Lending A Hand To Avian Friends

We have been hit by a brutally cold winter since Christmas that has become much worse in the last couple of days.  Yesterday and today the temperature hovering in the single digits, Fahrenheit, during the day and dropping down below 0°F at night.  This number does not take windchill into account which would drop it into negative double digits.  This extreme cold temperature, common for those who live in a much colder climate, is a concern for us in the mid-Northeastern part of the US.  Even the local birds have retreated.

We had a blizzard three days ago which dumped 5 inches of snow in our area.  Reservoirs around here iced over thick enough to make ice fishing a common site again.  At times like this we put up more bird boxes, lined with fluffy cotton at the bottom, so our avian friends can have a place to roost away from high winds and frigid temperatures.  We also put more feeders up along our patio and make sure that there is clean water in the heated birdbaths.

As far as I know Downy woodpeckers and the bullying House sparrows roost in the boxes.  This winter, however, a few Bluebirds have been roosting in one of the boxes- the box that they may have been born in.  It’s very convenient for them to just look out of the box to see if we have put the feeders back up in the morning before they come out.

They enjoying our hospitality and we enjoy watching them in the comfort of our home.  All photos were taken through the patio door; it’s blow 10°F outside.

These are just some of the birds that frequent our feeders in winter.  Most are welcome even the ones that come in a flock like the House finch and Pine siskin but bullies like House sparrows and European Starlings we chase off.  In spring and summer, the table is turned and they pay us back when they serenade us from dawn to dusk and patrol our garden for insects.  Symbiosis indeed!