We’re passionate about birds and nature. That’s why we opened a Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop in our community.
386 Columbia Rd., Rte.#53
Hanover, MA 02339
Phone: (781) 826-1640
Fax: (781) 829-6864
Email: Send Message
Store Hours:
Mon - Fri: 9:30 am - 6:00 pm
Sat: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sun: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Right now chickadees, nuthatches, titmice and jays are hiding food to retrieve and eat at a later time. This behavior is called “caching.” Caching helps birds survive during bad weather and when food sources are low. These birds can store hundreds of seeds a day. Each seed is placed in a different location and they generally remember where each one is, even a month later.
By providing an easily accessible food source, you can help your birds with their caching needs.
Chickadees prefer to cache black oil sunflower seeds; often eating a small portion before hiding it in and under bark, dead leaves, knotholes, clusters of pine needles, gutters, shingles and in the ground. Chickadees cache more in the middle of the day when visiting feeders.
Titmice are rather particular. They choose the largest sunflower seeds available to eat and cache. Titmice and chickadees like to cache seeds within 130 feet of bird feeders; your yard or a neighbor's yard. Often, they tuck seeds into the bark and crevices of a wood pile or on a large branch. They even cache them under mulch in a garden.
Nuthatches prefer heavier sunflower seeds over the lighter ones. Be sure to have some sunflower chips in your blend, too, as they like these 25% more than one in the shell. They cache more in the morning and prefer to hide foods on deeply furrowed tree trunks and the underside of branches. Nuthatches are also known to hide seeds under a shingle or behind wooden siding.
Jays love to cache peanuts, sunflower seeds and acorns. They are especially fond of peanuts in the shell. They bury them in the ground and are known to cache about 100 in a day; emptying a feeder in no time. Watch for them make repeated trips to your feeders (or an oak tree) and fly off. They can travel up to two miles to bury their nutritious treasure.
More than 300 bird species found in North America during the summer make their way to Central and South America or the Caribbean, some covering distances of nearly 7,000 miles. Parks, backyards and nature refuges across the country will host these winged visitors as the birds make their way to their winter homes.
Migration is a fascinating part of bird behavior. Besides the amount of daylight, it appears that age, sex, weather and the availability of food, water and shelter are the major factors in migratory behavior.
While migration is still not completely understood, it appears that some birds orient themselves by the stars on clear nights while others seem to have a built-in magnetic compass. Some birds travel over large bodies of water, and birds commonly lose one-fourth to one-half of their body weight during such over-water migration.
In order to survive their grueling trip, birds accumulate fat prior to migration. This physiological change helps the birds maintain their energy reserves.
Not only can we enjoy migrating birds as they pass through our area, but we can also play a role in their survival by providing food, water, habitat and/or shelter to help them conserve and replenish their energy supply during their journey. Foods that are high in fat, such as suet, Bark Butter and a seed blend with lots of sunflower seeds, help birds refuel their energy supply.
Every nature lover is different, so finding the ideal gift for him or her can be difficult. That's why our Gift Cards are the perfect gift for every occasion. They allow your friend or loved one to choose what part of nature he or she wants to enjoy. The best part: our Gift Cards are redeemable at every Wild Birds Unlimited location.
If you need to check the balance on your Wild Birds Unlimited Gift Card, click here.
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