wild birds unlimited fall & winter hobby guide usa

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Did You Know? Cool Winter Bird Fun Facts Wild Birds Unlimited Seed Blends The Right Food for Every Season Convenient Bird Feeding & Offering Fats “Looks Great, Stays Straight” Put your feeders and houses right where you want them with our Advanced Pole System® hardware. Create a New Bird Feeding Station bird feeding White-breasted Nuthatch

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Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide United States Of America

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Page 1: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

Did You Know?Cool Winter Bird Fun Facts

Wild Birds Unlimited Seed BlendsThe Right Food for Every Season

Convenient Bird Feeding & Offering Fats

“Looks Great, Stays Straight”Put your feeders and houses right where you want them with our Advanced Pole System® hardware.

Create a New Bird Feeding Station

bird feeding

White-breastedNuthatch

Page 2: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

2 | Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com Check local store for product availability

Celebrating 30 Years of Bringing People and Nature TogetherIn 1981, Jim Carpenter, unemployed, combined his retail experience with his enjoyment of nature and backyard bird feeding to open the first Wild Birds Unlimited store in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Now there are more than 270 Wild Birds Unlimited stores. Each store is locally-owned and operated and is dedicated to helping bring people and nature together.

Products Designed by ExpertsMore than 30 years of knowledge gained from our customers helps make our products the highest-quality bird feeding supplies on the market.

Trusted Local AdviceOur goal is to help you better enjoy this wonderful hobby by providing the best local advice and bird feeding products to meet your needs.

We’re excited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the opening of the first Wild Birds Unlimited store. As always, we’re here to help bring you, your family and nature together.

Jim Carpenter — present day

Jim Carpenter and the first Wild Birds Unlimited store in Indianapolis, Indiana — 1981

Page 3: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

Check local store for product availability Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com | 3

Caching BehaviorDuring fall and winter many birds, including jays, chickadees, nuthatches and titmice, will hide food to retrieve and eat at a later time. This behavior is called “caching.” Caching helps birds survive during bad weather and when food sources are low. These birds store hundreds of seeds a day. Each seed is placed in a different location and they remember where each one is. They can find each site accurately, even a month later. By providing an easily accessible food source, you can help your birds with their caching needs.

• Some birds’ hippocampus, the spatial memory part of the brain, actually grows larger in the fall to help them remember where they stored food.

• Because their weather conditions are typically more severe, more northern birds rely on caches than their southern cousins. In relation, more northern birds have larger hippocampi, for greater memory storage, than their southern counterparts.

• Due to jays’ habit of burying acorns over a wide area, 11 species of oak trees have become dependent on jays for the dispersal of their acorns.

More Caching Information

Carolina Chickadee

Did You Know?Cool Winter Bird Fun FactsBackyard birds adapt to winter in various ways. Check out how a few different birds cope with winter and falling temperatures.

• Chickadees may use up to ¾ of their fat reserves (as much as 10% of their body weight) in one night and then replenish those fat reserves the next day.

• American Goldfinches rarely over-winter in northern areas where temperatures fall below 0° F (-17° C) for extended periods.

• In winter, residential flocks of American Goldfinches roam widely between food supplies and have been recorded moving more than four miles between multiple feeding stations in a single day.

• Visiting flocks of juncos will usually stay the entire winter within an area of about ten acres.

• Because they roost in cavities overnight and snowfall rarely hampers their ability to find food during winter, tree-foraging birds, such as woodpeckers, do not increase their body fat as much as ground-foraging birds.

Page 4: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

4 | Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com Check local store for product availability

Foods to Serve During Fall and WinterThe Importance of Fat and Calories in a Bird’s Diet

Seed-eating birds will continue to look for supplemental sources of seeds that will provide them with their essential fall and winter fat and calories. So it’s important to offer the right seeds in your bird feeders. Many of these seeds, including black oil sunflower, Nyjer® (thistle) and millet, are featured in our regionally selected, customized seed blends that also have other seasonally appropriate ingredients. More information about seed blends that will help your birds during fall and winter is featured on the next page.

Loaded with fat and protein, peanuts provide birds with energy and are particularly helpful to fatten up for migration and during the winter months when the extra calories help keep them warm. As winter approaches, many birds change some of their eating habits. Birds that usually eat insects may start to eat berries to supplement their diets. Dried or fresh fruit are a winter favorite of birds such as robins, waxwings, bluebirds and mockingbirds.

Our Cranberry Fare Seed Cylinder is loaded with seeds, nuts and cranberries and is a great way to offer your fall and winter birds these foods.

Suet is a high-energy, pure-fat substance that is particularly helpful in winter, when many birds have a hard time finding the insects they normally eat.

We carry a selection of suet and high-fat foods, such as Jim’s Birdacious® Bark Butter®, various suet cakes and plugs, No-melt Suet Dough Cylinders and Stackables®.

As temperatures fall, birds have a more difficult time finding the limited number of live, active insects. Loaded with protein, mealworms can help you attract common and uncommon insect-eating birds like bluebirds or wrens.

It’s important to continue offering WBU Nectar in regions along the Pacific Coast, the Southwest and in the extreme Southeast where hummingbirds stay throughout winter.

Whether they are preparing for fall migration or the onset of winter, birds need foods that are high in oil, fat and calories. These foods and stored body fat are the primary energy supply that fuels a bird throughout migration and during long, cold winter nights.

Seed

Nuts & Berries/Fruits

Suet & Fats

Mealworms

Nectar

Pictured: Black-capped Chickadee

Pictured: Male House Finch

Pictured: Male Downy Woodpecker

Pictured: Tufted Titmouse

Pictured: Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

Page 5: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

Check local store for product availability Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com | 5

Supreme Blend

Loaded with fat and calories, our Supreme Blend features sunflower seeds, safflower seeds and sunflower chips to attract birds, such as chickadees, nuthatches, wrens and more.

You’ll see these Quick Response Codes, or QR Codes for short, throughout this Hobby Guide.

QR Codes are an easy way to see videos and/or learn more information using your smart phone and a downloaded QR Code reader app.

We’re excited to add this technology to make your hobby even more enjoyable.

No-Mess Blend

Loaded with fat, protein and carbohydrates, our No-Mess Blend is a tidy feeding solution that is perfect for helping birds prepare for migration and winter.

TreeNutty Plus Blend

A favorite of woodpeckers, TreeNutty™ Plus Blend mixes sunflower seeds and chips, nuts, raisins and added calcium to provide lots of fat, protein and carbohydrates.

Deluxe Blend

Full of black oil sunflower seeds, millet, striped sunflower and safflower, our Deluxe Blend is an excellent fall and winter blend for ground feeders like juncos, doves and various sparrows.

WBU Regionally Selected Seed BlendsChoose from the Very Best Bird Seed Available — Here Are Just a Few of the Blends We Carry

New In-store Seed Blend SignsNow, it’s even easier to choose the right blend for your birds.

What is a QR Code?

a great all-around blend with peanuts

Choice Blend

oil sunf lowerstriped sunf lower

Seedswith Shells

saff lowernyjer® (thistle)peanuts in the shellwhite millet

sunf lower chipsshelled peanuts

100% Edible,No Shells

hulled white milletchopped tree nutscorn

cherriescranberries

Special “Plus” Blend Ingredients

raisinspeanut suet nuggetscalcium

$XX.XXRegularPrice

• Specific blend ingredients are indicated with colored boxes, and the three columns make it easy to compare blends.

• The more ingredients in the center column, the less uneaten seed debris left behind.

• The more “Plus” ingredients, the more seasonally appropriate or the more species that are attracted.

QR Code

Use your smart phone to see a video about Choice Blend.

Page 6: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

6 | Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com Check local store for product availability

Red-belliedWoodpecker

The Easy, Long-lasting Way to Feed Birds

Available exclusively at Wild Birds Unlimited, our Bird Food Cylinders are an easy and tidy way to offer your birds a wide variety of food.

Made of different combinations of tightly packed seeds, nuts, and sometimes, fruits and suet, Bird Food Cylinders last longer, requiring you to refill your feeders less often.

With several unique flavors to mix and match, our smaller Stackables® allow you to offer more than one flavor at a time (including suet) and cater to your birds’ food preferences.

Bird Food Cylinders

Supreme Fare Seed Cylinder

Packed with pecans, peanuts, black oil and sunflower chips, our Supreme Fare Seed Cylinders entice a greater diversity of birds.

Chickadees, Titmice & Nuthatches– Oh My!

Chickadees, nuthatches and titmice are typically the first and easiest birds to attract to feeders in a wooded setting. They are also some of the hobby’s most adored feeder visitors. They’re small and cute, their movements are quick and erratic, and though they’re gone from feeders just as fast as they arrived, it’s easy to be a big fan of these little birds.

During fall and winter, some chickadees, nuthatches and titmice search for food together in a “foraging guild.”

This behavior results in many eyes looking for 1) the now dwindling supply of natural food and 2) potential predators. Birds in the guild recognize each other’s alarm calls. This lets the guild keep a collective watch for predators and allows the individual birds to concentrate more on finding food.

They have a mixed preference for sunflower (in and out of the shell), safflower and peanut pieces for caching (to retrieve and eat later), ingredients found in many of our exclusive seed blends, cylinders, Stackables® and more.

Black-capped Chickadee

WBU Suet Cylinder Feederwith No-melt Suet Dough Cylinder

White-breasted Nuthatch& Carolina Chickadee

Convenience Bird Feeding

Page 7: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

Check local store for product availability Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com | 7

SuetA Boost of Energy for Your Birds

Suet is a high-energy, pure-fat substance that is invaluable in fall and winter wheninsects are harder to find and birds need many more calories to keep their bodies warm.

Offering suet at a backyard feeding station is one way to attract a greater diversity of insect-eating birds. Birds that eat suet will still find natural food sources, such as insects, insect eggs and larvae for a well-rounded diet. Birds that eat both insects and seeds, like chickadees and nuthatches, will also visit suet feeders.

Tail Prop Suet FeederMale Hairy Woodpecker

Upside-Down Suet FeederMale Hairy Woodpecker

Why is our Suet Better?All of our suet and no-melt dough contain high-quality ingredients, providing invaluable fats and calories and making every trip to the feeder count.

Feed Fats!

®

®

Bark Butter and Jim’s Birdacious Squirrel Inhibitor (left)

Use the Squirrel Inhibitor on a tree with Bark Butter, or place it in the Birdacious TreatTray™ to slow squirrels trying to gobble up all your Treats.

Jim’s Birdacious Bark Butter

More Than 100 Birds (and Counting) Love ItJim Carpenter is the founder of Wild Birds Unlimited and the creator of Jim’s Birdacious® Bark Butter®, the food that has attracted more than 100 different bird species.

Available only at Wild Birds Unlimited, now there are multiple ways to treat your birds with Bark Butter, including BugBerry Blend™ Bark Butter, regular Bark Butter Bricks, BugBerry Blend Bark Butter Bricks and Bark Butter Plugs.

For more information and to see a video of birds eating Bark Butter, visit www.barkbutter.com.

Pictured Left to Right: Male Downy Woodpecker,Male Hairy Woodpecker

Page 8: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

8 | Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com Check local store for product availability

Embedded into:

•Tube

•All Black Powder Coated Metal Components

•Seed Diverter

•Perch Covers

EcoClean Seed Tube Feeder

Featuring

CarolinaChickadee

TuftedTitmouse

Available Exclusivelyat Wild Birds Unlimited

REVOLUTIONARYPRODUCT

Manufactured exclusively for Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc.EcoClean is a trademark of Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc., Carmel, IN 46032. EcoClean products are protected by U.S. Patents and Patents Pending.U.S. Patent No. 5215039, 5452682, 7621232.Agion is a trademark of Agion Technologies, Inc., Wakefield, MA.Antimicrobial protection is limited to the treated article and does not protect a user against disease causing bacteria.

Quick-Clean® Removable Base

Page 9: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

EcoClean Seed Tube Feederwith Weather Guard* & Seed Tray*Not Available in EcoClean Line

EcoClean Dinner Bell™ FeederMale Downy Woodpecker,Black-capped Chickadee

EcoClean Mesh Finch

Feeder

EcoClean Mesh Peanut

Feeder

Check local store for product availability Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com | 9

Available only at Wild Birds Unlimited, our EcoClean® feeders and accessories feature a patented technology that inhibits the surface growth of damaging bacteria, mold and other microbes on treated components. This protection won’t wash or wear away, and it uses environmentally friendly technology.

How does it work?EcoClean products incorporate Agion®, a patented antimicrobial agent which is based on naturally occurring silver.

Silver has been proven safe and effective in fighting a wide range of microbes and is environmentally friendly. Some antimicrobial products use unsafe synthetic chemicals or volatile organic substances, but these can be potentially toxic and dangerous at inappropriate levels. No such dangers are known to exist for silver.

Agion is a “smart” material, meaning that it will only release its antimicrobial properties when microbes are present. When microorganisms come in contact with an Agion treated surface, silver ions are released on demand to the surface of the product to combat the organism.

Agion is already extensively used for applications in consumer products, including cell phones, shoes, keyboards, medical catheters and more. Agion is also registered with the EPA, FDA and USDA for a broad range of uses.

For more information about EcoClean, visit www.wbu.com/ecoclean.

EcoClean Finch FeederHouse Finch, American Goldfinch

Page 10: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

10 | Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com Check local store for product availability

Available exclusively at Wild Birds Unlimited, our patented Advanced Pole System (APS) is a revolutionary concept and the foundation for successfully bringing more birds to your yard.

Comprised of interchangeable hardware pieces, the APS lets you create a customized setup that best suits your yard and the birds you want to attract. All APS parts are powder-coated to resist rusting, and they fit together easily with no special tools required.

The StabilizerThe Stabilizer is the key to APS looking great and staying straight. It’s lawnmower-friendly and tests show the Stabilizer holds the pole straight in wind gusts up to 35 MPH. (See Step 1 on the next page.)

Deck SetupsIf you don’t have much of a yard, but you still want to enjoy the wonders of bird feeding, try creating an APS bird feeding station on your deck or porch. We have a number of deck mounts that accommodate all types of decks and patios, whether they’re made of metal, wood or composite.

APS AccessoriesMake the most of your bird feeding station by adding APS accessories. A Squirrel or Raccoon Baffle will deter unwanted visitors from eating all your bird food. Our Decorative Branch Perch gives birds a place to rest before visiting feeders. The APS SideDish™ Feeder is a versatile feeder for offering foods, such as mealworms, fruit, peanuts, seed blends and more.

The Advanced Pole System®

The Ultimate Bird Feeding Solution

APS is protected by U.S. Patent No. 6,386,142Pictured above: Carolina Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatches, American Goldfinches

Page 11: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

Check local store for product availability Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com | 11

Decorative APS

Most decorative bird feeding station hardware is created to be more aesthetic than useful. Our Decorative APS hardware is eye-catching as well as functional. It and can be used with feeders, nesting boxes, hanging plants and more.

Pictured: Female Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker

48"

Step 1: Plant it

Stabilizer helps the APS look great and stay straight.

36"

Step 2: Extend it

Snap Button Attachmentsmake building easier andprevent the setup fromtwisting in the wind.

Step 3: Accessorize it

EZ-Attach Parts andAccessories allow you tosimply add arms, APSfeeders and other parts.

How to Create Your APS Bird Feeding Station

3'10'

To see birds up close, place your setup no more than three feet away from your window. This will decrease the likelihood of birds injuring themselves if they do hit your window. Otherwise, place your setup no less than ten feet away.

Squirrel-proof Zone: Place your baffled station at least ten feet away from other objects that squirrels can jump from to make it unreachable.

Window Strike Zone:

Page 12: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

12 | Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com Check local store for product availability

Create a New Bird Feeding StationYour Yard: The Place to be This Winter

Just look at a few of the many bird feeding stations you can create to attract more birds by providing them with helpful, reliable sources of food.

A reliable food supply provides many benefits to the birds, especially during periods of extreme cold weather.

Review your backyard bird feeding station(s) and be sure you have the variety of food and feeders that will meet your birds’ needs.

In winter, birds require high-fat, quick-energy foods to stay active and warm. Insect-eaters are looking for more fats and fruits. Seed-eaters are searching for high-oil seeds and nuts.

With our wide selection of foods, feeders and Advanced Pole System® (APS) hardware, it’s easy to add a new station or update your current one with new foods and feeders.

For Offering:• Seed Blend(s) Pictured: White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Chickadee

Window Feeder

For Offering:• Seed Blend(s)• Four Jim’s Birdacious® Treats• Peanuts

Pictured: Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, Downy Woodpecker

Two Trays, Seed Tube Feeder & SideDish

Page 13: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

Check local store for product availability Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com | 13

Two Tube Feeders, Peanut Feeder, Double Decker, Suet Cage & SideDish

For Offering:• Nyjer® (thistle)• Bark Butter• Stackables®

• Suet• Mealworms• Seed Blend(s)• Peanuts

For Offering:• Seed Blend(s)• Use tray for various treats

Classic Hopper Feeder& Catch-a-Seed Tray

Just Fats!Dinner Bell, Suet Cylinder Feeder, Suet Cage & Bark Butter Feeder

For Offering:• Bark Butter®

• No-melt Suet Dough Cylinder• Suet Cake• BugBerry™ Blend Nuggets

Two Tube FeedersFor Offering:• Seed Blend(s)• Nyjer® (thistle) Pictured above: Carolina Chickadee, American Goldfinches

Page 14: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

14 | Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com Check local store for product availability

Whether you are looking for a new squirrel-proof feeder or a way to make your existing bird feeding station more squirrel resistant, we offer a variety of solutions that will help you foil unwanted backyard visitors.

Feed the Birds — Not the SquirrelsSolutions for your backyard

The top of the baffle must be 4' to 5' off the ground.

Feeders must be at least 10' from any tree or building.

We offer baffle solutions that work on APS, other hardware and even 4x4 lumber.

For best results, tuck a smaller feeder (the bigger the feeder, the bigger the hanging baffle) inside a hanging baffle and place it at least 10' from any tree or building.

Pole BafflesDeter squirrels from reaching your feeders from below.

Hanging BafflesDeter squirrels from reaching your feeders from above.

On-Guard CagesAllow small birds to eat while deterring squirrels.

The Eliminator™ Squirrel-proof Feeder

Fundamentals Squirrel-proof Feeder

Squirrel-proof FeedersThe weight of a squirrel closes the feeding ports.

SquirrelBaffle

Squirrel & Raccoon Baffle

SquirrelBaffle

CarolinaChickadee

Tufted Titmouse, White-breastedNuthatch

Page 15: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

Check local store for product availability Wild Birds Unlimited • www.wbu.com | 15

The Importance of Water in Winter

Providing Water for Birds

Heated Bird Bath (right)

This durable, plastic bird bath provides a reliable source of water, even to temperatures below -20° F (-29° C). Easily mounted to wood deck rails, it features a built-in 150 watt, fully grounded heater that is thermostatically controlled to conserve energy.

Pictured: American Goldfinch

Bird Bath Heater (Above)

This bird bath heater helps keep a bird bath free of ice in temperatures below -20° F (-29° C).

Metal Bird Bath (Left)

Metal baths are durable, versatile and can be easily moved about your yard. These baths work well with a bird bath heater and can be used in freezing conditions without cracking or breaking.

Birds continue to need a source of water for drinking and bathing during winter. Providing a reliable source of water when natural sources are frozen can attract more birds to your backyard than just feeders alone.

Bird baths help birds keep their feathers clean and in top condition. Research has shown that a chickadee with well-maintained feathers can sustain a 70° F (21° C) layer of insulation between the outside air and its skin.

Over 1,000 (and Counting) Kids Sent to Nature Camps

We created Pathways To Nature for Kids (www.pathwaysforkids.com), an initiative that gives children from across North America opportunities to connect with the natural world.

Pathways To Nature for Kids, in partnership with the National Audubon Society, has provided more than 1,100 scholarships to young people for attending summer camps at Audubon Centers across theUnited States.

While attending these camps, young people not only connect with nature, but they also learn to respect it and gain a desire to preserve it for future generations.

www.audubon.org/programs/audubon-camps

Page 16: Wild Birds Unlimited Fall & Winter Hobby Guide USA

© Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc. • www.wbu.com • Please RecycleDark-eyed Junco