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the tribune thursday november 1 1977 s how to attract the discerning bird to feeder by annegret lamure quick now what would you offer to a yellow bellied sap sucker aa by some incredible chance instead of heading south is win tering in your backyard this problem would stump most people but naturalist art briggs- jude has the answer he would simply go into the kitchen and cook up a mess of spaghetti most of us would just put out bird seed little dreaming the rare feathered visitor would really enjoy a dish of 4 pasta perferably cooked al dente and chopped into manageable lengths for dessert it might be a good idea to get out the canned peaches that have been mouldering in the back of the fridge for two weeks and put them in a hollow log sounds too silly for words not at all maintains art he explained that sap suckers are just that birds that live on the juices and fruits of trees and shrubs spaghetti and canned fruit approximate their natural diet more than seeds wintering robins and other birds belonging to the thrush family also enjoy this fare when the natural food sources are gone the majority of birds have more prosaic tastes however and will thrive happily on a good seed mixture a good seed mix should contain sunflower seeds millet and cracked corn with heavy emphasis on sunflower seeds if you want blue jays and cardinals you have to put out sunflower seeds explained art the amusing httle chick- adees also love this fare and even woodpeckers are sometimes tempted by sunflower seeds bird feeders need not be made of redwood and glass here art briggs jude inspects a woodpecker log which attracts many of the birds to his yard the log has been split hollowed out in the centre and riddled with holes it was then stuffed with suet nut meats and left over canned fruit and wired back together worth watching keeping a watchful eye on your meter can help you save electricity around your homeand we have a free booklet to help you do it it lists many wise ideas for saving electricity in lighting heating and appliances in addition it shows you how to read your meter and keep a record of the progress yojjre making in energy conservation the booklet worth watching is yours for the asking from your local hydro or write to ontario hydro dept w 700 university avenue toronto ontario m5g 1x6 get by with less although they generally prefer suet suet unrendered beef fat can be served in an onion bag suspended from a branch but if you want to attract many woodpeckers it might be worthwhile to construct a woodpecker log this is done by halving a thick branch or small log hollowing out the middle and drilling a series of holes from the inside to the surface the cavity is then packed with suet or other animal fat such as bacon grease and the log wired together and hung from a tree if you want to give the woodpeckers a real treat or suspect that a sap sucker may happen along you can add canned fruit and ground nuts to the filling as well if all this sounds too complicated and ex pensive relax there are many free sources of bird food leftover cooked peas beans or corn mblets the dried kernels of pumpkins squash watermelon and even cucumbers and leftover oatmeal are all relished by the birds you can also take a ramble into the woods and collect beech nuts walnuts and acorns to put in the feeder note however that most birds prefer their acorns smashed apples are another windfall you can put to good use collect a bag of them and stick them in the freezer later they can be chopped and put on a feeder or else simply left whole and placed on a spike near a perch left over bread and cake can of course be fed but it should be dried and crumbled first since there is some danger of the birds choking on it otherwise there are really no hard and fast rules on feeding birds except for one once ou start jou have to continue tor the rest of toe winter the birds get dependent on that source of food and if you stop feeding theyve lost their oasis art pointed out many people get all excited at first when they start feeding and see all the birds around but then around january they find out its ex pensive or too much trouble and they quit aside from feeding leftovers and natural foods to stretch expensive bird seeds money can also be saved by filling feeders only once a day always at the same time that way the birds get used to a set amount and arhen its gone thats it however art prefers to go all out and keeps his feeders filled at all times especially in severe weather aside from food birds have two other needs water and gravel birds consider water a real treat in the winter but they can eat snow to satisfy their thirst gravel is a more serious question especially during times of heavy snow since without it the bird cannot digest his food either packaged bird gravel or coarse sand should be sprinkled on the feeder from time to time along with the seeds a lot of bird lovers start putting out seeds in seoember or october so that tne birds know where to find food when winter comes but there are two schools of thought on this some experts advise against early feeding because it would en courage otherwise migrant birds to stick around others advocate early feeding for the identical reason it all depends on whether you are appalled or delighted to see a robin huddled in your yard on a bitter january day of course faced with this situation you could make shelters for these courageous birds but thats another topic bird feeders need not be fancy a simple board with a ledge all around to keep the seed from blowing off is all that is really necessary although it may be a good idea to put a roof over a portion of it to keep the snow off to discourage starlings and sparrows feeders can be suspended by a rope the swaying horrifies them but doesnt bother the bolder blue jays and chickadees if you would like to study your guests really closely a trolley feeder is the answer this is a feeder you attach to your clothes line start it out far away and gradually move it closer to your observation post after a few weeks you will be able to ap proach within a few feet of most birds if all this sounds like far too much trouble dont be discouraged theres nothing wrong with merely sprinkling a few crumbs on a sheltered window sill now and again and watching the sparrows fight over them sparrows after all are also birds and theyre not at all picky a simple rustic platform with a roof at one end will attract a great variety of birds and is simple to construct this blue jay has just garnered his sixth unshelled peanut in a row jays will fly off with peanuts as fast as you cart put them out says naturalist art briggs jude who constructed this feeder he recommends putting peanuts in an onion bag so that the birds have to eat them on the spot the rapco foamers tm jigh efficiency home insulation nsu l ation rapco foam con cut fuel bills in half thousands of homeowners across america are already saving up to 50 on fuel with rapco 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