One of the most enjoyable on-going winter activities I know of is the setup and observation of a bird feeder.  If done correctly, it draws life and color from an otherwise seemingly lifeless and colorless world, while at the same time providing a great deal of satisfaction for observers.

When the snows get deep, the birds will be happy to come to your feeder.  They are hungry, perhaps even starving, since the natural food they are able to find is scattered and probably less nourishing due to its dormant and frozen state.  Birds can be attracted to your feeding station just, as deer will gather near a still standing cornfield.  But if you start feeding birds, don’t desert them after a few weeks.  That would be much worse than never feeding them at all.

Once a food station has been discovered, it becomes a regular stopping place for a wide variety of the neighborhood’s flying citizens.  Depending on the menu offered, you might get some real surprises.  The commercial wild birdseed mix will bring in sparrows, blackbirds, jays, doves, cardinals, chickadees and the little slate gray and white juncos from the north.  A special offering of thistle seed or cracked corn will be to the delight of goldfinches and pheasants.  The corn, of course, needs to be served on or very near to the ground.  Pheasants will rarely fly up to a station to feed.

Placement of feeders is important.  For best overall results it needs to be far enough from the house so that ordinary movement doesn’t scare the birds.  If it can be placed in or under a big tree that offers natural cover that seems to be an advantage.  But if you have it on a pole by the patio, as we do, be sure to keep the actual feeding platform away from any area where scattered seeds might cause an unsightly mess.  Our feeder is at the back corner of the patio, and in the near background are a maple tree, several small pines and a tangle of bittersweet vines.

At the cabin up north, we’ve suspended our feeder in a small oak tree outside our family room window.  Since the tree is small and the station rather high, my friend suggested a pulley arrangement for lowering to fill and rising again, without having to climb a cold and shaky ladder.  It works just fine.

Once in a while a special visitor interrupts the usual parade of birds at the feeder.  A big fox squirrel has begun stopping by periodically to sort out a few of the sunflower seeds and carry them off to heaven knows where.  He makes a real mess of the place when he comes, throwing seeds everywhere, and if he came often I think I might try and discourage him.  A metal collar around the pole supporting the feeder would probably do that.

Now and again a hawk will stop by, not to eat seeds but to see if he can catch one of the plump dinner guests.  We know about these visits almost instantly by the clamor of bird talk in the bittersweet where the regulars have taken refuge.  The ruckus usually drives the hawk away in short order since any element of surprise is lost.

Decide to maintain a bird feeder for a winter and it’s my guess you’ll be doing it forever.  You’ll be taking your coffee by the window and thumbing through a bird book, just to keep up on the variety of pleased dinner guests you attract to your yard.