Try something different: Spray millet
Millet may not be the first type of seed that comes to mind when thinking of wild bird feeding. A few members of the FeederWatcher’s Forum, however, have had some fun recently by putting out sprigs of millet for their birds. Forum member downeylover writes, “I used twist ties to put out a few sprays of millet as a treat. Its a hit! The cardinals have been at it non stop but I’ve also seen juncos, chickadees, titmice and house finches enjoying some.”
Cardinals enjoying spray millet by Kim SanFanandre of Long Island, NY
Millet is a small, round seed that is often found in wild bird seed mixes. Some species may toss millet aside while searching for richer foods in the mix such as the black oil sunflower seed. But white millet is readily consumed by some species, particularly birds that feed on the ground. “Spray millet” is millet seed still on the stalk and is usually sold as an enrichment food for captive birds–check your local pet store to see if they carry it. Many native birds will readily consume millet seed including finches, sparrows, towhees, juncos, doves, and cardinals (like the ones seen above).
Note that species such as cowbirds and House Sparrows also love millet, so if you do not want to attract these species, you may want to avoid millet. Also, try to make sure that you purchase white proso millet, not red millet or golden millet because these other types of millet are not readily eaten by most species. Spray millet can also be pricey – if you find that spray millet is too expensive, you can also buy bags of white millet seed to spreed on the ground or put in tray feeders.
For more tips on bird feeding, see FeederWatch’s bird feeding page or All About Birds’ feeding page.
Low on birds? Take a look at our live cam!
Many FeederWatchers have been lamenting over low bird counts this winter, but not Tammie Haché – our live FeederWatch Cam host! If you’re feeling low on birds, why not watch Tammie’s feeder for a while?
Tammie reports: “Things are insanely busy at the web cam! I’m averaging between 100 and 200 birds at a time in the backyard, mostly Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls. I opened my 5th – 40 lb bag of seed yesterday. Last winter, I only used 3 bags all season long!”
Take a virtual trip to Manitouwadge, ON and Tammie’s plethora of birds here!
Note to Mac users: make sure you have Flip4Mac installed in order to view the live stream. You can download it here.
Country birds are bigger than city slickers
Few species do well across a gradient of urbanization from cities to remote farms. Among species that can thrive across these diverse habitats, are there differences between populations found in the city and those in the country? Do urban House Sparrows, for instance, differ from their country cousins?
House Sparrow photo by FeederWatcher Randy Harwood of Rolling Hills Estates, CA.
Recent research along the urbanization gradient in Hungary has shed light on differences between city and country birds. Researchers discovered that House Sparrows in the city were smaller, on average, than individuals of the same species that lived in nearby rural areas. Differences were detected in body mass (weight), the length of the tarsus (a bone in the lower leg), and overall body condition. City-living House Sparrows were consistently smaller and in worse condition than their country cousins. Birds in the most urban settings were 5% lighter, on average, than birds in the most rural areas. These differences remained even after the researchers controlled for the potential effects of year, season, and sex.
One possible explanation for the variation in size is a difference in diet between the city and country sparrows. To control for the influence of diet, the researchers brought adult urban and rural birds into captivity, providing both groups with unlimited amounts of the same food. Despite the identical conditions experienced in captivity, differences in body size and condition remained after several months.
So why are city birds smaller than the birds from rural areas? One possibility is that birds raised in cities do not receive proper nutrition, leading to slower growth rates in the nest and smaller overall body size as adults. Previous research does suggest that nestlings in urban environments tend to be fed lower amounts of food or lower quality foods. Another possibility is that being small in the city helps birds survive. If smaller birds are better suited for the urban environment, we’d expect the size of city sparrows to decline from one generation to the next. Further studies, possibly where birds are raised in captivity under city and country diets, may help determine the importance of diet versus adaptation to the local environment in contributing to the size differences between city and country birds.
Source: Liker, A. et al. 2008. Lean birds in the city: body size and condition of house sparrows along the urbanization gradient. Journal of Animal Ecology 77:789-795.
