Offer Hot Pepper Bird Foods to Help Keep Critters Away

Squirrels and other critters can turn bird feeders into a furry feeding frenzy. Hot pepper bird foods offer a smart solution. We have the widest variety of hot pepper foods on the market, all specially formulated to attract birds while helping deter unwanted visitors.

Shop Wild Birds Unlimited and enjoy your backyard birds with fewer interruptions.

 

Birds pictured are representative of the many North American species that migrate. Ask us which birds are migrating through our area

Help Migrating Birds on Their Journey

Fall migration turns your backyard into a potential pit stop for birds on the move, and a few smart tweaks can make it irresistible. As nesting season wraps up, birds shift from raising families to finding food and safety for the months ahead.

Many begin traveling in flocks, teaming up with their own species or joining mixed groups that forage together, share alarm calls and learn new ways to find food. Your yard can become part of that daily route.

A slightly messy, more natural landscape is a big win in fall. Leave seed-producing plants standing, add a brush pile or two, and create low-lying feeding areas where ground-feeding birds feel comfortable. Feeders placed closer to the ground, especially those offering millet-rich blends, attract sparrows, juncos and finches that prefer to forage low. These natural elements give birds places to hide, rest and socialize between meals.

Fall is also prime time to refresh your feeding setup. Clean and repair feeders, and make sure they are easy to refill during the winter months. Keep food fresh and consistent, even in small amounts, so passing birds remember your yard as a reliable stop. When colder weather hits, they’ll come back looking for what they know. High-energy foods like quality seed blends, Bark Butter® and mealworms are especially helpful during migration, when birds need extra fuel.

Finally, don’t underestimate water. A moving water source is one of the strongest bird magnets there is. The sound alone can pull migrating birds down to investigate, giving them a place to drink, bathe and maintain their feathers for flight.

Visit Wild Birds Unlimited to learn how small seasonal changes can make a big difference for migrating birds.

 

 

   

Prevent Window Strikes and Help Save the Song Birds

Here’s a harsh truth: colliding with windows can be fatal for birds. Even if they manage to fly away, they're not just “stunned,” birds are often seriously injured. Windows reflecting sky or greenery trick birds into thinking there’s a clear flight path, and juvenile birds (who are just figuring things out) are especially at risk.

Preventing window strikes is one way you can help Save the Song Birds. With a few thoughtful adjustments, you can help birds recognize your windows as barriers, not passage ways.

• Feeder Placement: Place bird feeding stations within three feet (1 meter) of the window or beyond ten feet (3 meters). Within three feet, birds ‘fleeing’ the feeder area will not have built up enough speed to injure themselves if they strike the window. Beyond ten feet, birds will have enough time to spot and avoid the window.
• Visual Cues: Apply deterrents to your windows (such as screens or decals) to help birds see the barrier and give them a chance to take action before any harm is done.
• Install a Window Feeder: Use a window feeder to make birds more aware of the glass and so you have a front-row seat to watch your feathered visitors.

Go here to learn more, or stop by the store and we’ll walk you through the best ways to wipe out window strikes.

Go here to purchase window decals online

 

Wild Birds Unlimited in Winchester is your source for high quality Zeis Optics. With exceptional optical performance, these are perfect for bird watchers and all nature lovers.

Check out our range of optics here 

  

SEPTEMBER NATURE HAPPENINGS

 

• Important migration month! More birds are in our area now than any other month. Keep the seed and suet feeders full!

• Monarch Butterfly migration peaks mid-month, September 16-22, migrating 50 – 100 miles in a day.

• First Juncos and White-throated Sparrows can appear by the end of this month, favorite food is millet.

• Hummingbird numbers peak towards end of the month. Keep feeders full.

• Blackbird (grackles, cowbirds and redwings) flocks can number in the thousands.

• Ruby-crowned Kinglets appear from their northern breeding grounds in northern Canada and Alaska. They love suet or bark butter bits.

• American Goldfinch juveniles can be seen and heard harassing adults for food at feeders. Also look for them in your flower beds with Coneflowers, Black-eyed Susan’s and other seed-producing flowers.

• Robins are in large flocks, feeding on crab apples and other berry producing shrubs and trees.

• American Goldfinch adults begin their second molt. By the end of October, it will be hard to tell the male from the female Goldfinch. Check out David Sibley’s molting sequence for the Goldfinch at: http://www.sibleyguides.com/2012/05/the-annual-plumage-cycle-of-a-male-american-goldfinch/

• Raptors begin their southern migration. Visit Hawk Mountain, PA. This is a Wild Birds Unlimited “Pathways to Nature” site. Major month for Broad-winged Hawks numbering into the hundreds on some days - you may see 'kettles' of 1,000 Broad-winged Hawks. Also, peak month for Bald Eagles and Kestrels.

• Turtle eggs hatch; hatchlings head for the nearest water.

• Wooly Caterpillars are out and about. Did you know they freeze solid during the winter?

• Bats are busy feeding, building fat for hibernation and migration.

• Bucks are polishing their antlers; look for buck rubs.

• Ripe hickory nuts, walnuts and other “mast” may distract squirrels from your feeders.

 

 

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