Birdfeeders add color, variety to fall landscape and gardens

The recent cool fall days remind me that winter is not too far off. For most gardeners this means very little activity in the garden or landscape. They also mean the drab colors of dead leaves, dead flower stalks, and brown to black bare soils have replaced the vibrant summer colors of flowers and foliage.

So what is a gardener to do? Surely there is something that you can do during the winter months to add color to the seemingly drab landscape. Several of my gardening friends have just the solution for winter color -- they feed songbirds all year long. What is more colorful than a goldfinch or a male cardinal flitting through your landscape? I can think of very few other things.

If you have never fed songbirds in your landscape, you are in for a treat. You will find that each species has different methods of feeding. Some such as mourning doves and titmice like to feed on the ground. Black-capped chickadees are upside down a lot. If you spend ample time watching them, you can sometimes identify individual birds with peculiar markings. You will find that each has its own personality.

Getting started in birdwatching and birdfeeding is not very hard at all. First I would go to a store that has a large birdfeeding department. Get a birdfeeder that will handle large seeds such as sunflower. I would also get a feeder that dispenses small seed such as nyger thistle. You can find these two types of feeders in many different shapes, forms, and styles. They can be wooden, tubes, socks, fly-throughs, hanging or post mounted. You can find inexpensive ones, or you can buy some estate feeders that cost more than $300. There is just about one or another kind of feeder that will suit your taste and budget.

Next get nyger thistle seed and either a mixture of birdfeed that contains sunflower, millet, milo, and corn, or just black oil sunflower. You now have a combination of feeds that will attract the widest range of birds during the winter months.

If you really want to get into birdwatching, buy a pair of binoculars. I like a 10-by-50 pair. You can do just as well with a 8-by-35 pair. The amount of money you spend will depend upon the quality of optics that you want.

Finally buy the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds. This guide, full of colorful drawings, is the easiest for me to use when trying to identify birds that I am not familiar with. It also helps me separate birds that look very much alike.

Now you are all set. Go home, set up your bird feeders, fill them up with the birdfeed, go inside and watch the action. If you have a lot of trees and shrubs in your landscape, it may only take a few minutes for your local birds to find the smorgasbord. If you have very few shrubs and trees in your landscape, or if your landscape plants are small, it may take a few days before birds find your feeders. Don't get discouraged.

Once you get hooked on birdfeeding, you will want to get more feeders. Each species of bird likes to feed in different ways. Some like to sit on perches, others like platforms to stand on. Some such as woodpeckers prefer feeders with tail props. The list goes on and on.

Don't let winter doldrums get your down. Get prepared to enjoy color and the antics of your feathered friends all fall and winter long. You'll probably get so attached to them that you well continue to feed all year round.

Send your gardening questions to Paul Schnare at news@semissourian.com or write him at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699.