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August News from

Wild Bird Habitat Store

connecting families with nature for 21 years

Mid- Summer

August, 2014

Burn Camp Donations Accepted Through August 15
Please make a donation to Nebraska's Youth Burn Camp at any Wild Bird Habitat Store donated $500.00 during the Burn Camp Poker Run by the American Firefighters Motorcycle Club. Wild Bird Habitat will match all customers donations. Find out more about the St Elizabeth Medical Center's Burn Camp for ages 7 to 18 at Burn Camp
 
 
Hummingbirds will begin their migration south in August  Dr JB Hummingbird Feeder

I believe most people begin to feel summer slipping away shortly after the Fourth of July and the arrival of hummingbirds on their southerly retreat during the first few weeks of August seem to alert birders of the seasonal changes to come. Wild Bird Habitat generally recommends that people have their hummingbird feeders filled and ready by the 15th of August. However over the past few years these little jewels seemed to begin arriving during the first week of August, and in good numbers, staying well into September before moving on. Check out "tips on attracting hummingbirds" in this newsletter.


 

Our BEST hummingbird feeder - Dr. JBs 16 oz. Hummingbird Feeder

 
Ruby-throat Hummingbird
Bird of the month

This tiny jewel is the only one of the 16 species of Hummingbirds in the U.S. to regularly nest in the eastern part of the country. It is also one of the smallest of the species, weighing from 2 to 6 grams, or approximately 0.2 of an ounce. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are medium to long-distance migrants. While the majority will spend the winter in Central America after flying nearly 600 miles across the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, some will remain in far southern Florida and extreme southern portions of the gulf coast of the U.S. These are believed to be birds which nested far to the north....read more about this bird

 

 
Dave
 Dave's August Bird Chatter

 August is also the main month for two of our late nesters, the Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwings. The proper nesting materials are now abundant and of course their food supply has matured.. Berries for the Waxwings and seeds for the Goldfinch are now ready for them to harvest and feed their young. The other late nester, our Mourning Doves, is also an early nester. I personally believe they nest at least five times before folding up the chairs and calling it a season....read more chatter 

 
Lincoln's
Wild Bird Habitat Stores 
 Alamo Plaza Store
 
South Lincoln, NE in the Alamo Plaza 56th & Hwy #2
Mon - Fri 9am to 6pm
Saturday 9am to 5pm
Sunday 11am to 4pm
(402) 420-2553
  
4840 Orchard
 

 

North Lincoln, NE in the white house at4840 Orchard St

 

 
Mon - Fri 9am to 5:30pm
Saturday 9am to 5pm
Sunday Noon to 4pm
(402) 464-4055
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Tips for Attracting Hummingbirds Dr JB's Feeder

The Ruby-throat Hummingbird arrives in the middle latitudes of the United States about the first of May and departs in October. If you live in an extensively wooded area or along a river, you may see them all summer long. Generally we can expect to have them most of May and then returning in mid August until their final departure south.  One thing for certain is that a Hummingbird feeder will not stop them from migrating when the time arrives. The key to attracting them is habitat, minimal or no use of pesticides, and the types of flowers in your garden. Hummingbirds can be attracted to feeders containing artificial nectar....click here to read Wild Bird Habitat's "tips on attracting hummingbirds"

 

Are Blackbirds Taking Over Your Backyard Bird Feeders?
 

Tens of Thousands of Purple Martins in Omaha

Beginning it late July and lasting through September Purple Martins

congregate in a pre-migratory flock in Omaha as they prepare to head for Brazil for the winter months. By mid- August there can be as many as 30,000 to 70,000 Purple Martins soaring over the Omaha Medical Center at 44th and Farnam Streets before settling down in the ash trees that line the streets to roost for the night.

 

Since 2008 this flock of Purple Martins has caught the attention of area birders who now make an annual pilgrimage to few this amazing migration spectacle. Although Omaha Med Center personnel have been watching the Martins since the mid 1990's, photographs of a Purple Martin roost around 40th Street date back to the early 1900's indicating this Martin roost has been somewhere in the vicinity for at least the past century.

 

"The summer roost has become popular for spectators because the acrobatic flocks swarm and swoosh in military precision to the delight of old and young alike", says Omaha birder Jim Ducey. "The best time to see the Martins is about 8:30 p.m.", he said. Although the Medical Center opens its parking lots to accommodate people wanting to view the Purple Martins Ducey says spectators should be careful not to get in the way of emergency vehicles. "Martins roost together after they've reared their young and before they head south for the winter".

 

 

Wachiska  Audubon Field Trip / Sunday / Aug. 24th.

Jack Sinn Wildlife Management Area then  to Omaha view the Purple Martins

 

The saline wetlands at Jack Sinn WMA vary considerably this time of year. The marshes and ponds can attract anything from large stately herons to small energetic shorebirds. Meet at 3:00 p.m. on the south side of the Capitol in Lincoln, at 15th and H streets just across the street from the governor's mansion. Bring sturdy shoes, insect repellent, water bottle, and binoculars and scope if you have them.

 

For those who wish, we will continue to Omaha to view the massive annual gathering of purple martins at their pre-migratory roost. This regional roost can reach peak numbers of more than 50,000 martins in late August and early September. The show starts about a half hour before sunset and lasts for around an hour. The spectacle occurs next to Nebraska Medical Center on 44th Street immediately south of Farnam Street. The parking lot next to Clarkson Doctor's Building South is open to birders.


 

Call John at 402-475-7275 if you have questions.

 


 
Birdwatching Around the Lincoln Metro

Thanks in part to a Watchable Wildlife Grant from the Nebraska Metro Trail Sign Game and Parks Division's Wildlife Fund, our expanding network of hiking and biking trails now sport signage identifying "Metro Birding Areas". The Great Plains Trail Network (GPTN) made application for the grant, and was announced as a recipient in December. GPTN partnered with the City of Lincoln, which provided sign installation, and the Wild Bird Habitat Store (Recipient, Better Business Bureau's "Integrity Award" for 2012) which supplied matching funding along with GPTN.

Click Locate Lincoln's Metro Birding Sites

More About Wild Bird Habitat's Quality Wild Bird Feeds

NutraSaff Safflower, also known as Golden Safflower, an extremely thin outer hull. Birds will have an easier time digesting and extracting the meal from NutraSaff safflower seeds. NutraSaff provides higher energy with less waste than traditional safflower. Here are more attributes and benefits:

 

  •  Hulless - No Outer Hull
  •  15% Higher Seed Oil Content
  •  25% Higher Protein
  •  30% Higher Energy Content
  •  Higher Digestibility
  •  Less Mess at Bird Feeder
  •  Birds Love Golden Safflower

 

Black Oil Sunflower Seed  remains the most popular wild bird feed used. Wild Bird Habitat's black oil sunflower seed is food grade quality, the same grade used by food processors of sunflower oil. Take the black oil sunflower seed challenge. Open 5 B/O seeds sold by Wild Bird Habitat then open 5 B/O seeds from  the big box stores and you'll seed the difference. Discounted black oil sunflower seeds are often immature, partially consumed by insect infestation, or under-developed from plant diseases. You may even find some void of a kernel.

 

Nyjer Thistle Seed is imported from India and Ethiopia and sterilized by heat to prevent germination. This process creates a shelf-life of five to six months after which the finches will ignore it. Many chain retailers of wild bird feeds may warehouse Nyjer seed for a year or more before it reaches the shelf for the consumer. Wild Bird Habitat receives Nyjer thistle seed within days of reaching North America and stocked fresh weekly. Wild Bird Habitat also pays extra to have our Nyjer seed double screened to remove foreign debris, dust, and immature seeds that bird will not eat.

 

General Wild Bird & Specialty Mixes offered by Wild Bird Habitat are of the highest quality food grade seeds that are preferred by backyard birds. Most processors of wild bird feeds select products rejected by the food industry and then add fillers such as Milo, wheat, barley and weed seeds that backyard birds do not eat. This may seem to make the cost of feeding birds more affordable, but as much as half can be rejected by birds driving the cost of that economical bag up.

 

Nebraska's Wild Bird Habitat Stores stock only the finest wild bird feeds and mixes
available  from Des Moines Feed, a family owned and managed business since 1944. Des Moines Feed is a major distributor and manufacturer of bird seed and other commodities nationwide paying close attention to the quality of their products,  Our wild bird feeds contain food grade products and, better yet,  are all  non-MGO making it  safer and healthier for backyard bird feeding.  Tell a friend about our quality wild bird feeds. The birds will appreciate it.

 

Wild Bird Habitat sells more than just 21 varieties of quality wild bird feeds. We special order pigeon feed, poultry feed, and caged bird feed. Also available are deer and wildlife mixes and blocks, salt blocks, food plot mixes, along with some small animal feeds. With fresh deliveries of wild bird feeds arriving two to three times weekly your special order will arrive with-in one to two days. Ask our staff to see our full line of products available from Des Moines Feed. 

 


 
Nebraska Bird Library
click to go to bird library

 

Project Beak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wild Bird Habitat Stores

Family owned Backyard Bird Feeding Centers Since 1993

 

Toll Free:  (800) 606-2553

E-Mail:  info@wildbirdhabitatstore.com