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Happy New Year & Happy Anniversary!
At the beginning of 2017, I would like to wish all of you a happy and bird-filled New Year! And, I would also like to issue my appreciation for your business. January 7, marked the 28th Anniversary of the store opening! I couldn't have made it this far without the vast support and encouragement of my parents, wife and kids, friends, employees, vendors, the critters, and all of you customers.
Thank You! --Steve
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Bird Walk Appreciation
At the end of last year, I received a lovely letter from Kerry C. describing her appreciation for the bird walk emails and slide shows. In the letter she said it was such a gift to be able to take a virtual bird walk every week by reading our Saturday Birder emails and viewing the beautiful slide shows. I encourage all of you to use the emails and slide shows like Kerry does; as a mental health break in your busy weeks. Sign up for the Saturday Bird Walk emails and pass them on to friends. Thank you Kerry for the wonderful letter and gracious gift!
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Wild Bird Company
Quick Links
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Xcel Energy
Bird Cams
Osprey Cam
from Earth Cam
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| Osprey ©Wendy Marie Stuart |
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Wild Bird Company Saturday Bird Walk
(Every Saturday morning for our Colorado Birders)
Bird Watchers (that's us)
From 7:30 am (promptly)
to 10:00 am (approximately)
Every Saturday year-round. No reservations required. Every last Saturday of the month we travel further afield than normal and return a little later. Bird Walk locations are determined on the morning of the walk. All ages and birding abilities are welcome!
Meet at Wild Bird Company
1641 - 28th St., Boulder, CO 80301
Call for more info: 303-442-1322
Weekly Bird Walk Slide Shows
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I know many of you really love receiving the Facebook postings, weekly bird list and slide show emails and/or the monthly newsletter emails. Please consider sharing or forwarding these emails and postings to your friends interested in nature. I would really appreciate getting these educational postings to a wider audience.
Thanks for the help.
--Steve
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Some of you may have seen our new sign and logo or noticed our new name. After many years as a franchise store, we have gone independent and changed our name to Wild Bird Company. We look forward to a continued relationship with our customers, increasing our brick-and-mortar and electronic inventories, greater educational resources, and so many other plans. Thank you all for making the last 27.5 years so memorable. I look forward to more good times. --Steve
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by Steve Frye
House finches were once only a western species until some smugglers in the New York pet trade in the
1940's were marketing them as Hollywood Finches. Word got around that these people were going to get arrested in violation of the Migratory Bird Act and so they let them free. These birds established themselves in the wild and started to expand their range. Since that time, their range expansion raced westward and has met the historic population of the west. In other words, house finches are now a feeder bird for the entire
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House Finch ©Kevin Rutherford
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Continental US.
House finches are one of the most common feeder birds and a delight to have around, filling your yard with chatter and activity. Starting just after the winter solstice, male house finches belt out their lilting song interspersed with buzzy notes. A welcome sound for those who long for warmer weather.
House finches have similar looking bird cousins in the purple and Cassin's Finches. Attracting these other finches is similar to attracting house finches.
Bird Seed and Feeders for
Attracting House Finches
Sunflower seeds are the best seeds for attracting house finches. They have almost equal preference for oil sunflowers in the shell versus hulled sunflower (sunflower seeds out of the shell). Striped sunflower seeds will also be eaten, but not as readily and they are a more expensive choice.
Secondary seed choices for house finches include safflower seeds, nyjer (thistle), some suets, and canary seed.
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House Finches
©Kevin Rutherford
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House finches are not picky about feeder styles so you can readily attract them to a tube, hopper, or platform feeder. As long as you are feeding sunflower seeds, house finches will be there for them.
Offering fruit, either by landscape or feeder, is another great way to attract house finches. Before a recent scientific name change, house finches were in the genus carpodacus which is Greek for fruit-biting. House finches will enjoy grapes, raisins soaked in water, apples, and even apple sauce. You can present these fruits in a dish, suet basket, or on a skewer.
House finches will sometimes visit hummingbird feeders to drink the nectar. These visits may not be appreciated if they are also spilling the nectar making a sticky mess below. To combat this behavior, try putting out some fruit to eat and some water.
Bird Houses for Attracting House Finches
House finches are not cavity nesting birds so they won't use a traditional bird house or nest box. However, they do like to have a sheltered nest site. I have had luck using a small shelf tucked up under the eave of the house. A bird house with the top ¾ of the front removed would work nicely. Use the Birds Picket plans from our web site and modify the front to turn it into a House Finch Picket Shelter.
One easy way to get house finches to nest near your house is to put up a basket of hanging flowers on the porch. The finches find nesting in the middle of these
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House Finch ©Steve Frye
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hanging baskets irresistible. If a finch pair does set up in your hanging basket don't forget to tend to the plants and keep them watered. The birds were attracted there because of the shelter the plants provide, and if the plants die they will be more vulnerable to predation. If you are worried about soaking the nest when you are watering I suggest using a soda bottle in the middle of your basket. Take the top portion of a large soda bottle and invert it in the middle of your basket with about an inch sticking above the soil level. This will give the house finches a nice cup to build in and the lip above the soil and the drain hole underneath will prevent the nest from getting water-logged.
I have a customer who hangs small baskets with handles from cup hooks all around under her porch. The house finches love to nest in them and it has shown house finches can be semi-colonial given the right conditions.
Providing Water for Attracting House Finches
House finches will always appreciate a chance to drink and bathe at a bird bath or water feature. During hot days, house finches can drink up to 40% of their body weight.
Gardening for House Finches
House finches feed on both fruits and seeds in the landscape. Providing plants that meet these needs along with cover provided by bushes and evergreens will ensure having house finches in your yard year-round.
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House Finch ©Kevin Rutherford
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Seeds for house finches can be provided by growing sunflowers, Bachelor's Buttons, amaranth, cosmos, (dandelions), and zinnias. Fruits attractive to house finches include Virginia Creeper, cherries, grapes, mulberries, serviceberry, cotoneasters, currents, and mahonia.
Diseases in House Finches
House finches are prone to avian pox and conjunctivitis; both viruses give the finches large swollen eyes and crusty growths around the face. They are both contagious and look painful. While they are not necessarily fatal, both can easily compromise the bird's health to a point where they succumb to exposure or predation. Sick house finches are often seen in the fall when their population is at its highest after the addition of recently fledged birds.
What can you do about sick house finches? Opinions vary quite a lot, but I am of the opinion that we are not in control and we can only impact the situation in a very small way. That being said, I do think that it is important to do what you can to prevent any
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House Finch ©Neal Zaun
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contribution on the part of bird feeders and baths. Cleaning your feeders and baths at regular intervals throughout the year is important to maintaining the health of your backyard bird population. Simple soap and water is sufficient for cleaning your feeders and a scrub and change of water in your bath will do. You should clean your feeders once a season and your bath several times a week if is getting good use. You may want to clean your feeders and baths more often if you have sick house finches frequenting your yard. If you use seeds in the shell, it is far more important to rake up the shell mess below your feeder than it is to clean the feeder. The mat of shells can harbor diseases more readily that the surfaces of your feeder.
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Demystifying Gulls
The
Boulder County Nature Association is offering a class by
Bill Schmoker titled
Demystifying Gulls: Beginning and Intermediate Gull ID
. This sure-to-be-great class has two parts, the first is an evening classroom session followed by a field class to possibly gull hot spot Pueblo Reservoir. Bill is a local educator, author, and wildlife photographer and will undoubtedly teach a fantastic course. For more details go to the
BCNA 2017 Ecology Field Classes page
to see all of their great offerings.
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15% Off Droll Yankee Tube Feeders!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Super Birdy and
Built Tough!
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[Note: When purchasing online, discount
will be applied during checkout]
Shop Online
, Call (303) 442-1322 and mention this Coupon or visit our Store to redeem.
Code:
WBCO0315
Not to be combined with other offers.
Expires 3/15/17.
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Don't forget to pro-actively attract your favorite birds. Stop by the Wild Bird Company today or
Sincerely,
Stephen Frye
1.844.442.1322 (toll free)
Wild Bird Company Headquarters
1641- 28th Street, Boulder, CO 80301
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