Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

After months of planning and preparation, our new Web site is finally up and running! We’ve added some great new features like a Photo of the Day on our homepage, Top 10 Plant lists and Backyard Projects section.

One of the most exciting features of our new site is the Community section. Go there to chat with other Birds & Blooms readers, especially if you’re looking for quick backyard advice from seasoned birders and gardeners. I can assure you that our readers offer the best tips and ideas!

Kirsten
Birds & Blooms

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• READ ON TO DISCOVER...
• Follow Us On Twitter
• Bird of the Month
• Best of Glad You Asked
• Project of the Month
• FREE Wallpaper
• Talk to Us!

Follow Us On Twitter

Do you twitter? If not, get started today and follow us for exciting Birds & Blooms updates.

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Bird of the Month: Screech-Owl

The screech-owl is probably one of America's favorite owls. You can even attract them with an owl house.

Learn how to attract the screech-owl to your yard, and listen to its song.

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Best of Glad You Asked

A Vine to Share
I’d like to share my honeysuckle vine with friends. Can I start it from a cutting? If so, how?
—Sue Shepherd, Greenfield, Indiana

Melinda: Wood plants, such as shrubs and perennial vines, are tricky to start from cuttings.
  To do this, take several 4-to-6 inch cuttings from the tips of the new growth in spring or early summer, and dip them in a rooting hormone. Place the treated cuttings in moist sand, vermiculite or perlite, and set them in a shaded location.

Once rooted, plant the cuttings in a container filled with a well-draining potting mix. Move the established plants to the garden in fall, or keep them in a protected location and bury the pot over winter, then plant them the following spring.

Layering is another way to propogate vines. To use this method, bend a stem to the ground or to a container of potting mix, an nick it 9 inches below the tip. Bury this portion of the stem, leaving the tip above the ground and the stem attached to the parent plant. Roots will form on the buried portion. Once rooted, disconnect the stem from the parent plant move to a permanent location.

Changing Tastes?
I’ve noticed the woodpeckers in my backyard eating sunflower seeds, while the chickadees have developed a taste for nyjer. Can birds learn to eat new kinds of food?
—Lillian Marcotte, Hartland, Vermont

George: Yes, many species of birds are eating new foods as they adapt to what’s available at bird feeders.

Some other changes I’ve heard include finches and doves eating safflower seeds, and American robins feasting on cracked sunflower. Dark-eyed juncos, which typically feed on the ground, are flying up to eat sunflower seeds off tray feeders.

And while it’s a fairly common sight today, orioles, house finches and tanagers didn’t used to sip sugar water from backyard hummingbird feeders.

These adaptations not only help increase the populations of these birds, but also allow them to pioneer into new regions.

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Project of the Month

Simple gourd project doubles as a basket and bird feeder. Get the instructions and create your own gourd art!

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FREE Wallpaper

Download great wallpaper for your computer, like this photo of a Western tanager by Dick Cronberg.

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Talk to Us!

We are looking for clever bird and garden recycling ideas for our new section “For Less”. Send us your best story and photos by using Submit Your Story form. If we use it in the magazine, we’ll pay you $25!

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