West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Feeding Birds

Why not feed the birds and enjoy them all winter?

December 10, 2008
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

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Most of us have finished our work in the garden for the year, but there are some ways for you to still enjoy wildlife while making limited forays outside. How about a bird feeder? Put one out, keep it filled and you'll be able to watch birds all winter long. The first thing you need to do is decide on what type of bird, and then bird feeder, you want to put out.

Jim Fregonora DNR says:
"This is good for the finches, finches like thistle. It's pretty expensive, so you don't want to use a lot of it in big, open feeders. You kind of want to make the birds work for it and that's why you would want to have a small port. So would you actually fill one of thse up? Sure."

If you're looking for bigger birds, Jim has just the thing for you. One of these suet feeders attracts woodpeckers, among other birds, and you might want to consider one of these.

Jim Fregonora DNR says:
"This is more of a fly through feeder-you can make these yourself, you can also buy these. These would sit on a large post, you would put all your food and the birds would come in, perch down here, feed and then fly away. You can buy these smaller or even larger."

If you're going to have a lot of birds coming through, you will want to make sure they have plenty of cover in case hawks find out where they're coming to eat. And speaking of eating, if you want to make sure your birds are eating more than they're wasting, check out the ingredients on the bag before you buy.

Jim Fregonoa DNR says:
"Your less expensive food will have a lot of filler material and this filler can be milot, wheat or flax seeds, apparently, these are inexpensive for the manufacturer to get and the birds, as they are eating, will actually kick out the filler."

Also, you need to keep a constant eye on your bird feeder to make sure you have food in there, you might be surprised by how quickly those little guys will go through the food! For West Virginia Wildlife, I'm Patrick McMurtry, Eyewitness News.

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W. Va. DNR

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