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Welcome to BirdTracks® Online!
An e-mail newsletter from
Wild Birds Unlimited for June 2002.

1.  Got mosquitoes? Invite bats into your backyard.
2.  Welcome wildlife into your yard.
3.  Use trays and special seed blends for tidy feeding!

1. Got mosquitoes? Invite bats into your backyard
Bats have been the source of many myths for years. The fact is that North American bats are an invaluable natural resource and play a vital role in maintaining the balance of nature. A single little brown bat can catch up to 1,000 insects in an hour. A nursing little brown bat mother can eat more than her body weight nightly - up to 4,500 insects! Nectar feeding bats are the primary pollinators of giant cacti in deserts. And if you think cows product a lot of milk, consider this: a Mexican free-tailed bat can produce five times more milk than an average Holstein cow!

Nearly 40 percent of American bat species are threatened or endangered. Providing bat houses can help build bat populations because the bats can roost, hibernate and raise their young in the houses when natural sites are not available. Wild Birds Unlimited supports the Organization for Bat Conservation through the sale of its bat boxes.

To learn more about bats, access http://www.wbu.com/edu/bats.htm or http://www.batconservation.org.

2. Welcome wildlife into your yard.
You can create a certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat by ensuring that your backyard contains the four elements needed for wildlife to thrive: food, water, shelter and places to raise young. Once you've done that, apply to the National Wildlife Federation and join the more than 30,000 others who have certified their yards. Wild Birds Unlimited is proud to be the official retail sponsor of this program and can help you accomplish your goal.

To get started, stop by any Wild Birds Unlimited store and pick up a Backyard Wildlife Habitat Certification Kit. Then follow these steps: Assess your yard; create sources of food, water, shelter and places to raise young; conserve resources by using mulch to preserve moisture, natural sources of fertilizer and eliminating chemical use. Complete the application in the kit and send it to the National Wildlife Federation.

For more information, access http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat.

 
3. Use trays and special seed blends for tidy feeding
You can consider several options to keep your birdfeeding area tidy. You can attach round trays to tube feeders to catch seeds dropping out of the feeder. You also can attach a rectangular wooden tray - called a catch-a-seed tray - to a pole underneath a wooden hopper feeder. In both cases, the trays will help to keep seeds and hulls off the ground, but they also will give larger birds an opportunity to feed.

Another thing to consider is the seed you are using. Many birds will sweep through unwanted or undesirable seeds to find the ones they want. Many birds favor black oil sunflower and striped sunflower but are not as fond of millet. Also think about offering a no-mess blend, which contains no hulls. Wild Birds Unlimited offers regionally formulated custom seed blends and a "no-mess" blend. The certified birdfeeding specialists at Wild Birds Unlimited stores can help you choose the right seed for your situation.