National Bird Feeding Month: Sales soar, as do views on local feeder cams - TribLIVE

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It’s not just that February is National Bird Feeding Month. Every month since the beginning of the pandemic last year has seemed like a bird feeding month.

Sales of feeders, seed and most anything to do with birds have skyrocketed as people have flocked to the avian world — a safe, colorful and interesting haven during the sometimes glum and lonely days of the pandemic.

At the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania headquarters in Fox Chapel and its store at its Succop Nature Park in Butler, sales of feeders and seed have skyrocketed 200% since early last year.

“Covid has been turning them on to watching birds in their backyard,” said Brian Shema, operations manager for the local Audubon Society. The nonprofit has been selling dozens of feeders, the top seller is a squirrel-proof feeder.

Meanwhile at Wild Bird Plus in Unity, they not only ran out of oriole feeders in summer, their supplier ran out as well.

“People couldn’t go to movies and it has brought them back to nature” said Beth Ludvik, owner of Wild Bird Plus. Hopper-style and tube feeders have been popular throughout, she said.

“Feeding birds is so calming and comforting,” she said. “Once you start, it’s an obsession and you can’t stop.”

You don’t even have to have a bird feeder to be addicted to watching them.

Viewership has increased 10-fold in the last year for two live streaming webcams trained on two feeding station in Murrysville. PixCams launched it feeder webcams last year and viewership now rivals PixCam’s most popular live feed – the Pittsburgh Hays bald eagle webcam.

“A feeder webcam is a nice visual thing to watch,” said Bill Powers, owner of PixCams. “It has got a lot of color and movement. It’s dynamic and you can’t predict what birds are coming in.”

Some people watching the feeder cam buy their own feeders and then jump into the webcam’s chat room trying to pick up tips to attract some “good birds,” Powers said.

Currently the Murrysville feeder is hosting the Eastern bluebird, pileated woodpecker, pine siskin, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch and more.

New customers are driving Audubon’s sales, Shema said.

People are showing up with questions on what variety of feeder to use — there are dozens of models. They make their purchase and buy the Audubon’s propriety bird food mix, Beechwood Blend, formulated for birds in the region.

One of the hallmarks of a special local mix is that there will be no seed left behind on the ground. Loose seed below the feeder can attract rodents in some habitats, especially city and river environs.

So many birds, so many food choices.

Powers has said that it’s the meal worms that attract a flock of Eastern bluebirds to his feeder cams in Murrysville.

Shema offered the following bird feeder tips:

• Bird feeders should be located within three feet or greater than 25 feet of a window to reduce bird window strikes.

• Here’s a tricky tip: “A feeder has to be far enough that a squirrel can’t jump on it but close enough for a bird to dive into when a predator shows up,” Shema said. A good distance is usually 8-10 feet between a feeder and shrubbery or a tree.

• Clean feeders every two weeks with diluted vinegar. Salmonella poisoning and the spread of an eye disease affecting finches can kill the birds visiting a feeder.

February was designated as a month to recognize bird feeding not only because it’s fun, but because it helps birds survive the harsh winter weather in February when wild food can be scarce or covered by snow.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary at 724-226-4691, mthomas@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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