Spring cleaning

Refresh your feeders and nesting boxes

Get ready for spring and get ready for spring arrivals!

Freshen your feeding areas. Clean the bird feeders. Take down all the bird feeders and thoroughly scrub them in a 10 percent bleach solution (1 part bleach, 10 parts water) and rinse very well. Allow them to dry before filling with fresh seed. This not only prevents seed from getting moldy but also it prevents the spread of disease at the feeding stations.

Consider moving your feeders to different parts of the backyard. This helps grass recover if there is a large accumulation of seed hulls on the lawn. Sunflower seed hulls are particularly toxic to grass if left to sit for long periods of time.

Try adding some different feeders and food to attract the most birds—suet feeder, Nyjer feeder, sunflower feeder, a platform feeder, a fruit feeder, a nectar feeder for hummingbirds. Don't forget a source of water.

Suet is still good in spring. Its soft consistency is great for feeding young nestlings.

Mix crushed, washed and dried egg shells into the seed. It is a good source of calcium for egg formation.

Put out nesting material; drape 8 inches of string or yarn on bushes or fill an empty suet cage with yarn. 

Have fun with mud! Create a sloppy, gooey mud puddle for robins and other birds to use to help form a nest.