Red Barn Bird Feeder

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Dear $$firstname$$,

“Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat.”

While the author of this humorous quote is unknown, it certainly rings true during this time of year. It doesn’t matter if you live in a snowy region or a warmer area of the country. It’s easy to long for the weather that you don’t have.

Regardless of where you’re located, winter is a great time to watch birds. For readers who live further north like our offices here in Wisconsin, the snow makes a great backdrop to all the feathered friends, flying in for a bite to eat. For those of you in the south, you’re probably noticing some unique winter visitors that are staying over until spring.  

Don’t forget to snap photos and send us your stories this winter. You can use the Submit Your Story form found on our Web site. Here’s what you’ll discover in this issue of the January newsletter...

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• READ ON TO DISCOVER...
• Bird of the Month
• Photo of the Month
• Plant of the Month
• Best of Glad You Asked
• Best of Bird Tales
• Current Needs
• Our Neck of the Woods

Bird of the Month: Spotted Towhee

You can attract this flier to your yard with a number of different treats. You’ll find this towhee in Wyoming and Montana year-round, and in winter, it travels east to parts of Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Texas. In summer, you’ll find it throughout much of the west. 

Scientific Name: Pipilo maculatus.
Family: Finch.
Length: 8-1/2 inches.
Wingspan: 10-1/2 inches.
Distinctive Markings: Males have black head, back and tail with white belly, orange-red sides and multiple white wing marks. Females (like the one pictured here) are similar, but they have brown accents where males are black.
Nest: Builds near or on ground. Lays three to four gray eggs speckled with brown.
Song: Wide variety of songs, which typically feature high-pitched introductory notes followed by a trill. Also has a buzzy rapid trill.
Habitat: Old pastures, woodland edges and brushy backyards.
Diet: Insects, spiders, caterpillars, seeds, berries and small salamanders.
Backyard Favorites: Oats or flaxseed scattered on the ground and suet.

Listen to this bird’s song by visiting our 50 Most Wanted Birds section on the Web site.

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Photo of the Month

Blake Allen Schaeffer of Apex, North Carolina snapped this photo of the blue-footed booby bird. While it’s not a common visitor in his own backyard, you can spot it in parts of California and Mexico.

See more great photos in our online Photo Galleries.

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Plant of the Month: Winterberry 

Few deciduous shrubs garner winter interest like winterberry. Unlike its cousin, holly, winterberry drops its leaves in fall, so nothing detracts from the showy brilliance of the red berries. Winterberry is often regarded as a must for cold-weather landscaping, and it’s easy to see why. You’ll love the colorful fruit, and the birds will love you for it.

Common Names: Winterberry.
Botanical Name: Ilex verticillata.
Hardiness: Zones 3 to 9.
Bloom Time: White flowers in spring followed by fruit.
Size: 6 to 10 feet high, 6 to 10 feet wide.
Fruit: Bright red to orange-red berries last throughout the winter.
Light Needs: Full sun to partial shade.
Growing Advice: Sow seeds in containers in a cold frame in autumn. Germination may take 2 or 3 years. Transplant in early spring. Prefers to grow in organically rich, moist soil.
Prize Picks: Winter Red’s berries last until the spring.

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Best of Glad You Asked

Every month, we feature some of the best questions that George and Melinda have tackled over the years.

Roosting Bullies
How do I get rid of a flock of house sparrows that roosts in a dense arborvitae shrub on my property line? They chase away the other birds.
–Roger Galuska, Rochester, New Hampshire  

George: In winter, house sparrows usually roost near their food sources. To keep these birds out of your arborvitae, you may have to remove the food source that they’re feeding on in your backyard.

If you feed birds, try being more selective about the kinds of seeds you offer.

House sparrows favor the ingredients in wild birdseed mixes, such as cracked corn, milo and millet. If you offer only sunflower, safflower and niger seeds, the house sparrows may move on to another location where there is more food to their liking.  

Starting Roses in Winter
My grandmother used to plant cut roses in her garden. She’d stick a single stem in the dirt and place a canning jar over it—leaving it there through winter. In spring, there’d be a new rose plant growing. Is there a trick to doing this right? –Dinah Utah, Casper, Wyoming

Melinda: Grandmothers seem to have the ability to make anything grow.

If you want to try this, take 5- to 6-inch-long cuttings in fall from mature canes of hardy roses. Remove the lower leaves and stick the cutting in soil so the lowest node (the place where the leaf was attached) is covered. Then cover it with a jar and keep your fingers crossed.

Or you may want to try a more conventional method. Take 6- to 8-inch cuttings from the tips of rose canes that have just finished blooming. This is best done in early summer. Dip the cut ends in rooting hormone and place them in a moist, well-draining potting mix, keeping the roses in a warm area out of direct light. Cover it with a plastic bag until new shoots appear.

The rooted cutting can be planted in the garden after the threat of frost has passed. 

Subscribers can access our Glad You Asked database with hundreds of questions and answers from George and Melinda.

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Best of Bird Tales

One winter just after Christmas, when I was visiting my sister and her family in rural Oklahoma, my nephew made an unusual discovery.

He went to a storage building after dark to get some dog food and heard a rustling noise. Using his flashlight to find the source, he soon spotted a greater roadrunner roosting on a shelf.

When he returned to tell us the story, I couldn’t wait to see it for myself. I was amazed at how unaffected the bird was by the two of us. We even moved the garden tools hanging in front of the bird to get a better look. The roadrunner kept its eye on us, but never flinched, even when we put the tools back.

After the visit, my sister called with several reports about the roosting roadrunner. It returned to the same spot each night for several months. –Lynne Studier, Weatherford, Oklahoma

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Current Needs

We need some great green-thumb gardening tips and photos for our column, Secrets to Grow On, in Birds & Blooms EXTRA. Do you have any good advice to pass on to other gardeners? We want to hear from you. Use the Submit Your Story form on the Web site to send us your photos and ideas.

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Our Neck of the Woods

We recently wrapped up our March Birds & Blooms EXTRA issue. One of our top features in it is George Harrison’s Backyard Birdwatcher column about owls. We had a lot of fun, sorting through hundreds of amazing owl photos and learning new owl facts. For example, did you know that you can hear the hoot of some owls from nearly a mile away?

At right, is a pair of eastern screech-owls, taken by Faith VanZee of Platte South Dakota. It’s an amazing photo of an amazing bird species. To learn more about owls, pick up a copy of our March EXTRA issue. And if you don’t subscribe to EXTRA, get more information here.

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