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Feed the Birds Day

Animal · Nature · February 3

A day for putting out food for wild birds, from seed feeders to suet, and watching who shows up to eat.

Feed the Birds Day falls on Wednesday, February 3, 2027. That is 99 days away.

Put a handful of seed on a railing and wait. Within a day or two, someone usually finds it. Feed the Birds Day is about that simple exchange: you offer food, and wild birds come close enough to be seen.

The visitors depend on where you live and what you put out. Black oil sunflower seed draws a wide crowd, including chickadees, finches and cardinals. Suet, a block of fat often mixed with seeds, appeals to woodpeckers and nuthatches. Some birds, like many sparrows and doves, prefer to eat on the ground rather than at a hanging feeder.

Most people mark the day by filling a feeder, cleaning an old one, or simply spending some time watching. It rewards patience. The first bird is often cautious, and the rest follow once it decides things are safe. Over a few weeks you start to recognize regulars and notice who chases whom off the perch.

Keeping things tidy matters as much as the food. Feeders do best when they are cleaned now and then and the seed stays dry, since wet seed can spoil. A shallow dish of fresh water draws birds too, sometimes more than the seed does.

Bread is the one thing many people reach for first, and birds will eat it, but it offers them little nourishment compared with seeds, so it is better left in the kitchen.

Ways to celebrate

• Fill a feeder with black oil sunflower seed.
• Scrub and dry an old bird feeder before refilling it.
• Set out a shallow dish of fresh water.
• Watch your yard for fifteen minutes and note which birds visit.
• Try learning to identify one new backyard bird.

Dates

All national days on February 3

Also on February 3

• National Carrot Cake Day
• National Golden Retriever Day
• The Day the Music Died
• Four Chaplains Day

Categories: Animal daysNature days