01-08-2007, 11:10 PM
Winter causes songbirds to converge increasingly on backyard feeders. If you're interested in attracting some of this avian traffic, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has tips on how to get involved.
"While current conditions belie normal Pennsylvania winters, research has shown that backyard feeders are worth their weight in gold to some songbirds when a crusted snow is blanketing the ground, or overnight temperatures are dipping into the single digits," explained Dan Brauning, Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Section supervisor. "It's not necessarily a dependency, but birds sometimes need all the help they can get when winter's worst deep freezes or buries our woods, waters and fields."
Birds produce body heat, much like people do, and insulate themselves with a feathery coat of down. In fact, a winter bird's natural defense against the cold is considered better than a human's and most mammals', so long as food is readily available. Food feeds a bird's thumping metabolism, which creates enriched blood that is circulated through its body and generates heat. Smaller birds run at higher body temperatures than larger birds and humans. But if a bird's temperature drops below 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it likely will die.
For more information, please visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency website: http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view....p;Q=170950
"While current conditions belie normal Pennsylvania winters, research has shown that backyard feeders are worth their weight in gold to some songbirds when a crusted snow is blanketing the ground, or overnight temperatures are dipping into the single digits," explained Dan Brauning, Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Section supervisor. "It's not necessarily a dependency, but birds sometimes need all the help they can get when winter's worst deep freezes or buries our woods, waters and fields."
Birds produce body heat, much like people do, and insulate themselves with a feathery coat of down. In fact, a winter bird's natural defense against the cold is considered better than a human's and most mammals', so long as food is readily available. Food feeds a bird's thumping metabolism, which creates enriched blood that is circulated through its body and generates heat. Smaller birds run at higher body temperatures than larger birds and humans. But if a bird's temperature drops below 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it likely will die.
For more information, please visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency website: http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view....p;Q=170950