How to help birds winter
The tit is perhaps the only bird that has its own personal holiday, November 12th. Moreover, the history of the holiday goes into the distant past. In ancient times, there was a special relationship with titmouse, as the peasants knew that this bird was of great benefit in summer, and they carefully took care of it with the onset of winter cold.
We have selected some simple tips on how to do a good deed and feed the birds that stay in our area for the winter.
(Total 7 photos)
1. It is believed that in mid-November, tits and other "winter guests" - goldfinches, bullfinches, jays, anticipating the imminent cold, fly from the forests closer to human habitation and wait for our help. (Photo by A. Gorlov)
2. Since we are talking about nature today, it is worth remembering that at a time when there was no hydrometeorological center and other Internets, our ancestors focused on flora and fauna: if birds appeared in flocks near the house, it means that frosts are about to come. And it was on November 12 that our observant predecessors predicted the weather according to special signs: if a tit whistles, it will be a clear day, if it squeaks, it will be a night frost, a lot of tits are gathering on the feeders - to a snowstorm and snowfall. (Photo by A. Gorlov)
3. So, in cold weather, the energy that birds take from food is needed to warm a small feathered creature. Those who want to help the birds can easily make a feeder, find "building materials" for which is as easy as shelling pears - just take a box of juice or milk, cut a hole in it and hang it near the house.
4. If you want tits to settle in your garden in the summer, you can hang feeders in the fall, as well as nest boxes (as in the photo), in which the birds will spend the night in the cold. Houses made of boards, such as birdhouses, do not like tits. Having got used to the hollows during the winter, they will willingly settle in them in the summer.
5. A variety of “goodies” are suitable as bird food: unroasted pumpkin, sunflower or peanut seeds, boiled rice, buckwheat, pearl barley, potatoes, and even unsalted lard and meat. Oddly enough, nimble titmouse are very fond of fat in winter.
6. It is extremely important: forest birds, including tits, should not be fed with black bread, since bread quickly swells and ferments inside the bird, it can even kill it. Rye bread is especially dangerous because more yeast is added to it.
7. In summer, birds feed on insects and plant seeds, thereby fulfilling their important mission of protecting garden plants from various bugs. The tit family has many children, it can have up to 15 chicks, in order to feed which the parents literally rummage through all the nearby trees, carefully collecting caterpillars, butterflies, larvae, etc. (Photo by K. and A. Shapovalov)