Feed The Birds

LOOK WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

Cardinals for the sunflower seeds. Jays for peanuts. Goldfinches for thistle. Backyard birders Helen and Dick Witty know what birds love to eat, and in this guide to the tastes and temptations of North American birds they show you how to:

Buy seed economically-and avoid mixes bulked out with grains most birds don't like

Recycle nutritious treats-from bacon drippings and overripe bananas to stale potato chips and leftover piecrust

Build a Suet Box, a Hanging-Log Feeder, a Screen-Topped Feeding Table

Care for an injured bird, distract squirrels with corn on the cob, provide a dust bath

And more

Helen Witty, winner of three prestigious Tastemaker Awards for her cookbooks, and her husband, Dick Witty, live on a wooded half-acre on the eastern end of Long Island. So far they've identified 55 species of visitors to their yard, including a brown creeper, a bald eagle, and a rose-breasted grosbeak.

DEBUNKED:

Myth #2

Once You've Begun Winter Feeding, You Can't Interrupt It, Even Briefly

Myth #3

Suet Isn't a Suitable Summer Food

Myth #6

Peanut Butter, If Fed "Straight," Can Choke Birds to Death

Myth #8

Untimely Feeding Can Keep Birds from Migrating When They Should

Peanuts for Jays, cut-up apples for Waxwings, fruit jelly for Orioles, suet for Nuthatches, dried corn for Pheasants, and soaked raisins for Bluebirds and Mockingbirds: Now you can attract the birds of your choice by serving them the food they really love.

Feed the Birdsshows how to make your yard the birds' favorite spot. The authors are lifelong birders who've tested different foods, devised recipes, constructed innovative feeders, and taken extensive notes based on years of observation and feeding.

The guide covers the four feeding types--ground feeders, tree-clingers, birds who like a tabletop, and birds who'll eat anywhere--and describes the rules of flocking, the pecking order, and how to keep squirrels away. An extensive, 100-item chart covers the use of both store-bought and wild foods, plus the table scraps and leftovers birds crave.

With over 20 recipes using seeds, grains, and suet, a sturdy mesh suet bag, and plans for custom-made feeding devices, Feed the Birdswill keep your feathered friends coming back again and again.

Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. 135,000 copies in print.

Helen Witty's books have been three-time winners of the prestigious Tastemaker Award and the James Beard Award Nomination and she has published many articles in magazines on cooking. A former editor at Cusine and Food &Wine magazines, Helen is also the suthor of Better Than Store Bought, Mrs. Witty's Monster Cookies and Fancy Pantry. She lives on eastern Long Island, New York with her husband, Richard, a stickler for tasting all her own recipes.

CONTENTS

The Pleasure of Their Company

Look Who's Coming to Dinner

The Dining Area

What's Cooking

Custom-Made Feeders for Bird Delicacies

Good Reading When Not Bird Watching

Index