Wednesday, January 2, 2019
thinking of the birds
I just read in British Country Living magazine that the birds will eat your leftover mince pies (we don't have any of that), cheddar cheese and even mashed potatoes! This, I want to remember. I also don't want to forget this: that when your wreath has served its purpose, rather than throwing it out you can hang it from a tree and the birds will glean nesting materials out of it come February.
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a lot of good thinking... I love birds!!!... we hear them but in general don't see them here... but even just hearing them, I treasure so much!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would give the birds my mince pies (if we had any left!). It would depend on the ingredients of the mincemeat. Some ready-made mincemeat has sugar in it and some has brandy or other spirits mixed in. The pastry is often very sweet too. I'm not sure I'd give my mashed potato to the birds either as I add a little salt to the potatoes as I cook them.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and your brother, Lisa!
Clare, I've never thought the sugar was bad for them, considering some of them like fruit. Years ago, I was feeding a mockingbird during a cold winter with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches torn up. He used to wait for me to throw it out the window - they don't eat seeds, as a rule. But, that was long ago before I ever thought about healthy eating, for myself or God's creatures! Now you've got me thinking.
DeleteI guess I should have said God's *other* creatures. :D
DeleteHehe! I often forget I am another of God's creatures too! I try not to give animals and birds food with additives; natural sugars are okay because, as you say, that's what they eat themselves.
DeleteI wonder if the magazine will get letters over this.
ReplyDeleteI wonder,too!
DeleteBirds naturally do eat fermented berries and get drunk, so I wouldn't worry about giving them a little brandy in the pie. As for sugar, the hummingbird societies and garden sites say things like this, about what is natural or good:
ReplyDelete"Contrary to popular belief, honey is not 'more natural' than the cane sugar that is sold as white sugar. Honey has been chemically altered by honey bees: it is flower nectar and whatever ever else the honey bee ingested, digested, and spit back out again. Honey is nothing like the sucrose found in flower nectar and white sugar.
Again, plain white table sugar dissolved in water in a four-to-one solution is about as close to real flower nectar as you can get."
So if it's good for hummers, why not other birds? I also feed orioles sugar water, that is, they come to my hummingbird feeder. I stopped putting red food coloring in the syrup, though...
I see your point, Gretchen. Interesting.
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