LADY BUG...DURING WINTER MONTHS, BIRDS REALLY ENJOY HOMEMADE TREATS

There is never a dull moment on a gray, cold day when the ground is covered with white, fluffy snow; when the bird feeders are well stocked with sunflower seeds, some suet and ears of corn. There are colorful cardinals, chickadees, tufted titmice, house finch and goldfinch vying for their food.

The gluttonous blue jay will eat anything put out, and will drive the small, more desirable birds away. Although sunflower seeds are the favorite of most birds, some will feed on other foods. Woodpeckers are attracted to suet or suet products, goldfinch like thistle seeds, and in the summer time cardinals are delighted with an ear of corn and will spend hours taking the kernels off one at a time, but will not touch it during the winter. Why?

A recent survey showed that more than 60 million Americans feed the birds. Feeding birds preceded the development of commercial bird feeders by thousands of years.

Since the earliest days of history, birds have been hanging around farm homes hoping to clean up on any crumbs they might find. Sparrows would snatch the chicken feed scattered on the ground, and finches are known to pick up the grain by following behind the threshers. Many people who would never put up a bird house would cast their crusts of bread and pastry to the birds because they found that more rewarding than feeding the mechanical mouth of their garbage disposal.

Now many people find feeding the birds can be an entertaining activity, not only in the cold of winter, but throughout the year. Winter time feeding attracts more birds than summertime, and for a good reason. During the summer there are seeds in the fields, insects in the barks of trees, worms in the ground, vegetables in the gardens.

Winter brings a change in food supply. Many insects become dormant during the winter and are available for birds who stay with us and do not migrate. Woodpeckers, nuthatch and other insect eaters pry grubs and hibernating beetles from under tree bark and supplement their intake of seeds, nuts and berries.

Our birds turn up their beaks at cracked corn put into the feeders. They will not eat it, while birds fed by friends who live in a rural area ate all the cracked corn put out, but would not eat thistle seed, which is considered caviar to the house finch and gold finch.

Most all birds appreciate nuts, especially raw peanuts, slices of apple and oranges, and peanut butter, which can be placed in special feeders with holes, pine cones or in can lids.

Sunflower seeds are most popular. Ounce for ounce, sunflower seeds contain as much protein as ground beef. There are three kinds of sunflower seeds for birds--black-oil, black-striped and gray-striped. It is really neat to watch a little chickadee or titmouse or cardinal take a sunflower seed from the feeder and go and perch on the limb or a wire and hold it between his feet to get the tasty kernel.

There are also ground feeders, such as the juncos mourning doves, white-crowned sparrows. They are grateful for any of the seeds that fall to the ground.

A mocking bird has appreciated the holly that has been left with the Christmas greens in our outside urns. Each morning, she can be seen feasting on those bright red holly berries.

It is easy to make a delectable feast for birds by saving fat from the kitchen. Collect it in a can and when there is a sufficient amount, stir in some cornmeal, flour, bread or cracker crumbs. Fat will not harden as suet does, since it will be used only for winter feeding and the low temperature outside will keep it firm. It might be poured over old bread or put into a commercial feeder, such as a suet feeder.

Suet is the tastiest and most readily available source of animal fat for birds. One can simply put a fist size chunk of suet into a mesh bag, such as those for potatoes or onions and tie it about five feet from the ground on a limb, hoping that it is out of the reach of a squirrel. Hah!

The following recipe for a peanut butter-suet mixture is a good one. The peanut butter adds protein and the cornmeal adds carbohydrate to this easy-to-make offering:

BIRD FOOD MIXTURE

2 cups suet

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups cornmeal

2 cups cracked corn, millet or any other small seed

Melt the suet. Allow it to cool slightly. Add the peanut butter, stirring until well blended. Add the corn meal and other grain. Pour into feeding container.

Birds are the gardener's best friends, reducing the bug population during our growing season.