Is a bird in the hand worth a bushy-tailed squirrel?

EUREKA, Ill. -- By now, residents of Maple Lawn Homes had hoped to have wild birds eating out of the palms of their hands. But not even St. Francis of Assisi could accomplish this, if a pesky squirrel kept interfering.

A couple of years ago, the editors of "Birds & Bloom" magazine came up with a novel approach to hand-feeding wild birds, which they shared for free with the nursing home and more than 200 other centers throughout the United States and Canada.

The traditional bird-in-hand feeding technique is for someone to stand as still as a statue about 30 feet from a bird feeder for about 30 minutes. Each day, the person takes a step closer to the bird feeder as the birds become accustomed to the statue-like figure.

Eventually, the person is standing right next to the feeder. When this happens, the next step is to empty the feeder and hold a plate full of seed. After birds become comfortable pecking from the plate, it's time to put the seed directly in hand.

"The problem with the traditional way is not many people have the time required to do this," said Ann Kaiser, an associate editor with "Birds & Bloom" magazine.

The magazine's editors devised a human-size mannequin, whose face is that of a guy in the company's financial department.

The mannequin was named "Bill Bird-in-Hand." The weather-proof dummy can be positioned to stand or sit. It comes complete with instructions. Basically, the mannequin stands in the place of a person during the training period, which may last hours or months.

The magazine decided to donate a "Bill Bird-in-Hand," to six senior centers or nursing homes in each state as well as each province of Canada.

Nine residents wrote on behalf of the Maple Lawn Homes.

"I have been a bird watcher for 40-some years, but now I am a resident at Maple Lawn Health Center. It is a good home, however, I've missed my old bird feeder and how tame the regulars become," wrote Margaret Kiblinger. "But I have never had one approach me to eat from my hand! How thrilling that would be! And do we have cardinals here. ... Dear Bill, come live with us."

In the middle of March, Bill arrived at Maple Lawn Homes. Residents dressed him and covered his lap with a blanket.

"So far, I don't believe we have had a bird peck from Bill's hand," said activities director Karlita Sloter. "But we have a squirrel who eats regularly from it."