Help Save the Songbirds - Winter Bird Feeding
Typically, your feeders serve as a supplemental food source for songbirds. Studies have indicated during the winter months only 25% of a songbirds daily food intake comes from bird feeders. During periods of extreme cold and severe winter weather, your songbirds may switch to utilizing your feeders as a critical source of food that enables them to survive from day to day. A study based on house sparrows revealed the following relationship between temperature and the length of time the songbird can survive without food:
29º C = 67.5 hours -15° C = 15 hours
-29° C = 10 hours -34° C = 7 hours
(One night earlier in February the GTA had a night time temperature with a wind chill of -32° C)
Songbirds forage and eat food during the day, during February songbirds have about 10 to 11 hours of eat/forage time and the nights last about 13 to 14 hours. Songbirds must find enough quality high-calorie fatty foods during the day to ensure they can survive a 14 hour night. You can play a vital role, as feeding the songbirds becomes critical when extremely cold conditions occur. At these times, a reliable supply of energy-heavy food can mean the difference between life and death for a songbird. To stay warm, birds will expend energy very quickly, some losing up to 10% of their body weight on extremely cold nights. Just think, a 200 lb person would lose 20 lbs in one night!
Currently we are experiencing a warm spell and temperatures are hovering around 0º C which reduces the amount of food songbirds require to survive. But there is another great reason to keep your feeders full. A study in England found that songbirds with access to supplemental food during the winter will nest and lay their clutch of eggs earlier and fledge an average of one more chick per clutch than songbirds without access to supplemental winter food.
Food is the most essential element, providing songbirds with the energy, stamina and nutrition they need. If you have not tried feeding our Wild Birds Unlimited seed cylinders and suet cakes this is the perfect time to try. Our exclusive cylinders and suet cakes are the high-calorie fatty foods your songbirds need but it is also provides you with a very convenient feeding method:
- Most cylinder and suet feeders are very simple to use
- Filling the feeder is fast and easy - great on cold days!
- No heavy bags to carry just unwrap and drop into the feeder
- Cylinders and suet often last longer than a similar amount of loose seed
- Cylinders and suet are solid foods, the songbirds peck at the food which reduces the amount of food spilled and the food lasts longer
- Your trips to re-fill the feeders are reduced
Help your songbirds by locating your feeder/s in a sheltered location out of the wind and keep it full of the high-calorie, fatty foods that provide songbirds the crucial nutrition they need to survive during the coldest times and help them thrive going into the spring nesting season.
Stop by our store for more expert advice and quality foods that are helping save the songbirds.
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