The busy nesting season is winding down and birds are preparing for migration or settling in for the long winter. It’s the perfect time to take stock, tidy up and make some changes to your feeding stations.

Pine Siskin on Nyjer® feeder

A Pine Siskin visits a Nyjer® feeder.

Cleaning Tasks

ο Take down oriole feeders after the second week of September. Wash them well with soap and water and disinfect them with either bleach (1:10 solution) or white vinegar (50:50 solution).

ο Clean out bird houses. Leave a bird house
or two out for the winter to provide shelter as a winter roost for chickadees, nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers.

ο Remove lime deposits from heated birdbaths. Fill the birdbath with a water and white vinegar (50:50 solution) and let it sit overnight. Scrub it out with a birdbath brush
the following morning and rinse thoroughly.

Seed and Feeders

ο Leave hummingbird feeders up. Hummingbird feeders should stay full of fresh nectar—some female and juvenile hummingbirds remain until late October.

ο Add feeders for suet and peanut pick-outs to entice Red-breasted Nuthatches, woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatches and Black-capped Chickadees.

ο Add a feeding station just for Blue Jays about 20′ from the other feeders to keep them from disturbing smaller birds. They will feast on in-shell peanuts, caching them for later use. Blue Jays warn other birds of impending danger from predators like owls, hawks, cats and snakes. Blue Jays call the alarm and send the other birds fleeing, saving them from hawks like the Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks during the winter months.

ο Add a feeder for finches. Goldfinches remain all year, disguised in their muddy olive winter plumage. Serve Nyjer & Chips, Finches’ Choice, Nyjer, or Fine Chips in a finch feeder.

You’ll be grateful for the extra finch accommodation just in case it’s a winter that redpolls and Pine Siskins visit!

Since goldfinches tend to land on the upper perches of feeders first, be sure to rotate the food in your feeder to ensure that it stays fresh longer: empty your feeder into a paper bag, check for cleanliness then fill the feeder part way with new seed and fill the top portion of the feeder with the seed from the bag.

ο Fill feeders with Golden Safflower. This seed is less inviting to grackles, starlings and Red-wings, which is helpful during fall migration. Cardinals, goldfinches, chickadees, House Finches and others love Golden Safflower. After fall migration is completed, one option is to switch to a no-mess seed like Medium Sunflower Chips or Kracker Jax. These leave no mess and won’t germinate in the spring. The pre-shelled seeds provide quick energy for less effort and help birds to survive severe weather.

Garden

ο Leave the stalks and seed heads of rudbeckia, sunflower, bee balm, aster and coneflower as a fall feast for goldfinches and chickadees. When trimming shrubs,
leave V-shaped branches to encourage robins and cardinals to nest in the spring.
Create a brush pile in the back corner of your lot to provide cover for the birds and protection from predators, wind and weather.

Now you are ready for fall and winter visitors to your yard!

From the Sept/Oct 202 Bird’s-Eye View Newsletter.
By Minnetonka Manager CAROL CHENAULT