Wildlife Wednesday 02/07

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! While bird migration during spring and fall can be thrilling with colorful warblers, rarities for your life list, and huge flock numbers, winter birding in Ohio is exciting too, even if simply through a window of your warm and cozy home or local nature center.

With leaves having fallen from the deciduous trees and lack of other vegetation, birds can be much easier to spot and observe than when the foliage is thick.

Offering the right food options can attract all sorts of interesting birds to your yard! And having a water source and shelter/cover can ensure the area is a place birds will visit regularly. This could be a birdhouse, evergreen bush, or even a pile of brush and sticks.

Appropriate foods for your feeders include:

*Black-oil sunflower seeds, which are a favorite of cardinals, nuthatches, chickadees, finches, and woodpeckers

*Peanuts (raw and unsalted are safest) provide a great source of protein and are preferred by Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, woodpeckers, and crows

*Nyjer seed (also called thistle) will bring pops of bright yellow in the form of American Goldfinches, in addition to siskins, sparrows, juncos, and doves

*Suet is frequently enjoyed by woodpeckers, wrens, nuthatches, and chickadees

Inappropriate food items such as popcorn and bread can cause serious health problems and even death.

Join us this Friday, February 09 at 8 AM for Early Birds! We will observe birds at the feeders from the TWC interpretive building, then take to the trails for a birding walk about the grounds, exploring various habitats.

Register here: https://wildernesscenter.org/inspire_events/early-birds-3/