handmade stoneware bird feeder - c/o JimandGina.etsy.com - a Christmas gift we purchased this past holidayWell, in early January I built a little window feeder out of some scrap wood, added a little perch to it, and filled it with some sunflowers, corn, and small mixed seeds. After waiting about three weeks, the birds finally found it. Most folks don’t realize that a bird’s sense of smell is, well, limited. It is superseded by their sense of sight and hearing. Most birds find feeders by recognizing the shape, perhaps from visiting another feeder previously. Once a single bird has found the feeder, it’s only a matter of time before other birds find it. To get the birds comfortable with eating from a feeder, and to get them to recognize it as a source of food, I started by placing a similar feeder in the tree behind our studio. After two weeks of feeding from that feeder, I took away the food, and added it to the feeder at my window. I believe since the birds were familiar with the shape of the feeder that may have helped them find the window feeder. This is all speculation of course. But now they are happy campers, and I am feeding them daily, until the spring hits. Some people thing feeding birds is a bad idea, so let me address that issue. First of all , the birds are not like deer. If there is not more food at the feeder, they move on to feed elsewhere. They will only return to the feeder if there is food. So while you are creating a temporary dependence, you are not shifting a life behavior, or endangering them in any way. Other animals, like deer and raccoons, are much quicker learners, and once they have figured out a particular area to find food, they will return day after day, or even month after month. If the food is in an area inhabited by humans, this could endanger both parties. So, the birds are fine. One of the main reasons I wanted to bring the birds closer is because I like to draw from life, instead of photos. My friend Tom Torluemke told me the other day he never takes photos, because he likes to remember things as they are. I think this philosophy has its merits, so I’m going to start doing more memory work. If you train your brain to remember more details, you can really enhance your memory a great deal. Our reliance on technology has done some serious damage to our creativity and, in some instances, has weakened our ability to visualize. So, let me get off that soapbox because what I really am talking about is doing more drawing from real life and from memory. So I have this window feeder, and I’m using it now to sketch the birds in a closer environment.
Bird Sketches
If you’d like to do something similar, it's very easy to grab a window feeder from a hardware store or you can make your own. Read this article on winter bird feeding and then check these sites for tips on homemade feeders:
Bird SketchesIf you’d like to do something similar, it's very easy to grab a window feeder from a hardware store or you can make your own. Read this article on winter bird feeding and then check these sites for tips on homemade feeders:
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