Our weather swings from one temperature extreme to another and the birds adapt to everything that mother nature throws at them. Roseau has many different types of habitats—wetlands, prairie, and mixed hardwood and conifer forest. Making it a great place to observe many different species of birds.
Look out in your yard during the summer months and see gorgeous colors of birds. Orioles, Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, Gold Finches, Blue Jays and Red-headed Woodpeckers are just a few of the birds that make Roseau home for the summer. It is a busy time for our resident birds. Making nests, defending their territories, and raising and feeding their young.
I will be sharing my observations of the birds I see throughout the seasons, with tips on how to attract and identify the birds in our area. These are a few of the regular visitors in my yard in the last couple of weeks. I will be sharing basic ways of attracting these birds to your yard.
Blue Jay
Blue Jays are common in our area all year round. Blue Jays peanuts in the shell (unsalted), suet, Sunflower seeds and corn. A good sturdy platform feeder works well for attracting Blue Jays.
Goldfinch
Goldfinches and Purple Finches are in our area only in the summer. They enjoy eating sunflower seeds and nyjer seed. Tube feeders are an easy way to feed these seeds.
Chipping Sparrow
Our area has many species of sparrows. House Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, and White Crowned Sparrows are some of our other summer visitors. They eat sunflower seeds, cracked corn, milo and any type of feeder will work to feed Sparrows.
Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadees are another bird that will eat sunflower seeds and suet at your feeders. These friendly birds are a common sight in most yards and live here year-round!
Mourning Dove
Mourning Doves are another common bird to most yards. They are ground feeders and usually spend most of the day eating the seeds that fall out of the feeders. Some Mourning Doves will winter in Roseau, and some will fly south.
Baltimore Oriole
Attract orioles to your yard by offering oranges cut in half and small containers of grape jelly. The trick to attracting Orioles is to start offering food early in the spring season. Many Hummingbird feeders with perches will allow Orioles to drink the same nectar that Hummingbirds enjoy.
Nectar recipe: heat 4 cups of water on the stove, remove from heat and add 1 cup of sugar and stir until dissolved. Be sure to cool the nectar down before filling the feeder and offering it to your birds.
