Save by making your own suet & Home-buying criteria

Assuming you have the time and the patience, here's a suet recipe that might save you some money, or be a good scout project, or whatever;
             1 cup of shortening
             1 cup of crunchy peanut butter
             1 cup of flour
             2 cups of old-fashioned corn meal
             half-cup of sugar
             2 cups of fresh birdseed (the birdseed can be almost any type. I recommend straight, 100% black-oil sunflower.   A "hull-less" seed will not work.)

Melt the shortening and the peanut butter over medium-high heat in a skillet (preferably iron). Then add the dry ingredients and mix well. As the mixture cools, press it into shape (or cut it) to fit your suet feeder. Most feeders take suet that's slightly larger than a slice of bread.

Let the formed suet cool in your refrigerator for at least an hour before putting it into your feeder.


Woodpeckers on a suet stick

Things change!!!  It used to be swimming pools and big garages. But a 2010 survey by the National Association of Realtors showed a big, new trend.  88% of buyers said that environmentally-friendly features were important considerations when purchasing a home. Such things as low-maintenance landscaping, programmable thermostats and sustainable construction methods are now important to buyers.

save trees by maintaining natural grade

reduce edging by grouping taller plants

Attract birds for hardly any money;

You can attract birds and butterflies to your yard for less than you're shelling out now. Maybe for next to nothing!  (NOTE: some of these ideas may not be appropriate in other parts of the country, but they all are valid in north Texas)

By far the most effective thing you can do is reduce the size of your grassed lawn. Shrink it down to what you actually need - not what somebody else thinks you should have. At our place, roughly one-quarter of our yard is lawn (grass). That's all we need and all we need to maintain (I have better things to do). The rest is "birdscape".

To a bird, a big grassy lawn is like a desert; with almost nothing to eat, no water and no place to hide, rest or nest. This time of year (unlike up north) is easily the best time to plant trees and shrubs. Less lawn translates into more places to plant these birdscape plants.

In a birdscaped yard, native Texas plants supply food that attracts birds naturally.  Meaning you need to buy less birdseed! Plants also supply places for birds to find shade, nest, and hide from predators - so they hang around a lot more.

Birds love suet, but regularly buying it takes money.  We also feed suet to birds because it's good for them.  But when we're out we give them the next best thing.  We put some chunky peanut butter on some old slices of bread (usually the 'heels') and put it in the suet cage. As long as you don't do it all the time, it won't  affect their health.

All birds need water every day, whether the weather's freezing or super-hot. Water (like in a birdbath) is not only inexpensive, but will attract species that don't eat seeds, such as Robins, Wrens, Mockingbirds and Flickers. A "birdbath" needn't be an expensive, ornate thing - anything that holds water and doesn't embarrass you is fine.

Another inexpensive thing is a "brushpile". It's just what its name implies - a random pile of woody branches (tree trimmings?), leaving lots of nooks and crannies inside for birds to find. Every yard can and should have a brushpile; it's a mini bird sanctuary.

Feeding only good, fresh seed is crucial. If you run out, so be it. The birds can simply eat something in your birdscaped yard. If you ever use cheap/stale, grocery store or big box seed, however, the birds will leave that feeder for good! A wild bird gets only about 10% of its food from birdfeeders. So remember - just because a feeder is empty, it doesn't mean you have to fill it.

A feeder that goes empty for several days is like a restaurant closing - the birds won't starve; they'll just go somewhere else. And if your yard is birdscaped, they'll still be in your yard.  

They'll migrate no matter what we do

A few people still think that a full birdfeeder (or nectar feeder) will prevent birds from migrating and somehow "trap" them here for the winter. That's not only been disproven - it's also silly.

The one and only thing that triggers migration (as it has since well before mankind walked erect) is photoperiodism - the relative amounts of daylight and darkness over time.  Food availability and weather have nothing to do with when they leave north Texas. These two factors only determine the pace at which birds migrate.

Photoperiodism, usually called 'day length', also triggers leaves to grow or fall, flowers to bloom or go to seed, animals to hibernate, insects to become active, wild animals to have babies, and so on.  It's been this way millions of years before Man appeared on earth.

So when your neighbor takes credit for causing flowers to bloom since he added a certain chemical to the soil, or he cautions you to take down birdfeeders  for fear of "trapping" birds for the winter, remember that the earth tilting and revolving on its axis, making days shorter or longer, is the one and only cause.

An example in north Texas is the Robin.  Due to Texas' slightly longer day-length and relatively mild winters, Robins (and several other birds) think of this area as "the South".  So the Robins from up north migrate here for the winter.  And local Robins stay right here. As a result we have more Robins in north Texas in the winter than the summer. Thanks mainly to photoperiodism.

 

It's as if the plants and the birds planned it that way!

In a way they did.   Just as wildlife needs food, plants develop berries, seeds, nectar and such.   At the exact time birds build nests, plants produce an abundance of fibrous, nest-building material.

There's no better example than what's happening here in north Texas right now. Thousands of Hummingbirds are endlessly trying to put on weight and gain energy before their annual migratory flight in the beginning of October. They know that they'll need all their energy for the arduous trip. So you see them right now, crowding around nectar feeders and seeking out nectar-producing flowers.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Also, right now, many flowers are putting out the nectar to make Hummingbirds' migration possible. At my house the Turks Cap (pictured) and Lantana bloom with nectar-abundant flowers.

Turk's Cap

To be realistic, birds couldn't do much of what it entails to be a bird, without help from native plants. If you want to plant the right "birdscape" plants for north Texas, you're in luck.  Right now (not the spring, like up north) is the very best time to plant things for next year's birds.

"One final brood, if we're lucky"

Some birds that have been "around the block" a few times, try for one more brood of babies at the end of the summer. You may see some of the newbies around now.

juvenile Cardinal - note the black bill

juvenile American Robin - note the spotted breast

In Texas, an extra brood of babies is possible.  Given the longer summers, an experienced pair of birds might be able to get 4 broods instead of the 3 that it says in guidebooks, or 5 broods instead of 4 (the number depends on the species).  The timing, and the weather, are of utmost importance. Also important is the availability of fresh food.
   
A juvenile bird is called a fledgling once it leaves the nest. It can't fly very well yet (if at all) but the parents are always nearby.  They look for things like water sources and potential dangers and bring food to the fledgling when needed.  (Humans should just leave fledglings alone unless they are in imminent danger, like being in the middle of a road)

Bluebirds - note that the adult (left) and the juvenile are roughly the same size

visit from a Mississippi Kite

For at least 10 minutes, on each of the last six days, a Mississippi Kite has been sitting in a shallow birdbath on our deck. It's been around 100 degrees on these days, so I assume the Kite is using the birdbath to cool off.

According to the markings, it's a first-year Kite, which is a species of eagle or a "bird of prey" or a raptor - which means it has talons for grasping and killing prey.  Its prey is normally large insects such as grasshoppers (which seem to be abundant this year) and cicadas. But there have been reports of Kite's eating small mammals like field mice.

However, "our" Kite won't be here much longer. They all migrate to the south around the end of summer.