Last night, hubby comes running into the house--there is a bird in our front yard!! I was nonplussed. We often have birds in our front yard. However, when he said he had accidentally THROWN A HOSE on the bird, I knew that all was not well. AS an ardent bird lover (who has been banned from feeding birds by aforementioned hubby due to attracting small furry creatures as well as the winged ones) I rushed outside. Totally leaving my kids INSIDE. Oops. But hey, the house didn't burn down and no one died, so I guess it all ended up alright!
Sure enough, there was a bird, a mourning dove, to be exact, sitting there. Alive. Stunned. And unable to fly. As hubby was telling oldest son not to touch the bird, I (you guessed it) caught it (in a towel, I am not a total moron!). It was hurt, indeed, though I did not see any blood it was missing quite a few feathers from a wing. I called Ohio Wildlife Center, but they were not in office anymore, so I checked with Dr. Google.
I put the dove in a box, taped it shut and put it in out closet. (I an not cruel! That is what they told me to do at Dr. Google!) So the bird spent the night in our closet. This morning, we took it to the Ohio Wildlife Center, where it was admitted.
When it gets better, they are going to call us and we will go get it, bring it home and release it. I am excited for that bit.
In the meantime, I figured what we could do for its family is to make a bird feeder and feed them!
And this craft (borrowed from: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/nature/bird-feeder.shtml)
How to Make a Milk Carton Bird Feeder
You can recycle a milk carton or juice carton and make an it into an excellent bird feeder for finches, sparrows, chickadees and other feathered friends.
Keep in mind, though, that feeding the birds is a year-long commitment--they don't only need fed in the winter! Keep a birding book by the window and mark them off as you see them! You can even keep tabs on them for http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/.
To make a Milk Carton Bird Feeder, you will need: milk or juice carton scissors wax pencil or crayon ruler or straight edge two small lengths of tape two bamboo skewers or straight, small diameter twigs to use as perches
bird seed hole punch twine to make a hanger
Milk Carton Bird Feeder
Instructions:
1. Use the wax pencil or crayon and draw the shape of the opening on the front of the milk carton. You should allow at least two inches at the bottom of the carton to hold a good amount of seed.
2. Cut out the opening with craft knife or scissors. (Kids! You need an adult to do this!)
3. Fold the piece you just cut in half.
4. Attach a length of tape to each flap.
5. Use this piece to form a roof over the opening so that the birds can sit in shelter.
6. Poke a bamboo skewer through the wall of the milk carton, just below the left side of the opening. Repeat on the right side. Poke skewers all the way through and out the back wall of the carton. This keeps the perches straight and secure.
7. Punch two holes through the top line of the carton.
8. Thread twine through the two holes to make a hanger.
9. Fill the bottom of the feeder a bird seed mixture. Hang your milk carton bird feeder from a tree branch that you can reach easily when you need to add more bird seed.
Suggestions:
For bird watching, hang the feeder in a spot that you can see clearly from a window.
Buy a good bird identification book and keep a record of all the species that turn up at your backyard feeding station. Record the date that you saw each bird, whether it was a male or female, or a pair of a birds. You may also want to add other observations about their size, appearance, special markings and behaviour.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment