Summer Bird Feeding - Should You Feed How And What To Feed If You Do
Ever wonder if you should feed the birds in summer? Discover what birds can be attracted to your feeders during the nesting season.
The article below will help you attract birds that will be in your yard and garden during the breeding season, and how to get them to visit your feeders.
What Birds Eat in Summer
Summer is a great opportunity to experiment with bird foods other than seeds on your bird feeding menu.
Try skewering orange or apple halves on a tree branch for Tanagers, Grosbeaks, and Orioles.
Thrashers, Mockingbirds, and Catbirds also enjoy fruit, including bananas and watermelon, which attract insects such as fruit flies that may attract hummingbirds.
Grape jelly does a great job of attracting summer birds. Place in a shallow dish, and you'll see many species of fruit-eating birds.
A shallow bowl of your hummingbird solution will attract finches, orioles, woodpeckers, and more.
You can attract Bluebirds, Robins, and other birds by providing mealworms. These are the larvae of beetles and can be purchased at pet stores or online.
Some folks raise their own to always have some on hand. Baby birds need the protein that insects provide, so this is a good option.
Food requirements are different during the nesting season than in winter. Of course, clean water is always important and summer temperatures take a toll on our birds.
Laying eggs uses calcium, so add some crushed egg shells on a platform feeder. The extra calcium and the grit of the shells will aid digestion.
Suet gives them supplemental fats for energy. Commercial brands that don't melt are available online or the big box stores.
Summer Bird Feeding What to Expect
Be alert for unusual visitors as curious migrants stop to investigate the activity around your feeding stations.
In between spring and fall migrations, the action is like watching a soap opera as dominant males vie for the best spots, trying to impress the females.
Later, when your neighborhood birds are raising their young, notice how the adults bring around their young for lessons in getting food and water.
Once the juveniles start coming on their own, you will have the opportunity to study their plumage before they molt into adult feathers.
Patterns and color show the greatest variations during the time between fledging and fall migration; the differences between some of the fledglings and their parents are amazing.
There is no doubt that summer's birds offer unique entertainment.
See also:
© 2003 birdfeeding.org.The Bird's-Eye reView - reviewed 2023
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