FRBC PROVIDES SEED AT 20% OFF — ALL MONTH

Have great family fun, provide a service to wild birds, and even become a citizen scientist for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

February is National Birdfeeding Month. During the month we encourage people to provide food, water, and shelter to help wild birds survive. This winter inparticular with many natural food sources snowcovered, birds are desperate to fuel their high motabilisms with high fat and protein foods. Backyard feeders certainly help to supplement this diet.

One highlight of National Birdfeeding Month is The Great Backyard Bird Count, a “citizen science” project by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology that take place this year February 17-20.

Bird enthusiasts of all ages can share their love of birds with a friend, a child, a scout troop, a class, or a co-worker. This helps to open new eyes to the joy of birding. Every pair of eyes is needed and every bird counts, whether in a backyard, on a high-rise balcony, in a park, or on any public land.

Established in 1994 when Illinois 10th District Congressman John Porter read a resolution into the Congressional Record, the designation of February as National Bird Feeding Month brought awareness to the plight of wild birds.

Twelve years and over 54 million bird feeding enthusiasts later, February is celebrated as the month to introduce a family friend or neighbor to the benefits of backyard feeding.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the GBBC, and Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are challenging people everywhere to “Count for the Record,” by participating in greater numbers than ever before. Greater participation, with more checklists submitted, provides more information about bird population trends – and helps to better inform conservation efforts.

Last year, participants submitted more than 60,000 checklists – and reported 7.5 million birds overall and 623 different species. The count helped chronicle the early spring migratory routes of Sandhill Cranes, documented lingering migrants such as Orange- crowned Warblers and Tree Swallows, revealed the ongoing range expansion of introduced Eurasian Collared-Doves, and recorded declining numbers of American Crows. The sightings of Northern Cardinals in the Denver area has brought much excitement to our area.�

Join us at FRBC as we also count the birds. Come in or call us with any questions you may have regarding the GBBC. Another great local source of information is the Audubon Society of Greater Denver. You can contact them on the web at www.denveraudubon.org. Or give them a call at 303- 973-9530.

Thanks for providing for helping our feathered friends this winter.

Tom and Diane

Guaranteed success at increasing your backyard count and activity

Perhaps the very best way to attract birds to our Front Range back yards in the winter months is to offer water – more specifically the liquid version. Birds need to maintain their body chemistry in the proper proportions as we do. Birds maintain about 70% of their body tissue as water. During harsh winters, birds may have to fly great distances to find a reliable source. Any close by backyard heated bath or pond could prove vital to their survival.

.Water is the staff of life for birds. They need it to take care of their daily physiological needs of hydration and bathing. Birds need to regularly mix water with oil from their utropyial gland and apply it to their feathers. This helps to condition and waterproof the feathers, which insulate their bodies from the cold.

You can keep water thawed with a heated bath, a submersible bath heater, or a pond heater. Most quality heaters are warranted, thermostatically controlled, and only come on if water is actually present. This makes them economic and safe to use when directions are followed.

Certainly our full time winter residents appreciate the winter spa you provide. Also consider we have noticed earlier arrivals of returning migrants the past few years. They will also be searching for good water sources. A dependable supply of water will attract many Neo-tropical birds not often seen in backyards such as warblers, verios, hummingbirds, orioles, and tanagers.

We offer a full line of high-quality heated baths and submersible heaters. With them you can offer a year round water source to our feathered friends.

See you at the store

Tom and Diane

by Sara Nelson

During our recent photo contest, two customers submitted pictures of wood ducks. These pictures made me think of the season I spent as a biological science intern at Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland, assisting with the wood duck nesting program. Wood ducks are cavity nesters, meaning they lay their eggs in natural tree cavities and abandoned woodpecker nests. Wood duck populations have suffered due to human’s practice of removing snags (dead standing trees) and thereby removing nesting habitat.

In many places, including the refuge I worked on, people have begun erecting wood duck nest boxes; similar to the birdhouses you can put in your yard for bluebirds or wrens. Wood duck boxes are placed above or near water, generally in a wooded area, which is the wood duck’s natural habitat. The wood duck hens lay their eggs in the box and incubate them for a period of time (keeping them warm and turning them). Within 24 hours of the ducklings hatching, the hen will leave the box and call for the chicks. They will jump one by one out of the box and float to the ground. On the 12,750-acre refuge we had over 200 nest boxes that had to be checked every 7-10 days. The boxes were placed either on a pole about 6.5 feet off the ground, or on a pole above water. The boxes were checked by climbing a ladder or with a kayak (both of which we carried everywhere).

When we found eggs in a box we would count them, figure out when the hen began laying, and calculate when she would begin incubating them. When we were sure she would be sitting on the eggs we would catch the hen so she could be banded. To do this we would run or paddle (quickly and quietly!) to the box and cover the hole with a broom or a paddle so she couldn’t escape. We would then reach in and remove the hen without holding her over any of our other co-workers (ducks are very messy when they are frightened). If she was already banded we would record the information, or we would put a band on her if she didn’t have one. We would let her fly away and she would return after we left to continue caring for her eggs. We then calculated when the eggs should hatch based on the information we had and later return to the box to count how many eggs hatched.

We also conducted duckling surveys, searching the refuge for hens and counting how many ducklings each had with her. Wood duck nesting programs have been very successful in helping populations rebound and are another way we can help wildlife. Wood ducks do nest in Colorado and we have a wood duck box in the store. You can see Wood Ducks in Chatfield State Park and we regularly see them on our “Walk the Wetlands” walks with the Audubon Society of Greater Denver. Join us on a walk sometime. We do it the first Sunday of every month.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions about this interesting species or management technique.

Sara

Pure raw local honey will bee available in the store in March while supplies last. Check with us as we should have honey in quart jars by then. This honey is from our friend Jerry Webb. His hives are nearby as well.

All of our honey is local, pure, and raw. Great tasting and even better for your health.

Enjoy!