THE FLOCK NEWSLETTER

Summer Necessities:

Nesting SuperBlend®

It is a busy season for your backyard buddies since nesting should be in full-swing this month. Many birds will be feeding mainly on insects and collecting juicy caterpillars for their fledglings in the nest or teaching their youngsters how to find food themselves. Our Nesting SuperBlend® is packed full of protein-rich mealworms and added calcium, everything those parent birds are looking for! It comes in loose bags that you can serve straight or mix in with your regular bird food and seed cylinders. Stop by the store or shop online at https://order.wbu.com/brighton to get stocked up on your bird seed today!

What's been happening in our store?

A Resident Chickadee!

This is the second year we have had a Black-capped Chickadee nesting in front of the store, and she has 7 eggs this time around! Last year, some House Sparrows
kicked them out of their previous nesting cavity, so we hung a box for them. If you have a lot of House Sparrows in your yard a chickadee or wren box is a great alternative because the entry hole is smaller, which prevents the sparrows from accessing it. If your house has a way to open and take pictures, you can monitor the nest and birds only for the first 7 days after hatching, and it should only be for a few seconds that the house should be monitored in to prevent early fledging.

Bird Nerd Corner:

Bluebird Babies!

Only 13% of the bird species in North America are cavity nesters, and the Eastern Bluebird is one of the most well-known of them. Here is a pair of baby blues that our customer L.M. sent to us! Typically, Bluebirds will weave a nest out of dried grasses and pine needles, with the occasional turkey feather or horsehair. If you have been thinking about adding a nesting box to your yard for these blue beauties, it must have an entry hole of 1.5" diameter and pole-mounted and placing them in a wide-open part of your yard will be more favorable for them. If you have any fun bird experiences, or pictures you want to share with us, please send them to our email at [email protected].

Save the Songbirds:

Why feed them during the Summer?

There are plenty of natural resources for your feathered friends throughout the year but providing them with food in the Summer has a long list of positives. First, you get to see how they raise their families and help them thrive, not just survive. The birds that routinely come to your feeders will show their babies the best fast-food joint around - your bird feeders! Protein-rich food like mealworms, sunflower seed, and safflower seed, are great things to keep your feeders stocked up on or add to your seed blends.

Michigan also has summer residents that you can only see from April to September, like the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Baltimore Orioles, Gray Catbirds, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Adding fruit, nectar, or jelly to your feeding station is a great way to see these species, since they don’t normally come to seed or nut blends. Some of your usual visitors might enjoy these tasty treats too, like your House Finches or Downy Woodpeckers.

With all the fledglings coming to feeders there are bound to be some interesting interactions and behaviors to be seen. Some easy ways to identify fledglings are by their messy looking appearance, because they still have some down feathers and miscoloring as their adult plumage continues to grow in. They will follow the parents around begging for food and trying to get their attention, so many youngsters will flap their wings a lot and chatter at the parents demanding to be fed.

Feeding the birds is so rewarding, and it doesn’t prevent them from moving on or learning how to feed themselves. Bird feeders are a supplemental food source, that just gives them another easier option and increases the likelihood of them surviving and thriving.