November: Keep Your Birds Happy & Healthy During the Winter Months

When November winds start to blow, the birds need your generosity—more than ever—to survive the colder months ahead. It helps to put out full bird feeders in early autumn before the birds establish their winter-feeding routine.

If feeding has begun in the winter, bird feeders are most efficient when placed at sites where birds are known to visit. In all seasons, wild birds are especially attracted to water for drinking and bathing. Keep the water available to them all winter by adding a small heater to your birdbath.

Have fun attracting the largest variety of birds by offering them specific types of seed and suet:
1. Black oil sunflower seeds (oilers) are the favorite choice of most seed-eating birds because of its high meat and protein content. Generously fill a hopper, platform or tube bird feeder to attract cardinals, finches, blue jays, sparrows and most backyard birds.

2. Fruits on a platform feeder or oranges and jelly on an oriole feeder will attract orioles, tanagers, woodpeckers, cedar waxwings, blue jays and bluebirds.

3. Fill a platform feeder with cracked corn, sunflower hearts and whole peanuts to encourage ground feeding pheasant, quail, dove, as well as sparrows and additional bird species.

4. A suet cake feeder provides quick energy and is simply irresistible to flickers, woodpeckers, goldfinches, blue jays, juncos, chickadees and wrens.

5. A tube feeder with peanuts or a nut mix will certainly attract cardinals, sparrows, starlings, chickadees, juncos, finches, woodpeckers, grackles, doves and blue jays.

6. Fill a special Nyjer/thistle tube feeder with Nyjer seed to feed the American goldfinch, House finch, Purple finch and other small wild birds.

7. If you don’t want squirrels stealing from your birds’ buffet, try one of the Squirrel Buster Wild Bird Feeders by Brome. Birds* can dine there but squirrels will be literally locked out! (However, it’s always fun watching them try to figure this feeder out.)
*Bird feeder is weight-adjustable to keep out larger, unwanted birds, too.

8. If you include native plants in your garden design, they will attract specific birds to your landscape. Woodpeckers and bluebirds enjoy the berries of the American cranberry bush (Viburnum trilobum) while finches prefer the tiny seeds of native coneflowers. (Echinacea purpurea).

9. Be consistent. Try to follow a routine by keeping feeders filled with seed and/or suet. Birds will return to the same feeders if they are rewarded with food every time.

Wild Bird Seed Mixes

PASQUESI 4 SEASONS No waste Wild Bird Food
A superb mix of sunflower meats, white millet, red millet, peanut pieces and clean, cracked corn is blended to tempt songbirds and reduce waste around the feeder (no hulls).

DELCO PREMIUM
Wild birds love the quality ingredients and you’ll appreciate the low waste mixture of black and striped sunflower, safflower, white millet, sunflower meats, cracked corn, red millet, peanut pieces, Nyjer(thistle) seed and grit.

DELCO WILD BIRD
Attract all types of colorful songbirds at a moderate price with black sunflower, safflower, white millet, red millet and clean, cracked corn. No milo.

CARDINAL FOOD

Invite bright-red cardinals, blue jays, nuthatch and other wild birds with black sunflower, safflower, white millet, peanut pieces and striped sunflower seeds.

WILD FINCH PLUS

This blend of Nyjer seed, sunflower meats, hulled sunflower, red millet, canary seed and canary grit is perfect for Goldfinches, siskins and other small songbirds.

FYI...our bird seed sale starts November 13. All wild bird seed & bird accessories will be 25% off.

Mark your calendar for our bird feeding seminar! Bird industry expert, Jeff Miller from Delong Seed will be hosting a free seminar titled “Feed the Birds” at our Lake Bluff and Barrington locations on Saturday, November 15th. For more information visit http://www.pasquesi.com/sales-events/.

For more information on birdseed, birdhouses, squirrel-proof feeders or other bird-related items, talk with our experts at our Lake Bluff or Barrington stores or visit us at www.pasquesi.com. We would like to offer you every opportunity to create a bird-friendly habitat for your favorite, backyard birds.