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This week's LabZone activity
Oct. 15, 2003
Food Fit for the Birds
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| American tree sparrow/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
What sorts of foods do different birds like?
You need:
- a strong needle
- heavy thread, cut in three 1-yard (1-meter) lengths
- one cup each of three of the following:
unshelled peanuts, popped popcorn, raisins, cereal (such as corn pops, or Chex squares), stale bread, or apple slices
What to do:
Thread the needle and using only one type of food per thread, evenly space the food by knotting each piece in place, leaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) between each morsel. Hang each line from a tree close to a window.
What happens:
Chances are the foods will attract birds. What kinds of birds come? Which foods are most popular? Do some birds go for one food and other birds for another? Which food disappears the quickest?
 | Cedar waxwing | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
Why:
Different birds like different foods. Woodpeckers and nuthatches like fats (such as meat drippings that harden, peanuts, and peanut butter). Sparrows, juncos, cardinals, and finches prefer seeds. Robins, mockingbirds, and cedar waxwings like fruits. Chickadees and titmice like a variety of foods, and hummingbirds like sugar water or water and honey. Many birds will also dine on leftovers, such as bread, crackers, doughnuts, cookies, dry dog food, cooked pasta, some vegetable scraps, and even mealworms.
From More Nature in Your Backyard by Susan S. Lang. Copyright © 1998 by Susan S. Lang. Reprinted by permission of The Millbrook Press, Inc. (www.millbrookpress.com).
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