Winged Wednesday - Spotlight on Sunflower Seeds

So in the past weeks, I've touched on Nyjer Seed and on Safflower Seed. Today, I'll provide some information on Sunflower Seeds. These are pretty common feeder seeds that many people use. These even make appearances in the general wild bird seed mixes which I do not recommend.

Sunflower Seed comes in two varieties: Striped and Black-Oil. The Striped are larger than the Black-Oil and have a thicker shell. The Black-Oil seeds are the more common seeds which many people use.

Sunflowers are native to the Americas and are plants that many people put in their gardens. They are cultivated for human consumption as seed and as sunflower oil.

A host of bird species are attracted to the seed because it contains vital oils. Many birds may also readily eat it because like them, it's native to the Americas. They would eat it even if you didn't offer it in a feeder. Some birds that you find eating your Black-Oil Sunflower seeds include: Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinches, Black Capped Chickadees, White Breasted Nuthatches, and Purple Finches, but really they are very good general all purpose seeds. A small list of birds seem interested in the Striped Seeds: Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, Evening Grosbeaks, Blue Jays, and Black Capped Chickadees.

These seeds can be easily dispensed in hopper feeders, tray feeders, or feeders made of wire mesh. One thing to note is that the shells of seeds can make a mess. They are totally worth the mess, and very easy to buy since they can be found anywhere from grocery stores to Farm & Fleet to Wild Birds Unlimited.

Top 10 Signs of Spring from the Past Weekend

Folks in Wisconsin got an early taste of Spring this weekend and may get an early taste of Summer this week. Here are some of the signs I saw that Spring had arrived this past weekend.

1. Dinner on the grill. That's right. Polish Sausage cooked over charcoal! It was pretty awesome.
2. Expanding the flower bed. I hadn't planned to do my digging and flower bed prep this early, but with as nice out as it was, I couldn't think of a good reason not to remove sod, put up some fencing, and setup the bird house.
3. Chickadees checking out the birdhouse. Just after getting the house setup with a "Sparrow Spooker" (I'll post more on this if it works), a couple of Black Capped Chickadees went inside. I don't think they decided to move in as we haven't seen them since.
4. Sandhill Cranes. I counted a total of 7 cranes this weekend while outside. I imagine they were headed to Horicon or Baraboo.
5. Killdeers. I first heard their high-pitch call outside of Farm & Fleet, and I assumed that I was hearing things. However, later while we were sitting out on the deck, I heard it again and made visual confirmation. It's amazing! We didn't see them last year until the Tree Swallows were back!
6. Bird calls. Our morning and evening walks with our beagle have been full of bird calls. We've heard American Robins, Northern Cardinals, Red Winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Black Capped Chickadees, and plenty more. You know it's Spring when the male birds start looking for girlfriends.
7. Daylight Savings Time. I hate time change! I had really enjoyed that it was finally light out when getting up in the morning. Although, I must admit that I liked having sunlight after work today. Making the transition is always so difficult though.
8. Other dogs. Often times during the winter, Babe was the only dog we saw. We walk her three times per day, rain or shine or snow. But we were surprised that we didn't see many other dogs during the Winter. We saw tons of dog walkers this weekend. Makes one wonder where the dogs were pooping?
9. Green stuff in the flower bed. Green stuff and lots of it! I've got Purple Cone Flower, New York Aster, Black-Eyed Susan, Prairie Coneflower, and Dandelions coming up! What do you have in your garden?
10. The seasonal section at Farm and Fleet. I stopped in to pick up some water softener salt and was greeted by lawn mowers, weed whackers, seeds, pots, and a variety of gardening tools. While it wasn't ready yet, you could see that they'd been setting up the outdoor gardening center. In a few weeks, they'll have trees and flowers for sale. Looks like the stores have caught Spring fever too.

This Year's Plan

Below you'll find a couple of photographs of our lawn from when we first purchased our home. You'll notice the stark absence of trees. From talking to the neighbors, we've been told that the yard once had Red Cedar in the front and back, but currently we have none. So the big task this year will be planting some trees.

When I sat down with these images over the winter, I realized exactly how jealous I am of P. Allen Smith and his fancy digital whiteboard. I started with a sketch pad and noted the places in the backyard whereby planting a tree would be next to impossible. I didn't want to shade out our wildflower garden, and I'm not convinced that planting a tree in the shady part of the yard will work well either. So most of the tree planting will need to be in the front yard.

The front yard will host four trees. The north end of the yard will have a wind-block made of Eastern White Pine, Red Cedar, and American Larch. Conifers are native to the boreal forests of North America and provide excellent shelter for the birds. On the south side of the front lawn, I plan to add a Red Oak. The acorns will attract birds and other critters, and oaks are also popular with birds that eat insects like woodpeckers and nuthatches. I'll add a couple of Nannyberry Viburnums near the oak tree as well. Lastly, I still wanted to plant something in the backyard to give the birds who visit our feeders a good place for perching, so something small like an Eastern Red Bud seems like a good choice.

The wildflower garden did pretty well last year, but there were a number flowers we did not get a chance to plant. The bed will be extended and widened, and the following flowers will be added: Lance-Leaf Coreopsis, Cardinal Flower, and Bee Balm. There is also a small, currently unused bed, near our air conditioner in which we found a single Columbine growing last summer. I've purchase more Columbine to add to this bed this year. We're hoping the addition of Bee Balm, Columbine, and Cardinal Flower will help our yard attract more butterflies and hummingbirds.

The shady corner is home to our compost bin which can be a bit unsightly. We had good luck with the Highbush Cranberry Viburnums and the Pagoda Dogwood which we added to this part of the yard last year, so we plan to add two more Highbush Cranberries. We will also plant some Ribes, particularly Coralberry, a type of Currant as well as a Highbush Blueberry. This corner is becoming the understory for our neighbors' oaks and maples.

The interesting part about our landscaping so far is that coupled with the different types of bird feeders, our miniature biomes attract different types of birds. The feeders full of sunflower seeds and peanuts are nearest the shady corner. Blue Jays, Downy Woodpeckers, and Black Capped Chickadees can be found in this part of the yard. Whereas the American Goldfinches and Dark Eyed Juncos can be found nearer the wildflower garden at the nyjer feeder. With some careful planning and clever plant selection, you too can create small habitats for the wildlife in your yard.

Winged Wednesday - Spotlight on Nyjer Seed

Last week, I posted some useful information about Safflower Seed, which has become my favorite bird feeder foods. This Wednesday, I'd like to share some information about my second favorite seed, Nyjer (also called Thistle or Nyger seed).

While often called "Thistle", Nyjer is in fact not Thistle. Thistle is in the genus, Cirsium, while Nyjer is part of the genus Guizotia. Guizotia are only native to Africa.The Nyjer seeds are very small and hard. The seed is black and fairly potent.

Because of its small size, there are special feeders with smaller mesh or holes so that the seed doesn't come spilling out. Tube feeders are generally recommended for this type of seed. The tube keeps the seed from blowing away or getting wet and typically allows multiple birds to feed. You may also find mesh bags sold as sock feeders. The only problem with tube and sock feeders is that some birds won't cling or perch to them even though they'd like to dine on the Nyjer.

Nyjer is typically associated with American Goldfinches, which is how it came to be called "Thistle", but other birds will also eat it. Dark-Eyed Juncos, Pine Siskins, and Mourning Doves will readily eat Nyjer. The problem for the Dark-Eyed Juncos and Mourning Doves is that they don't usually do well with sock or tube feeders. You can however spread some seed along the ground. Be aware that laying seed on the ground may attract English House Sparrows who will readily eat this seed from the ground.

We originally used a sock feeder which got a lot of attention, but eventually the draw-string broke. We now use a yellow tube feeder which has gotten even more attention. If you are looking for a good way to attract American Goldfinches, I'd recommend placing one of these near some flowering Black-Eyed Susans and native grasses like Little Blue Stem.