News from Wedel's Nursery, Florist and Garden Center

Q. I know hawks, eagles and owls have excellent eyesight. Just how good of eyesight do they have?

A. The birds you mention have amazing eyesight when compared to a human. For instance, a hawk's eyesight is so good it could spot a ladybug on the ground from atop a twenty story building. In fact, the clarity with which birds see the world is comparable to humans and in some species far better. Not only can they see better, they process visual information far faster than humans and as a result they can detect movement much better.

Ornithologists tell us a bird's eyes make up about 15 percent of the weight of their head. As a comparison, human eyes make up less than one percent of our head's weight.

What birds can't do is move their eyes within the head like mammals can. Birds must turn their heads to see in another direction. For example, a robin is not listening for worms when it cocks its head when working in your lawn, it's looking for worms.

All birds see in color and they see in much more detail than we do. Hummingbirds have vision comparable to a human looking through 10 power binoculars. An eagle's eye is nearly the size of a human's, but its sharpness is over four times greater than a person with 20/20 vision. The eagle can likely see a meal a mile away. This means an eagle flying at 1000 feet over open country could be watching an area of nearly three square miles.

Q. I'm already thinking spring, what can I do to make my yard and it's nest boxes more attractive to birds during breeding season?

A. One of the best things you can do is to provide nesting material. Birds may well pass over areas that offer suitable nesting sites because of the scarcity of nesting material.

Many common items can be offered as nesting material. Birds will readily accept anything that is soft and can easily be woven, such as hair. When you clean out your hairbrush or pet brushes, put the hair outside. Talk to your beautician or barber about saving you some hair. String, yarn, and bits of cloth cut in to 5 to 7 inch pieces may also be used.

You can use a mesh bag such as an onion bag or an extra suet holder to hold your offering. Place it close to a nest box or to trees where birds will be protected from predators as they collect the materials. Since many birds have more than one clutch and some species don't nest until late summer, provide nesting material all summer long.

Birders from around the country often report birds using stolen or "borrowed" materials from humans to make their nests. In 1913, cormorants off the coast of Labrador used nests built entirely from materials scavenged from a sunken trading ship, including men's pipes, ladies combs, pocket knives, and hair pins. In California, a Canyon Wren nested among several office buildings using a nest built entirely of office supplies, including paper clips, rubber bands, thumb tacks, and paper fasteners. Other items discovered in nests include bits of cotton from pill bottles, short lengths of string, upholstery stuffing, raveled rope, thread, and even dental floss. In addition to offering nesting material in an onion sack or suet feeder, you can also hang materials in the crotch of a tree or branches, drape it on shrubs, fences or clotheslines or place it in piles on the ground. Birds defend their nesting territories so present material in more than one location.

Q. My Father-in-law is really into birds. Have you got any ideas for a present that won't duplicate something he already has?

A. The first thing that comes to mind is a peanut feeder. Many people have yet to discover the fun and action that a peanut feeder brings to the yard. Woodland birds (chickadees, nuthatch, titmice and woodpeckers) love these things. Choose a feeder that doesn't have a wide base or perches. This will make it much more difficult for starlings to monopolize the feeder. I really recommend a feeder that comes with a lifetime warranty, as you can imagine peanuts are VERY attractive to squirrels. Check out Aspects peanut feeders.

The neat part of birding as a hobby is the more you know the more you realize how little you know. With that in mind, here are a couple of book recommendations.

Since bird populations are in a general decline, my first choice is a book that suggests there is something an individual can do. 101 Ways to Help Birds by Laura Erickson outlines easy, practical, doable activities that can make the world a little better for our feathered friends.

It's usually a safe assumption that anybody who really likes birds has a field guide. The limitation of even the best field guide is their function is to identify a bird, that's it. One of my favorite books is The Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman. This book gives you insight into habitat, feeding (both diet and behavior), courtship, nesting, eggs, migration and their conservation status. In short the book gives you as the title suggests, an overview of how birds go about making a living in the natural world.

Happy Holidays and happy birding!