Gifts for Backyard Bird Watchers

Millions of American households participate in feeding and watching wild birds. Feeding wild birds helps foster an appreciation for nature, and it's a wonderful way to keep in touch with the great outdoors all year long. These gift ideas will suit the wild bird lovers on your gift list whether they live in a rural location or in a city apartment.

The Cornell University Lab of Ornithology produced the beautifully illustrated book, Bird Songs Bible, a comprehensive collection of information about and descriptions of the behavior, habitat and distribution of 750 North American wild birds. A digital audio recording of each species' call is part of this volume, which comes complete with a convenient carrying case. It is available online at UncommonGoods.com in 2010 for $87.50.

The Bird Shed, an online store that caters to bird lovers, offers the No No Red Cardinal Feeder. This hanging feeder is made entirely of metal, with no plastic and no wood. The open mesh design allows wind to pass through so seed does not blow out, and rain and snow drain away without allowing avian disease-producing fungus and mold to grow in the seed chamber. Fill this feeder through the easy-fill top opening, which closes securely. The metal mesh is perfect for black oil sunflower seeds, the favorite food of most common wild birds; it holds more than 2.5 pounds of sunflower seeds. The mesh allows easy access for both perching and clinging birds...up to 20 birds at one time can eat at this feeder. It ships and stores flat, and can be disassembled to clean in the dishwasher, if you desire. Squirrels cannot gnaw through this metal feeder as they do wood or plastic. The regular price is $35.99, on sale at TheBirdShed.com for the 2010 holidays for only $28.99.

Also at The Bird Shed is one of my favorite bird feeders. The Perky Pet 348 is a clear acrylic feeder that attaches outside any glass window with sturdy suction cups, and it really does attract birds! It holds about a cup of sunflower seeds. This is a small feeder for seed-eaters like chickadees, finches, juncos and titmice, although individual cardinals can also eat from this feeder. Place the feeder on the outside of a window in a room you use, and the birds will quickly become accustomed to your normal indoor activity. Just keep the feeders filled and don't tap on the glass or scare the birds purposely, and you will have plenty of birds to view. Children (of all ages) are easily mesmerized watching birds from only inches away. The regular price is $10.99, on sale at TheBirdShed.com for the 2010 holidays for only $6.99.

Sources:
Personal Experience
http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/bird-songs-bible
http://www.thebirdshed.com/nn-c00322.html
http://www.thebirdshed.com/pp-348.html