Idaho state fish and game officials warn that feeding wild animals around your home is a bad idea. But birds are a different story.
Vicky Runnoe, a conservation education supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, talks about winter feeding strategies for birds.
“At this time of year, birds are using feeders as part of their normal day-to-day search for food and this one of the reasons why feeding birds is ok.”
For folks just getting started feeding birds, what do you recommend? “I would get a tube feeder and I would use black oil sunflower seed. Where you want to hang your feeder is near shelter, so near a tree, near some shrubs, with some open ground around it because that gives the birds an opportunity to see a potential predator coming.”
Runnoe suggests beginners consult the Cornell University Lab Project FeederWatch guide.
She has several feeders in her own yard all year long: “I’ve been a bird nerd since I was a kid. I’ve been feeding the birds for a long time. I don’t feed as much in the summertime as I do at this time of the year. I take a couple of feeders down. It’s just kind of nice to toss some food out and I definitely see a lesser number of birds coming in. The birds have more natural food and they don’t really need it. Of course, I have the hummingbird feeders up in the summer.”
