This time around we’ll be covering a bird that many wild bird watchers aren’t exactly fond of, but are so common they deserve some discussion – even if a lot of it’s going to be about keeping them away.

General: The American Crow is one of the most successful species from an adaptive point of view but it can be extremely annoying, too. Part of its often irritating nature comes from the fact that it’s related to other songbirds – they’re all part of the passerine order – but crow “songs” don’t sound that great to human ears. The proper American Crow is called Corvus brachyrhynchos but there are in fact many crow species. Their similar colors and habits often make them hard to tell apart. Ravens are simply larger examples of this family of species, and many crow sightings are actually of the larger, related Common Raven.

As everyone knows, American Crows have iridescent black feathers, but some population groups they tend toward brown or blue. Some of them even have white spots. They’re bigger than other backyard bird species, with an average body length of 16 to 20 inches. Bill size and shape varies widely between breeding populations.

Diet: Crows will eat pretty much anything: insects, seeds, others birds’ young and eggs, garbage – you name it. For most wild bird aficionados the question is really, “How do I keep crows from stealing all the food and driving away other birds?” A plastic owl will scare crows at first (owls prey on crows), but since they’re really smart birds they’ll eventually notice that it’s fake and pay it no mind. A better bet is to pick a feeder they don’t like. The secret is to take advantage of the crow’s larger size. The Twirl-a-Squirrel Bird Feeder is a good choice because it’s weight activated. Crows are agile, but they prefer sure footing as much as any bird. This feeder annoys them but doesn’t affect the lighter birds you’d want to attract. Mesh feeders like our Nyjer (Thistle) Feeder are often too fine for a crow to poke his beak through.

Environment: Crows have one of the largest ranges of any wild bird. Intelligent and adaptable, they inhabit almost every part of North America, though the West and Southwest host others species than the American Crow.

Behavior: Crows are known for their wide arrange of calls. Crow “songs” can be loud and annoying, but the “caws” actually consist of dozens of distinct songs that communicate warnings, greetings and announcements that food is nearby. Some crows can even be taught to talk, just like parrots. Crows are often maligned because they’ll steal eggs and kill youngsters from other species, but according to Cornell University the survival rate of other birds with and without crow predation is about the same. Young crows like shiny objects, but older ones usually lose the habit.

Crows gather in very large roosts – sometimes even in the thousands – to sleep. Scientists speculate they do this for mutual protection from owls and to socialize. The species is primarily monogamous, though like human couples, crows argue and have been known to cheat on their “spouses.

Clean Up Your Backyard Bird Feeding Sites

First off, give your feeders and the surrounding area a thorough cleaning. Start with the feeders. Get rid of dirt, wild bird food that’s gone bad and insects. Birds prefer clean feeding spaces. Not only do they have an instinctive sense of hygiene, but a clean area doesn’t look like it’s too crowded for new birds to come visit. Wild birds that already go to your feeder will still do so. Consider getting a winter-proof feeder like our All Weather Bird Feeder.

Encourage Winter Wild Bird Feeding Now

By the time autumn rolls around, wild birds are scouting out feeding spots for the winter. That means you should start putting out high energy bird food (see below) and food that wintering species prefer. See our Bird Feeding Chart and read the rest of this blog for bird food preferences by species.

Use High Energy Wild Bird Foods

Wintering and migrating wild birds both need extra energy to stay healthy. As we mentioned in the last point, both types of birds are already looking for good feeding spots. Like other animals (including us) birds want two kinds of energy out of their food: sugars and carbohydrates that translate into quick energy and proteins, and fats (for birds, usually seed oils) to provide long term fuel. Most birds try to put on a little fat over the cold months. Fruit provides an immediate energy boost; you can find it in our Nuts and Berry Suet and Fruit and Berry blend. To help birds gain weight for the months ahead, our Suet Cakes, Superior Seeds and Super Sunflower formulas are ideal. All of these keep birds healthy over the cold months. Suet is an especially good idea - in many ways, fall and winter are "Suet Seasons."

Keep Fresh Water for Your Wild Birds

Now is the time to set up a reliable supply of fresh, liquid water for your wild birds. Once winter comes good water is hard to find; birds have to rely on snow melts that trap local grime. Consider getting a heater for your bird bath or just keep fresh water near a warm spot on your property. Fresh, easy to drink water is one of the biggest attractors of birds during cold weather. Prepare early, since as we said, the birds are already looking for good spots.

Get Your Backyard Ready for Winter Birds

Lastly, make sure your property will be appealing to backyard birds right through to spring. Plant new shrubs for cardinals now, while it’s warm enough to get them in the ground. The key to success is to provide a clean environment, but not one that’s mostly open, flat ground. Let your grass grow out too. Ground feeders will appreciate it right through to the first heavy snow, both for cover and to keep their feet from getting muddy.

On the other hand, many, many backyard birds absolutely love sunflower seeds. It’s an ideal high energy wild bird food. Given enough time and determination, birds can get past a seed’s shell, but they usually prefer it when they don’t have to. If you’re feeding wild birds, you’re not just interested in providing nutrition, but in attracting birds to such an extent that they’ll will choose your feeder over other feeding opportunities.

Our Super Sunflower, Superior Seeds and Ultimate Variety blends stand out by providing hulled sunflower kernels in addition to whole seeds. If you add these to your feeder you’re likely to get a wider variety of bird species visiting your yard. Hulled sunflower does have a few drawbacks, however, so we mix whole seeds in with kernels. Shells protect whole seeds from moisture so they can go without spoiling for longer. Hulled sunflower attracts birds easier, but whole sunflower keeps for longer. You can also preserve hulled sunflower for longer by choosing a wild bird feeder that protects seeds from moisture. Suitable feeders from our selection include our Any Weather Bird Feeder and Squirrel Resistant models.

Both behaviors may have a common origin. As I noted in the profile, cardinals are territorial birds. And like virtually every other bird, a cardinal can’t distinguish its reflection from a real bird.

So what happens when a cardinal looks at a reflective surface (like a window or mirror) and sees what it thinks is another cardinal budging into its territory? Well, it gets pretty mad . . . .

To answer both questions then, the issue probably isn’t nearby fruit, but reflections. The male cardinal sees what he thinks is another male who’s probably big enough to give him a hard time (who looks exactly the same size, in fact!) and tries to chase him away. The little red bird flies forward and either hits the window (not too hard, fortunately; cardinals aren’t power fliers) or lets loose some . . . displeasure, leaving you with a bit of a mess.

This article explains the phenomenon in a bit more depth. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to deal with. First of all, place your feeders some distance away from a reflective surface so that the cardinal doesn’t see a "competitor" when it visits to eat. Next, keep your hedges cleared and your brush trimmed, especially around your car, so that you don’t accidentally put windows and mirrors too close to a prime roosting location. If the behavior presists, see what you can do to reduce or break up the reflection. Cornell University’s All About Birds site has some suggestions — and a nice picture of cardinals at a window!

I hope this answers your questions. Let me know if you have more!

General: Blue Jays are a famous wild bird species with a reputation for mischievousness. They’re part of the Corvidae family and as such, are related to crows and ravens. Did you know that their blue markings are not the result of pigmentation? Instead, the color comes from the way light refracts through the internal structure of their feathers. This so-called structural coloration is common in blue bird feathers. Another distinctive Blue Jay feature is its crest. An agitated Blue jay will ruffle up its crest, but when it feels calm and ready to feed it’ll let it rest flat against the top of its head.

Diet: Blue Jays enjoy a varied diet. They’ll feed from the ground, trees and bushes. Blue Jays will eat almost anything they can get their beaks on, but a diet of seeds and fruit is especially nutritious. Our Ultimate Variety and Dutch’s Deluxe are excellent picks if you want to attract Blue Jays. Super Sunflower provides shelled sunflowers they particularly enjoy due to how easy they are to eat. They’ll come to any feeder that looks like it’s protected from predators. Jays will often store food in their nests against lean times but if you keep a well-stocked bird feeder they prefer to just visit regularly. Even a well-fed Blue Jay will take bigger and harder seeds away to eat in private, but don’t worry — they’ll be back soon. If you don’t want them to go, try bird foods with hulled (shelled) seeds.

Environment: Blue Jays are slow in the air, so they like to fly under light cover to avoid predatory birds. They don’t like thick woods though, and they’ve adapted well to human backyards and parks. The species ranges across a huge territory that extends from Florida to Northern Ontario, Canada.

Behavior: Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and assertiveness. They’ve even been known to harass owls until they move away! In these situations, Jays work together to annoy the predator. They’re playful birds that are attracted to shiny objects; sometimes, they’ll even snatch them from human hands. Blue Jays use a wide variety of calls. Some of them call other Jays to help mob a predator. Others are simple squaks or quiet calls they use to talk to each other. Like other corvids, Blue Jays that spend time around humans can learn specific calls to beg for food — and a few have even been trained to mimic human speech.

Blue Jays are not picky about where they nest. When their mating season starts in mid-March they’ll claim any comfortable, safe place they can find. Blue Jays have a reputation for stealing other birds’ nests, but for the most part they only do this with abandoned ones; only a minority kicks eggs out of a busy nest to take up residence. Blue Jays mate in monogamous pairs; a pair usually stays together for life.

We do our best to make our Squirrel Proof Vista Feeder, Absolutely Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder and Squirrel Buster Feeder let birds in and keep everything else out, but there are limits. I admit it: We don’t sell bear-proof wild bird feeders (though they do exist). Then again, if you’re still more worried about squirrels stealing your wild bird seed you can do a couple of things to make it harder for them to break in to your feeder.

Squirrels are very agile animals. They can jump 7 to 10 feet horizontally or 5 feet vertically, and are comfortable dropping up to 10 feet, too. Keep your feeder away from tree branches, rooftops and other surfaces where a squirrel can get secure footing and "launch." If you have a choice, the best option is to force them to drop horizontally if they want to try to get into a feeder. Many bird feeders are hard for a squirrel to safely land on because they have sloped roofs or in the case of tube feeders, have a small horizontal landing area. A hanging feeder also sways under heavier animals, making it more of a challenge. Squirrels that slip and fall won’t get your wild bird seed and it doesn’t really hurt them either. Keeping your feeder 7 feet or more away from squirrel launch points to make them drop down will help quite a bit.

Squirrels have stronger jaws than you think. If you hang a feeder with regular cord, there’s a good chance squirrels will chew right through it. This gives them an opportunity to knock the feeder to the ground, where they can pry it open at their leisure. Try metal cable, a wire handle, or a metal post. If you must use weaker material, consider slick synthetic fibers that are harder for a squirrel to climb. They can’t use their full strength unless they’ve got sure footing.

Using these steps along with a feeder that has squirrel proofing features can really help save your seed for the wild birds you want to see. They can’t do much about bears, though . . .

General: American Goldfinches are a migratory bird species that range from parts of Canada to North Carolina in the summer, to as far south as Mexico in the winter. Goldfinches are famous for the male’s vibrant yellow color in the summertime. At other times, males are a dull olive color, but after their spring molt, they turn as bright as a lemon. This strikes a beautiful contrast with their black and white wings and the black feathers right above their beaks.

Diet: Goldfinches are seed eaters. They also eat sap, berries and tree buds. Goldfinches naturally feed from branches, and enjoy artificial feeders that give their feet a good grip. They will flock to wild bird feeders that have their preferred seeds. Goldfinches particularly enjoy the Nyjer seed (also called thistle seed) you can find in our Gold Nyjer Thistle Seed, Ultimate Variety and Dutch’s Deluxe. Use a feeder that lets the goldfinch perch and hang. Our Thistle Tube Feeder is an ideal choice.

Environment: Goldfinches prefer open and lightly wooded areas such as meadows, roadside green space and orchards. A typical American lawn resembles their favourite environment, and in fact, goldfinches have thrived in the face of urban development.

Behavior: Goldfinches are a socially gregarious, tolerant species. They’ll gather in large flocks around a prime feeding area without too much trouble. Goldfinches flock with other finch species. During breeding season, goldfinches form colonies to breed and nest. However, while they’ll nest near each other, each mating pair will not tolerate any finch who dares to visit the nest.

Goldfinches are wary of predatory bird species. They specialize in fleeing, not fighting, so flocks use alarm calls to war of approaching threats. They even have a special call that tells the flock to quiet down when it’s time to hide from a predator. Goldfinches also sing to call their mates during breeding seasons.

One of the areas that interest us most is the section on seed preferences for different wild birds. The page at the link discusses the types of birds that go for various seeds. Here’s a guide to selecting our wild bird food products by seed:

Millet: We offer for wild bird foods that feature sparrow-attracting millet. Try Ultimate Variety, Superior Seeds, Berry and our traditional Dutch’s Deluxe.

Safflower: Get Dutch’s Deluxe, Superior Seeds and Ultimate Variety. As Cornell’s researchers note, safflower is noted for its ability to attract cardinals.

Nyjer: Nyjer’s appeal to finches is so remarkable that we wrote an article about it. You can purchase Gold Nyjer alone or as part of our premium Dutch’s Deluxe mix.

Sunflower: Sunflower is well known as the most attractive seed for a wide variety of birds. While we offer Super Sunflower for people who want nothing else, all of our feed mixes except for our pure Nyjer offerings contain it. We also offer Sunflower Blend Suet Plus for birds with more varied diets. Our mixes include hulled (shelled) seeds that smaller birds find easier to eat and which reduces the mess wild birds leave behind.

Peanuts: Wrens, woodpeckers, cardinals and jays are among the species that love this high energy "seed." Check out Ultimate Variety and our Peanut Blend Bird Food to add it to your backyard birds’ diets.

Corn: Our Ultimate Variety food contains cracked corn, which is popular with blackbirds, finches and sparrows.

Remember, if you need a quick reference by species you can also check out our color-coded Bird Feeding Chart.

General: Cardinals are one of the most recognizable birds around. Three species range through most of North America and parts of South America. Two species’ males are almost entirely red. The exception is the Pyrrhuloxia of Mexico and the American Southwest, whose red breast and face contrast with the rest of its gray-feathered body.

In all species, females don’t have the male cardinal’s dramatic coloration. Males synthesize their red color from natural pigments in their diet. If they don’t have access to it, their color will change. Both species have a distinctive crest and a darker "mask" around the eyes. Cardinals only migrate in extreme situations, when it’s a choice between moving or starving. Otherwise, you can see them in all seasons. In the winter, their feathers strike a brilliant contrast against the snow.

Diet: Cardinals are primarily seed eaters, though they’ll also dine on fruit or insects when they’re available. In wild habitats they forage on the ground, hopping through grass and shrubbery to find their food. Cardinals are very receptive to backyard feedingand owe much of their modern success as a species to wild bird feeders. They especially enjoy safflower and sunflower seeds. To attract them, try Fuit and Berry, Ultimate Sunflower and Superior Seeds. Put them in a feeder, but also scatter some seed on the ground nearby to appeal to cardinals’ ground-foraging habits.

Environment: Cardinals prefer woodlands and shrubbery. In the wild, this protects them while they forage. Cardinals nest in bushes that are too thick for bigger birds or squirrels to enter. Keep bushes, hedges and other low-lying foliage in any area you’d like cardinals to visit. They like to eat in relative privacy. Practically speaking, that means you’ll get the best results from a feeder near the foliage, set apart from any of the others you might have set up.

Behavior: Cardinals are a territorial species. Males sing from the treetops to mark to warn intruders, and will chase them away when they see them. Around feeders, a few males will often drive off other birds, though given enough time they’ll will normally come to an arrangement about who gets to feed and when.

Cardinals aren’t born knowing how to sing. They learn songs from their parents, so just like human languages and accents, cardinal songs vary between regions. Aside from territorial announcements, cardinals sing to court mates and warn of nearby predators.

One of the few exceptions to a male cardinal’s territorial urges is its mate. Courtship involves mutual song. Males will often feed their mates beak to beak. Cardinals are serially monogamous; they stick with their mates throughout the courtship, mating and incubation period. Females build nests in thick shrubs three to ten feet off the ground and lay blotchy, tinted white eggs in clutches of three or four.

Here, then are five wild bird supplies that will make a big difference to you during the summer bird watching season, and beyond:

1) Wild Bird Food

It barely even needs to be said, but the way to a bird’s heart is through its stomach. The real question is: What do you put out for the birds? The answer depends on the season, your area and the type of birds you want to attract. Here are some matches from our catalog:

• Rich’s II Ultimate Variety: Seed-Eating Birds
• Rich’s II Fruit and Berry: Fruit and Nut-Eating Birds
• Rich’s II Gold Nyjer Seed: Finches (Finches, etc.)

2) A Wild Bird Feeder

Naturally, you don’t want to chuck wild bird food on the ground. Not only is it messy, but it attracts scavengers and makes the birds expose themselves to predators while they eat. A feeder is the answer, but there are lots of choices. Which ones are best for you? If you’ve got a modest property with minimal foliage one of our tube feeders might be a good choice. If you’ve got a big house with lots of space to hand things, or access to an old tree (or a stand of young ones) you can support a larger feeder. Our Monarch Electric Blue feeder is big and beautiful. It looks great hanging from a thick pine branch or household overhang.

You can get the best of both worlds with the Cardinal 3 Tube Bird Feeder. It’s a space-efficient, large feeder. You don’t need a spot to hang it because it’s post-mounted. It’s got a 10 lb seed capacity.

Most people will have to deal with squirrels. A tube feeder might work, but squirrels are agile critters. They can get in even the best-placed feeder unless it’s designed to keep them away. We carry several squirrel-proof models.

Local weather should mold your decision, too. Will your seeds stay  dry in a mesh feeder, or do you need to feed wild birds in all weather?

3) A Bird Bath

Birds need to drink as well as eat. Many people keep bird baths as garden decorations, but forget that a properly placed and cared for bath really can attract birds.

Keep the bird bath in a relatively open area. This helps birds watch for predators. Placing it under an overhanging branch means that spooked birds don’t have to fly far from the bath to reach a safe spot. Keep it clean and fill it with fresh water on a regular basis. Don’t fill it too deeply, or birds won’t venture beyond the edges. Some companies offer heated bird baths for the winter, too.

4) Another Feeder!

Seriously! Birds are territorial, so one of the best ways to attract them is to put out multiple feeders that are spread some distance from each other. You can also put different wild bird feed in each of them to attract a wider variety of species.

5) Cleaning Supplies

Finally, remember to keep your feeders, the areas around them and your bird bath clean. Not only does this prevent your yard from suffering the unpleasant side effects of being a popular wild bird hangout, but it increases its appeal to birds and ensures their health. Clean up about once a month.

A mix of one part bleach to nine parts water is all you need to clean your feeders and nearby surfaces. Clear droppings, spilled seed and other debris from the area. Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Healthy birds are more likely to make it through the winter — and if they’ve learned your feeders are the place to be, they’ll come back again and again.