I have been preparing to help my birds with the coming polar event that will have ice, snow and freezing and single digit temperatures for several nights and days. I have enough seeds and suet blocks to last a week but the places that sell bird seeds are running out fast and supply trucks may be late to restock due to hazardous highways.
I needed some more birdbath heaters, and what I found was that places like Tractor Supply and Attwood's are out of birdbath heaters (livestock bucket heaters are the name for some suppliers). I found birdbath heaters on Amazon, and they are at the lowest price in 30 days. My order will arrive by Thursday. Tomorrow I will go to the compost recycling center to see if they have Christmas trees that have not be shredded. This will give the birds some protection and places to perch out of the snow. My mature cedar trees and 10 brush piles will also help with survival. I have insulation on my Bluebird boxes, and they still retain their nesting material.
You need to go through your mental checklist to make sure you have done what you can to improve the chances of survival for birds, squirrels, deer and other wildlife that are trying to survive these hard times. Don't resent squirrels and chipmunks trying to survive; they are important also and need your help.
Do you have a diverse food supply including high energy sunflower seeds, mixed seeds, suet, and corn. Remember that you have to stock up now for several days and there will be a shortage of seeds and trucks may not be able to deliver another supply on time. Soft mast fruits like Yaupon, Holly, American Beautyberry, Green brier berries and others will be eaten by insect eaters when insects cannot be found. Snow and ice covered the stashed seeds that Chickadees, Titmice and others store for hard times.
Roost boxes facing a southern exposure, nest boxes with nest materials retained from last season’s nesting, brush piles, discarded Christmas trees, feeding areas with Snow and ice protection that will not be covered with snow and where feeding on the ground is possible, structures for perching above the snow will also help. Brush piles helped many survive during the last polar event even when snow covered the tops; roosting and foraging could be done underneath the snow insulation. Get discarded Christmas trees and Eastern Red Cedar branches from your composting site and keep them in the yard until Spring.
Heaters in your bird baths are critical to keep water free of ice. When birds eat snow for moisture, it puts a drain on body temperatures and waste calories to retain body heat. Bucket and birdbath heaters are available at farm supplies and bird supply sources. They can even be order online with rapid shipping.
Make sure your yards are ready to help wildlife survive the upcoming and future life-threatening weather events. You can relate to our past winter weather and how you could have done more.
Jerry Wayne Davis, Hot Springs, AR
