You are correct about jelly being stickey, particularly when the
temperature is in the 50º. Twenty or so years ago I found an oriole
completely mired in my grape jelly feeder, and it took some time to clean
him up so he could fly away.
Bernie Friel
Bernard P. Friel
Member:
North American Nature Photography Assn.
Grand Canyon River Guides
International Society of Aviation Photography
The Explorers Club
Web Pages-http://www.wampy.com
On 5/29/17, 14:26, "Minnesota Birds on behalf of Laura Erickson"
<[email protected] on behalf of [email protected]> wrote:
>I did a lot of research about this both when writing my book 101 Ways to
>Help Birds and when I was working at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
>
>Intuitively, jelly really does have a lot of sugar--it's far more
>concentrated than anything birds could find in nature. But I've found no
>evidence at all that it causes harm to birds feeding on it. Unfortunately,
>ALL the information we have is based on anecdotal cases. No scientific
>studies have been done. Aviculturists avoid it with captive birds, but
>they
>have far more limited diets than wild birds.
>
>That said, there's no data that it's beneficial to birds outside of cold
>weather during migration, so I've always tried to use a big dollop of
>common sense. When I've had catbirds, orioles, or Red-bellied Woodpeckers
>sticking around beyond migration, I've kept out the jelly as long as none
>of the birds seem to be visiting it more than a couple of times a day.
>
>There is one HUGE caveat about jelly: It's very sticky. Make sure you
>don't
>put it out in amounts that could get a bird mired in it. I found that out
>the hard way, and it almost killed a Red-breasted Nuthatch. I have photos
>of that on my website here: http://www.lauraerickson.com/way-to-help/49/ .
>
>By the way, I've digitized the content of 101 Ways to Help Birds, and am
>trying to update them all with links and additional information: if anyone
>notices anything I'm missing (including on this issue) please let me know.
>
>Best, Laura Erickson
>Duluth
>
>On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:47 PM, Nan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a question I hope someone can answer. Does all the sugar in grape
>> jelly hurt the birds in any way? I have orioles coming to it of course,
>> but also red-bellied woodpeckers, catbirds, house finch and grackles and
>> they are all eating large amounts.
>>
>> Thanks for any help.
>>
>> Nancy Overcott
>> Fillmore County
>>
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>
>
>
>--
>Laura Erickson
>Duluth, MN
>www.lauraerickson.com
>
>For the love, understanding, and protection of birds
>
>There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds.
>There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of
>nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the
>winter.
>
> Rachel Carson
>
>Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>
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