You’ll Love Feeding the Birds and Making Sweet Memories
Did you know that February is National Bird Feeding Month? Feeding birds is a fun activity for anyone at any age. There are so many different species of birds, and it is such a joy to watch them and learn to recognize them. If you have children or grandchildren, they will be especially thrilled to feed and watch the birds. They may even learn to identify some of them. In addition, it is a good lesson in responsibility for children to fill the feeders as they can learn about being dependable and develop an appreciation of caring for animals and the environment.
It's a good day to feed the birds and make some sweet memories!
You don’t need to have a fancy bird feeder to start feeding and watching birds. A heavy bowl and a bag of bird seed is all you need. Put it in a location that you can watch from a nearby window or a little distance away from where you like sitting outside on days with good weather. Be sure it is a location that is safe from predators as well. This old bird feeder is a keepsake that belonged to my father-in-law, who had several bird feeders and bird baths. My children always loved helping him put out food for the birds and put water in the bird baths. Of course, he loved it as much as they did, and those sweet moments are part of their lifelong memories of their Papa.
Identifying Birds
Watching the birds is fun, but it is made even better if you can identify the birds that visit your feeder. Audubon.org, the website for the National Audubon Society has many articles and a wealth information about birds. The Audubon Society also has an app you can download onto your phone for easy access. I also really love The Cornell Lab All About Birds website for identification. You can click ‘Get Instant ID Help’, put in your location, date, size and colors of the bird you saw and it will show you the birds it might be. After a while, you will be an expert at identifying the birds near your home.
My nephew, Matt, and my daughter, Jamie, are both amazing at identifying birds. They had a wonderful teacher in fourth grade, Mrs. Carol McDuffie, who opened up the world of birds to them. They did a whole unit on birds of our state and how to identify them, that included making a “bird book.” My nephew and daughter are now adults but can still instantly identify birds. They credit Mrs. McDuffie with sharing her love for birds with her students. The feeling they have about her sharing this passion shows that her lessons were truly meaningful to them. If you would like make a book with the kids in your life, check out Buggy and Buddy’s Free Printable Bird Book. Learning about birds together is a memory making activity that you can also share with the children in your life in the same way Mrs. McDuffie did with her students like my nephew and my daughter.
Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Here is a simple DIY bird feeder project you can do with the children in your life or for yourself to feed the birds. You will need newspaper, a large pine cone, strong string, peanut butter, and a plate filled with birdseed.
- Cover your work area with some newspaper
- Take the large pine cone and tie the string around the large end of the pine cone between the scales. Be sure to do this first because it is not easy once the pine cone is covered with peanut butter! Also, be sure your string is long enough to loop so you can hang or tie it to a branch.
- Cover the pine cone with peanut butter. I have found a spoon works well to be able to get it all inside the pine cone. Be generous with the peanut butter.
- Now roll the pine cone in the plate of birdseed until it is covered well.
- It is ready to hang up in your favorite spot and watch the birds come enjoy their special treat.
I hope that you will be inspired to begin watching the birds in your area and learning more about the kinds that you see. Just in case you have heard that once you start feeding birds they will die if you stop feeding them, this is a myth. Birds are very good at taking care of themselves! Just put out some bird seed, sit back, and enjoy watching.
Have a good day!
Karen
Check out some other family fun ideas such as A Disney Day at Home, A Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration, I Love You Books To Read With Your Children, and this post about a Valentine’s Day cookie swap for a super easy and yummy sugar cookie recipe! Cookies are good anytime!
Note: Content from Karen @whatagoodday.com. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. I’m happy for you to share my post, but please link back to this post. Thank you!
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