You may have noticed that the European Starlings have more
speckles on them right now than they did during the summer. The new feathers
have whitish tips, giving the bird the appearance of “stars” covering their
body. Over the winter sunlight and weather dulls the speckled look and then the
bird becomes uniform dark brown or black. Just in time to impress the females
in the spring.
Eastern Bluebirds and Northern Cardinals, two of the most
colorful birds in the area, also produce a new set of feathers in the fall. The
tips of the new body feathers are brown/gray and make the bluebirds and
cardinals appear a bit dull in the winter. These feather tips also wear off and
leave the birds much more colorful in the spring.
Feathers are made of more than 90% protein,
primarily keratins, so every molting bird needs extra proteins to grow strong
feathers for proper flight and effective insulation. At the feeding stations during cold weather the birds are looking for seeds that provide the most calories too. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service published a landmark study of bird food preferences in 1980 for several
bird species and found most backyard songbirds exhibited the greatest
preference for oil sunflower, peanuts, safflower, nyjer, and millet. They avoid
buckwheat, milo, oats, wheat, canary, flax, rapeseed, and rice.
Wild
Birds Unlimited No-mess Blend is our best selling blend. It has everything the birds want and leaves no messy shells behind. For more info on our unique No-Mess Blend bird seed which
features seeds that have had their shells removed so only the meat of the seed
is left, click HERE.
Whatever seed, seed cake, or suet you choose at Wild Birds Unlimited, we
guarantee it will be fresh and a healthy choice for our local birds. And now you know that birds with a better-quality diet have better-quality plumage.
Related Articles:
Types of Bird feathers http://bit.ly/oTXSmm
Why Wild Birds Unlimited has the best seed! http://bit.ly/pzAB24
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