00:12
Kathy Mueller
Hi there and thank you for spending some time with me today. it is such a great time of year. Spring is about to turn into summer. School is almost out for the year. Wildlife babies are being born and getting ready to spread their wings. So today on Wild About Wildlife, we're focusing on our feathered friends and how to help ensure that they thrive during the warmer months. I'm your host, Kathy Mueller, and I am thrilled to be joined by a good friend of Salthaven Wildlife, Jeff Lee from Wild Birds Unlimited here in London. Now, Jeff has been here before. He manages the store and is a self-described bird nerd. So welcome back, Jeff.

00:51
Jeff
Thank you very much. It's pleasure to be here again.

00:53
Kathy Mueller
Well, and I should also mention that throughout our conversation, we're going to answer some questions about birds that your customers have actually submitted. And in fact, let's just start things off there with a question from Terry B, who is asking, I have found a baby bird. What should I do? This is one of the most common questions that we get at Salthaven, especially in the spring.

01:17
Jeff
Yeah, we get this one asked a lot at the store as well. And it's essentially going to be the same kind of steps that we would do if we were out at Salthaven. First off, you have to assess whether the bird actually needs help. So, whether the bird is injured or cold, if it has feathers or not, if it's naked, is there any immediate danger around it? Is there any flies that are around on it? Is there a cat or dog that you can see nearby? Or does it just look lethargic or inactive or just disengaged from everything around it? And a lot of the ones that we tend to get at the store tend to revolve around baby robins, actually. Once you kind of ask all those questions to yourself to see what you can do, or if you should do anything for that matter, you kind of have to do a little bit of a checklist. 

O2:05
With the baby robins, typically they'll fledge out of the nest. And a lot of people see them running around on the ground or just kind of hopping through the low branches of trees. And they think that the parents have abandoned them. Now, one of the ways you can identify these robins is they typically have a speckled chest on them. They're usually quite small. But that colour difference tells you that they're juvenile. With those robins, mom and dad are around somewhere. They're usually talking back and forth, and those babies tend to just stay near the ground and hide in the bushes that they can get to try not to draw attention to themselves. So, if it that is the case and the bird doesn't look like it's injured or is in immediate danger, just leave it alone. Mom and dad more than likely are around and keep in watch of it.

02:52
Kathy Mueller
And this is before the bird has learned to fly, right?

02:55
Jeff
Correct, yes. Usually at this point, they've just fledged out of the nest. They've gotten too big for the nest and they've kind of fluttered down to the ground. And so, during this time, they're learning how to fly, so they tend to go up into these bushes and they flutter down to help strengthen their flight muscles to be able to fly like the mom and dad would. So, if you do see them, and it does happen quite often that somebody thinks that this bird has been abandoned or is injured and they take that bird to go get help, but the bird's absolutely fine.

Usually in these instances, you can just put the bird back and they'll be okay. Mom and dad will come back and find it. They talk back and forth, so it's not too big of a deal, but it's better not to abduct the bird in the first place.

03:36
Jeff
Now, if you do have some animal or a bird that is injured or is showing signs of distress, if it's safe to do so, so for instance, if there's a dog or cat or another animal around, you may not want to put yourself in front of that animal, so it's best to just stay back. But if you are able to get that animal that is showing signs of the distress, you want to take it into a box where it'll be warm, dark, and quiet. Those are the main points right there. 

04:04
Jeff
And you want to keep it away from any humans or pets of any kind. You want to give them a chance to rest, basically. The bedding that you put in there, you don't want to use towels because usually towels have those little loops that are threaded through them. And their talons can get stuck into those, and they can get stuck. So usually when you have a bed lining or something for that box, a tight weave. So, something like a t-shirt material is always good. Even cloths, as long as there's nothing, no loops or hooks that are coming out of them. That works very well for that. Just basically not a loose weave. So, you get that in there and just cover them up, make sure they're quiet and safe. But the big thing, and this is I know this is one of the big things from Salthaven as well, don't give them food or water. And it may sound counterintuitive, but it actually does help the bird in the long run because you don't know what's going on with that bird to begin with.

04:57
Jeff
So, until that bird gets assessed, it's best not to give them anything because you may end up causing more problems inadvertently. Sometimes with water, you think that they need a lot of water to keep them going. You might think that they're dehydrated or anything like that. But sometimes when these animals come in, they've either struck a window or something like that, and they're not able to hold their heads up. If you put additional water in there, they may end up drowning in additional water. So, it's best to just give them a dark, quiet, warm spot to sit and just stay out of the way. If you do need something to heat them up as well, just a warm water bottle, like with a hot water and it does work well, but not too hot because, it’s one of those things with birds, especially, they need the warmth. But if you go too hot, it's too much. And then if you go too cold, it's not enough. So, there's kind of a bit of an area there, but a good hot water bottle tends to work quite well for that.

05:56
Jeff
From that point, pretty much your best bet is to call either Salthaven or one of your other local wildlife rehabilitators. And then they can help you walk through the steps of assessing the animal or making an appointment for you to take that animal out so that they can assess. 

06:13
Kathy Mueller
Handling a baby bird, because there's this, you know, perception that, oh, if I touch a bird, my scent is going to be on the bird, and then mom and dad are going to want nothing to do with that. Is that actually true?

06:29
Jeff
This is actually kind of an old sort of wives tale, I guess as they would call it. The birds actually don't have a very good strong sense of smell. There's only really one bird, I think, that does, the vultures. Most birds actually don't use their sense of smell quite often. Usually when a bird is taken out of that nest, it's not that the mom doesn't want it again. Usually, it's just that they don't realize where that bird's gone and then eventually, they kind of move on. But usually if you put that that bird back in, the parents will tend to come back and take care of it again. Even if it's gone for a couple of days, they usually will remember, oh this is my baby, and they'll start taking care of that bird again. They just didn't know where it went.

07:11
Kathy Mueller
Okay. So, like I was saying, we're just about to hit summer and it's, you know, hot and it's going to get hotter. So, what kind of support, if any, do birds need from us humans during these warmer months?

07:30
Jeff
Birds, when they come back, especially the migratory birds, so your hummingbirds are usually the big example, they need that little bit of extra support. Every season is going to be different. Your winter may be milder or colder. This last one was a bit colder, but the one before it was quite mild. It just depends on kind of the weather that you've had. So, these migratory birds, they may not have those food sources quite ready yet. So, the mild winter that we had, last year, not this past one, but the one before, there wasn't a whole lot of snow. So, a lot of those seed plants didn't get buried under the snow. And so those birds can continue to eat those seeds throughout the winter. But when spring comes, they usually rely on those seeds that are buried under the snow. And so, if they're not there, having your feeders out and having a supplemental feed for them like that does help.

08:19
Jeff
The hummingbirds especially and in urban areas or in the cities, usually there's not as much because people tend to plant different things and may not be doing it to support the wildlife that's there. And they may have lost some of those natural sites that were there. So, putting those things out to kind of supplement those feeds does help them just survive until those natural plants actually do start to come into seed or go to flower so that those hummingbirds can have some nectar.

08:48
Kathy Mueller
Okay, so what about once we get into, you know, the dog day days of August and that, really into the heart of and the heat of summer? Is there anything that we should be doing?

09:00
Jeff
So again, same kind of thing. Those birds, when it gets into the really hot summertime, usually a lot of that food's kind of gone or is just starting to come out again. Water especially is going to be one of the big ones, though. Having a bird bath, even a little dish that you put out can really save a bird's life, especially if there's not a whole lot of water sites around you. Anything from just a little dish of water that's out there, but if you can make it move, it does help to attract them more and then they're more likely to bathe in there as well. And that is also a part of it. It gives them another part to bathe. So, if they, say if we have a really hot summer and it's quite dry, a lot of the natural creeks and things that are around aren't flowing like they used to. Those birds still need to bathe and drink as well. And bathing is really important during the summertime because it helps to get a lot of those, the dirt and dust out of their feathers. They can realign their quills and their feathers as well as get anything that might be keeping them from their feathers from aligning properly.

09:57
Kathy Mueller
Right. And then how important is it to keep, if you have a bird bath, to keep the water relatively clean, especially in the hot summer months, right? It can get gungy pretty quickly. 

10:08
Jeff
There's a good chance that they will. It comes down to the source of water. If there's nothing else around, they're going to go for whatever they can, even if it's a muddy puddle or birdbath that's been soiled quite heavily. But that's where we come in, cleaning out those bird feeders, for one, it'll help to limit the spread of diseases through these birds. It can help to limit the mosquitoes as well. So, changing out that water for one is going to be good for you because you won't have to worry about getting mauled by mosquitoes at night.

So, either changing out your bird bath every two or three days, even every day if you can, usually works better. Fresh water is always going to be better. 

10:51
Kathy Mueller
And you mentioned earlier that temperature for young birds is pretty important, or for injured birds is important. So, is the temperature of the water in the birdbath, does that matter? Do they prefer cool, warm water?

11:06
Jeff
Usually the water, it's just whatever it would be outside usually is going to be the same. So, even on a hot day, the water in bigger bodies of water, especially are still going to be rather cold. The birds usually aren't going to feel a whole lot of that when they get into the water anyways. Most of the water is just going to slick off of their feathers because the preening oils that they use through them actually helps to kind of waterproof their feathers as well. If they're getting right in there, they're probably just going to enjoy cooling off though. But with the babies, most of the time, the babies aren't going to be getting into water. Their water sources are going to come from mom and dad when they're bringing them food.

11:40
Kathy Mueller
It's so fun to watch the birds when you, there was one point, and I must have had, I don't know, eight or nine robins all standing around the edge of the bird bath. And then they would take turns going in and you know, flapping around and their feathers, water going everywhere. But it's like, you and I have talked about this before that it's just such great entertainment.

12:02
Jeff
Oh yeah, the robins especially can be quite entertaining. They're very animated when they have a bath.

12:08
Kathy Mueller
You mentioned hummingbirds earlier, and we actually have a question from Beth S. about hummingbirds, and she's saying, should I add red food colouring to her hummingbird nectar?

12:22
Jeff
Now this one was kind of an older practice with bird feeding. And the dye was typically used to help attract to the hummingbirds to the feeders themselves. That red colour is usually something that the birds associate with the flowers that they like the nectar from.

12:37
Kathy Mueller
Well, and a lot of the feeders themselves are red.

12:41
Jeff
Exactly, yes. And that's the reason why, is they've changed the feeders to red so that you don't have to dye the nectar itself.  The red dye that's typically used like this, they're not sure if it's really safe for the birds, but the birds don't really encounter red nectar anyways. The nectar they eat is always clear anyway. The dye that's in there, there's not really any conclusive evidence that it's good for the birds. It's believed to be and that it could have an impact on the birds, especially with hummingbirds, because they're rather small and they're a little more sensitive to things like that. Just to be safe for the birds, it's always best to not put that dye in there until we further understand. But it's not necessary because those feeders, like you said, they're all typically coloured red and they work just great doing that to bring in the, attract those hummingbirds just by the colour of the feeder alone.

13:33
Kathy Mueller
Okay, so in talking about attracting birds, then how, like, what are some of the tricks of the trade to attracting different species to your yard? Should we be buying colourful birdhouses and or bird feeders? Or, they don't tend to be really bright and coloured, the feeders anyway.

13:52
Jeff
Now feeders, typically you don't need a colour on them. There's only really a couple that are usually coloured towards those birds, and that'd be the hummingbirds and the orioles being red and orange, respectively. The other birds typically are just looking for the food. They're not looking for the colour. Ways that you can attract those birds, besides just putting out a feeder and being patient, you could put in plants that those birds would be attracted to in nature. So, anything that's a native plant does usually help, echinaceas especially, they work as a seed for example, for the gold finches. So that's one way you can attract them to your garden. And then the other big one is water, especially. Moving sources of water, that sound really does tend to bring in those birds quicker.

But usually if you get any kind of feeder out, given the time, they will find it. And then having places for them to fly to in case a hawk or a cat or something else comes around somewhere where they can fly and hide to it is always helpful as well. So little hiding spots, bushes or work quite well trees, things like that do help to maintain those birds or to attract them and to know that they are safe.

15:05
Kathy Mueller
So, what about trying to attract insects to our yards? You know, if there are insects, will birds follow? But then, like, are humans going to like that, right? How much are we going to like having insects in our yards?

15:22
Jeff
Well, it comes down to which insect are you attracting. If you're attracting a whole bunch of mosquitoes, you're probably not going to want to go out to your yard. But if you're attracting the pollinators, so for example, the bees, butterflies, moths even, they do pollinate a lot of the flowers that we have, even the ones that those birds like. So, having them around actually can help you in the long run to attract those birds because they are going to help turn those flowers from just a flower into a seed head, which those birds can then eat. And then depending on the insects you do attract, they also provide food sources for those birds as well. Beetles, especially, can be a big one.

Dragonflies help to maintain the mosquito population at a lower part, but even mosquitoes themselves can help to bring in populations of, say, bluebirds or swallows. There's quite a lot of different insects that are out there that you can bring into your yard, but usually they're not going to have a negative impact on your birds. They're just going enhance that experience for you as well as those birds.

16:22
Kathy Mueller
So, it sounds like if you really want to be attracting birds to your yard, that you need to do some homework and some research and some reading and figuring out what is native to your area and what works well in your climate right before you get started.

16:38
Jeff
Yeah, it does help. Usually, the area, zoning of where you're wanting to plant it will help you to figure out which plant's going to work best, if it'll regrow the next year. And then also if you're in sun or shade, if you're more damp soil, if you're more dry soil, tailoring to those things will help you to have those plants still stay there, but it will in turn help you to draw in more wildlife.

17:04
Kathy Mueller
We've been talking specifically about, you know, backyards and getting birds to come to backyards. Is it possible for someone who lives in an apartment to be successful at attracting birds to their balcony, for example?

17:20
Jeff
Absolutely. Balconies can vary quite different because of the height, depending on the floor you live on. Customer wise, we do have quite a lot of customers that come around that live in apartment buildings. They only have say, a window feeder, a simple feeder that's on their balcony. They do work quite well. They just might take a little bit more for the birds to find them. Typically those places aren't places that those birds search for food.

Kathy Mueller
Unless they're a pigeon.

Jeff
It's true, yes, it's very true. Usually, a lot of people aren't going to want those pigeons around at their feet, but to each their own. Some people really love the pigeons too. But yeah, apartment buildings especially can be a little bit more tricky, but it is definitely possible. When you're trying, the big thing, especially with apartments, is just to be patient because it may take them a fair while to find it

18:10
Kathy Mueller
I'm speaking with Jeff Lee, manager from Wild Birds Unlimited here in London. And I get this at my bird feeder all the time. And it's a question that you guys get a lot at the store, that there are birds at my feeder that I don't like. And it's usually the starlings and the grackles, right? They just tend to take over and they push out and the sparrows and that. So how do you get rid of them or how can you help manage it so that, you know, everybody is getting a turn at the bird feeder?

18:46
Jeff
Yeah, this is the golden question of the season. We get this question probably more than anything else, especially this time of year. Those blackbirds, especially the starlings and the grackles, can be very bully birds, as you said. They'll chase off everything else and just decimate whatever food you have out, which for one can detract from your appreciation of those birds. It could also cost you a fair bit of money because they tend to actually gobble up any food that's there, and there's usually more than one of them. But, your best solutions for them, and there's a couple you can do. The main one is safflower seed. Safflower seed is a white shell. There is two strains. The main one is a white shelled, hard-shelled seed. And the birds actually don't like that one. Sorry, the blackbirds specifically. They don't like that seed. It's kind of got a bitter flavour and typically they will leave it completely alone.

There is another type of safflower as well. It's called NutraSaff or Golden Safflower. It was bred specifically for bird feeding, but it still does actually work the similar way. Those blackbirds don't really particularly like it. And so, they leave it alone. Now, the big catch with this is you have to offer this seed on its own. As soon as you mix anything else in with that seed, those blackbirds will pick out the safflower, just throw it on the ground and eat whatever else is in there. They're a bit of a bully bird, but they are rather clever as well. 

And another option you could do, but it has a bit of a drawback, is if you put a cage around that feeder. They're a big bird, and usually with the cages, the small birds can get in there. But the drawback is all those other big birds that you want to see, and typically the cardinals are the main ones, they'll get cut off from those feeders as well. So, it's a bit of a trade-off. So, a lot of the time, we recommend safflower as the way to go. Because look those cardinals actually do really like safflower as well. So, you can still maintain them while getting rid of those blackbirds.

20:39
Kathy Mueller
Yeah, and like you said, they are pretty crafty. I have one of my feeders, and it's the one where if the bird is too heavy, it ends up basically closing access to the feed. But the birds, they just, they know that, so they cling onto the of the feeder and munch away. And like you say, they eat everything.
They go through it so quickly. The only ones who benefit from it are the doves who are going around the bottom and you know, hoovering up everything that falls to the ground.

21:10
Jeff
That's correct. Yeah, that's a very, very true situation for just about everybody out there. Those feeders you're talking about are actually those squirrel-proof feeders. They can work to slow them down, but they are not intended to fight against those birds. They're more intended to keep squirrels off, those heavier creatures.

21:26
Kathy Mueller
Okay, so actually that's one of the questions we've received from Linda M. And she's saying, how do you keep things like squirrels, raccoons, rodents away from the feeders?

21:37
Jeff
So, this is probably the other main question we get, usually regarding mostly the squirrels. And there's four different ways you can do this, actually. The main one that we usually recommend because it is one of the most effective, but it is situational given your backyard, is a baffle. And basically a cone-shaped or cylinder, cylindrical shaped one that goes on your pole system itself below where the feeders are so that those rodents can't climb up. And it basically just cuts them off from even getting access to those feeders. Albeit there's a bit of a cave caveat there. If you have any trees or fences around, those squirrels in particular tend to jump. So usually about a range of about 10 feet. If they can get from there over, they'll try whatever they can to get there. They're very determined, especially when it comes to food. So, the placement of your feeder stands to play a factor into that as well.

Now, one of the other things is what I had mentioned before with the starlings is the cages. And it's going to be the same trade-offs. You can keep those squirrels out of there, keep your food safe. But again, you can cut off some of those bigger birds from getting to a feeder too. So that's one of the things you have to weigh when you're considering that option. And another one was actually just mentioned there, the squirrel-proof feeders, weight-sensitive feeders. There's a few different companies that do them. There's also some that, in the past, we don't carry them anymore, but they were called Droll Yankee flippers or spinners. They spun the things to get them off.

But the ones we typically recommend now are weight-sensitive. And like you said, they shut down where the feeding parts are, so the squirrels can't get to them. The feeders are typically made out of a really hard plastic or a ceramic or metal so that the squirrels can't chew through them. But it does work quite effectively against the squirrels as long as the tension is set properly. And then the other option for that is your food choice. So, safflower again what we call the problem solver, especially for the blackbirds, but it is quite effective against squirrels too. Now it's not 100 percent, about 90 to 95 percent effective against the squirrels. And it's because of that flavour again, they're not a big fan of that bitter flavour that safflower has. And so, it's a good way to maintain all your birds that you want to see. But keep away those problem animals, it's typically your squirrels and the blackbirds from taking over those feeders and just eating everything you have in sight.

24:02
Kathy Mueller
I've heard of some people actually taking cooking oil and putting it on the post of the feeder so then it's too slippery for the squirrel to be able to climb up if you don't have a baffle. I'm guessing that's something that you would not recommend.

24:22
Jeff
Cooking oils can work. The only problem when you do this is typically that the oil tends to either wear off or dry up. So, you can do it, but there is some drawbacks, especially if you use Vaseline. We don't recommend Vaseline at all. Vaseline is a petroleum product and it is quite sticky. So, if the squirrels get it on them, they may lick it off of their pods. It may end up making them sick because of that the petroleum product that it is. However, during cold months, especially, it can get into their fur as well, and it may mat down their fur and take away their ability to maintain their core temperature. So, yeah, it's not typically recommended to use grease or oil on a pole, although it may be effective to a certain degree. Your choice of oil, especially, you need to consider. But usually when it comes to that, you have to reapply it considerably often because it just either wears off or dries off.

25:18
Kathy Mueller
Yeah. Is it harmful to the squirrels if they get the oil on their, cooking oil, like if they get that on their paws?

25:26
Jeff
Usually cooking oils should be fine. Most cooking oils are seed-based or fruit-based, vegetable-based anyways. So, usually if it's a natural product, squirrels, they have such a varied diet, most of that stuff's not going to harm them at all. And in the quantities that they would be encountering, it shouldn't really hurt them at all.

I actually did miss a type of food for the, keeping the squirrels off too, it'd be the hot pepper foods. So, the hot pepper foods, how they work, it's a hot pepper oil that clings to the seeds. Not the like cayenne powder that you would put in your recipes at home. Although that can be effective depending on what you're putting it in. Usually with seed, it just sifts down through and doesn't stick to the seeds so that when the bird or squirrel, sorry, when the squirrel eats it, it just, it isn't there.

So hot pepper food is quite effective at keeping away the mammals, squirrels especially. It varies given your squirrels, the time of the year. Sometimes they get used to that if there's nothing else around, but it has been quite effective in my experience and it does not bother the birds at all. There's been extensive studies. Uh, and even before he brought him in the store, I spoke directly to Brian about this to make sure that he hadn't encountered any injuries that were there as well as doing my own scientific research behind it.

And that main reason is that those birds actually don't have the receptors in their bodies. and I mean throughout their entire bodies, their eyes, their mouths, their digestive systems, to feel that spiciness like we do. So, those birds actually can't feel it at all, but it does work quite well against squirrels.

26:56
Kathy Mueller
Okay, so baffles and the kind of food and hot spicy food. And yeah, I think I would stay away from the greasing the pole simply with the cost of cooking oil these days. It's like, no, I'm not putting that on the pole.

Jeff
Better uses for it.

27:13
Kathy Mueller
So, we've been talking about, you know, birds at the feeders, but Sabine H, I hope I'm pronouncing her name correctly. She's got a question that she's not getting any birds to her feeders at all. So, she's wondering why.

27:30
Jeff
This is another one we actually encounter quite often at the store. The first one I usually like to ask back in response to this is, how long has your feeder been out? A lot of the time people put out their feeders and they expect immediate results, which is understandable. You've got a new hobby, you're excited about it and you want to see something. But sometimes those birds, they don't know that that feeder is there. And the way we used to put it as an analogy against or with when a new restaurant opens up in town. The birds don't actually have those advantages that we have to know that that restaurant is there. We have TV, newspapers, social media. They'll let us know that, hey, there's a new restaurant there. With the birds, they have to actually fly around and see it. And again, they don't smell it with their noses. They have to actually see it. So, it could take 10 minutes for your birds to find that new feeder and new food that you put out. But it may take up a few weeks, typically around a month tends to be the max. But I've had in some cases where it's been about six weeks.

And it just depends on your area. If there's things that would attract those birds naturally, such as trees or bushes around. You may be in a new development where there's not much or any of those plants around for them to take shelter in. And so, it's putting them at risk, basically, if you have nothing like that to come to that feeder. That's kind of where I like to start, because usually if it's just, oh, I put it out last week, you just got to be a little more patient. They should show up.

But once they do, usually they keep coming back. Another one that typically gets asked around this is, is there a hawk in the area? Have you seen a hawk of some sort? A lot of the time when this does happen, the hawk's sitting around in the area and the birds are just hunkering down they because they don't want to get grabbed. Yeah, if you noticed a hawk in the area, it could be that, and it might take a few days just for those birds to realize, okay, this hawk's moved on, so maybe we'll be okay now.

With other things, that the food, this is always a big one as well, is the food fresh? Usually when that food gets stale, that oil content that's in the seed just dries up. And so when that happens, usually the seed kind of, it kind of goes like sawdust. Nobody really wants to chew on that. Is your food fresh? Usually within three to four months should be fine. Beyond that, may have gone stale, especially when it's a smaller seed, such as Niger seed for the goldfinches. The smaller the seed, the more likely it's dried up in that shorter time. Make sure you've got seed that's relatively fresh. 

If it's been in the feeder for a while, make sure it hasn't gotten wet and gone moldy or clumpy. When it does that, the birds just, they don't want to come around. So, check your feeder too. And then just basically see if you need to change it out. Put out as much fresh in there if you can. It could be that your birds aren't eating quite as much because you just don't have as many birds in there. So, you could always lessen how much you've got in that feeder as well if you notice it's not being eaten quite as readily, maybe just do a half fill. 

And usually, the main thing with birds especially is they're very wary creatures. They notice when things move, they notice when something's new or introduced to their area. So, if you've introduced a new feeder, you've changed the type of food that you have, or you've just been moving things around, it may startle the birds a little bit just to kind of like, this isn't my area, what's going on?

So, it may just take them a little bit to get used to the fact that something has changed, realize it's not going to be a danger to them, and then they can come back. So typically, those are the main reasons why your birds aren't around. 

Obviously, there's going to be other factors too, and it's going to be case by case. So, it could vary beyond that. But usually those are the main reasons.

31:16
Kathy Mueller
Okay. And then we have a question from Mary Y and she says that a friend of hers told her that she actually should not be feeding the birds in the summer. And is there any truth to that? And I actually know someone, too, who doesn't want to feed the birds in the summer, just thinking there's plenty of natural food out there for them and he prefers to feed them in the wintertime when food is a little bit more scarce. But is there any reason why we shouldn't be feeding birds in the summer?

31:49
Jeff
Not specifically, no. When it comes to bird feeding especially, the birds use your feeders more as a supplement, not as their main source of their diet. And I think at most it's about a third of their diet and that's like the high end. So usually when you're putting out feeders, it's just trying to help support those birds that are there. Like I said, with the hummingbirds and the orioles, it's something that they may be having a hard time finding at that time. So, you're just helping them through that short period.

It could be that they're if they're nesting, giving them extra protein, especially, or calcium, especially because those two things are really needed when it' it comes to nesting time. And sometimes it's a little colder, so there may not be so many bugs out, which they do rely on quite a bit for the protein. And, just really supplementing that diet as well. Like I said, with the calcium, it may be that the bird has laid to its eggs and so it's drained a lot of that the calcium into the eggs as well as the new development of the babies. And so, it's depleted its own sources. So, helping that bird to re up that source of calcium in its own body will help its beak, its feathers, basically its whole body just to remain strong and be there for their babies as well. But beyond just supplemental nutrition and stuff, just the sheer fact of bird feeding, for bird watching as well.

Migratory birds, they're not here during the winter. So, we have a whole set of other birds that come back during the warmer months. So, it gives you the opportunity to see these birds and look and study them and hear their songs and everything and just enjoy them. And because of it being summertime, your daylight hours are a lot longer. So, you get more of a chance to actually just enjoy the birds than you would in the wintertime.

33:39
Kathy Mueller
In one of our previous episodes of Wild About Wildlife, I was talking with my guest about birds flying into windows, and he shared a startling statistic that, and he thinks this is a low estimate, but that up to 42 million birds in Canada are dying every year because they're flying into buildings, into windows. And that's a problem that Sharon E is having. She says that birds are hitting her windows and she's wondering what she can do about it.

34:12
Jeff
Yeah, this is another one that we get typically a lot more in the spring in the summertime. This incidence typically in occurs because of the reflection on the windows, which is probably said in the other podcast episode, too. But with that, basically the bird is either running or flying away from something and just sees more of the trees or the open space that it thinks is there because it's reflecting what's behind it. And then it just slams into there. And we've, I remember when I was out at Salthaven too, we've even had hawks that had done that because they were chasing after a bird and they both hit the window. And then the other reason, and you see this a lot with cardinals and robins specifically, is a territorial display. The bird sees the reflection and thinks it's another competing male for his territory. And so, he'll just attack that window. But yeah, the main reason is just that they're seeing a reflection of either more space that they can get to or a rival that they think is another bird, but is actually themselves.

So, if you can break up that reflection, you can help those birds. So, what we tend to recommend is either window decals, which will cling to the window or the main big one that they really recommend right now is the feather friendly dots. They may look a little more intrusive just, but they are very effective. The decals especially you can get very decorative. You can get ones that are either UV coated so it stands out to the birds, but it just looks like a frosted etching to us.

The big ones at the store right now are called window gems. They are more of a prismatic one. So, they have that rainbow effect that comes off. So, it's a little more decorative for us, but they're very effective on just showing the birds that something is there. It's not just an open space. And usually that's going to be the problem is that they think it's just an open space.

36:02
Kathy Mueller
Yeah, I know we have the feather friendly dots on the windows out at Salthaven and at the clinic and you really don't see the dots from inside when you're looking out because I know people are concerned that, oh, it's going to ruin my view, right? And we want a nice view when we're looking out the windows, but you really, you don't notice them after a couple of days anymore.

36:30
Jeff
Yeah, your subconscious kind of filters those dots out and you just don't notice them after a while.

36:35
Kathy Mueller
Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, we have just scratched the surface when it comes to answering questions about birds. I'm sure you get many more at the store. So, if you do have birding questions that are left unanswered and you're in the London area, you can always, of course, pop into Wild Birds Unlimited. They're on Springbank Drive, east of Wonderland, and like their staff, Jeff is there, the other staff, they're walking encyclopedias on all things bird related.

You can also drop me a line at wildaboutwildlife@salthaven.org, and I will follow up with Jeff. And then I've also included some links to various birding resources in the episode's notes. So, one more thing before I go, and first, thank you, Jeff, for coming back and joining us again. I really appreciate your time and your insights.

And, you know, I know we don't want to be talking about or thinking about snow and cold weather yet, but birds can use our support in the winter as well. So, Jeff was actually on an earlier episode of Wild About Wildlife. It's episode 11, and we talk about how we can help birds survive our chilly Canadian winters. Till next time, happy birding.