Hello, I am writing on behalf of Greenwood Wildlife Rehab Center in Lyons, CO (I am a former volunteer) and Boulder County Audubon Society (I am a board member with them). The insectivores and returning migratory birds are starving right now and grounded due to the snow cover. If you are at all able to provide food for them during your birding outings, especially where you see large groups of longspurs, horned larks, and robins congregating along county roads, it would really help them out.
Donna Nespoli, licensed wildlife rehabilitator with Greenwood, offers the following suggestions: Robins like troutworms and mealworms in addition to fruit. You can buy worms pretty inexpensively at Wal-Mart. Horned larks prefer millet sprays and/or whole millet. You can get millet at PetSmart or at your local feed store. Longspurs will also eat millet, finch seed, mealworms, and crumbled suet. Blackbirds love cracked corn and even the juncos are enjoying that up where I live. Sunflower seed is always a top choice for numerous bird species. If feeding at home, other good food choices are hard-boiled egg, dog or cat food soaked in hot water until soft (blue jays love this), even broccoli (chopped finely), lettuce, and grated carrot. Mealworms are the best source of protein if you can offer those. Obviously, if you do feed wild birds, it would not be a good idea to feed them in the roads! Try to find an area off to the side where you can clear an area to scatter seed. Please also keep a small box in your car for injured birds. Put soft material at the bottom and make sure there are breathing holes. Take birds to your local wildlife rehab facility. Greenwood is located about 4 miles west of Lyons on Hwy 66 and can be reached at 303-823-8455. They are open seven days a week from 9am to 4pm. Thank you so very much for your help! Sharon Daugherty Northeast of Fort Collins, CO off CR 56 and Terry Lake Rd. sharona_...@yahoo.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
