of fresh water and food regularly. Offer them veggies, legumes, fruits, or pellets. Variety is the key here. Just like humans, they get bored easily when eating the same types of food over and over again. When properly taken-cared of, your pet lovebird can actually live between ten and fifteen years.

Having peach faced lovebirds at home is simply amazing. The joys they bring and the mischievous and sometimes annoying but equally relaxing behavior they show is totally one thing to look forward to after a day’s work.