Mark Herz: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. If it’s feeling spring-y to you and you haven’t already been filling a bird feeder for our winter feathered denizens, maybe it’s time to think about getting set up for the coming variety of birds to our region. And if so, here with advice and knowledge is our polymathic meteorologist, Dave Epstein. Good morning Dave!

Dave Epstein: Good morning. Good to be here.

Herz: Great.

Epstein: Thanks for the big word.

Herz: You’re very welcome. Hey, I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em. So is there a best time to start having a feeder set up?

Epstein: Yeah. I mean, it’s a good question. I think that, you know, if I were going to start bird feeding, I would probably start in winter or even this time of the year. And the reason being is that summertime, even late spring, but especially summer and fall, there’s a lot of other stuff out there for the birds. But this time of the year, you know, the seeds from last year are pretty much gone. And so the birds really are looking around for food, and you can certainly help them out with some backyard feeding.

Herz: Well, you’re a big bird feeder yourself, I understand. What kind of setup do you have? Like what kind of feeders do you have? What food are you using?

Epstein: Yeah that’s fun question. I have, let’s see, one, two — I’m looking at — three, four, five. I’ve got about seven different feeders in the, you know, around the property. One of my favorite types of feeders is a suet feeder. So I actually get real suet. You can buy the suet cakes but I get suet from the supermarket. And the thing about suet is it attracts a lot of woodpeckers [who] love the suet, and also the bluebirds this winter have been really phenomenal on the suet feeder. So that’s one type of feeder I have. I also have a feeder where I feed the bluebirds mealworms. So bluebirds like those dried up mealworms. And if you want bluebirds to feeders, that’s another good thing. In addition to that I have a peanut feeder. So the nuthatches love the peanut feeder, go figure. Also, the Carolina wren seems to really like the peanut feeder. And of course you get things like flickers at the peanut feeder as well. And then other feeders just have things like black oil sunflower seed, some nyjer. I’ve got a specific feeder for the nyjer thistle, which is for the finches which are now beginning to turn yellow. So lots of different types of feeders.

Herz: Do you change your feed over time depending on you know, who’s arriving?

Epstein: Not really. I kind of keep consistent with the type of food that’s out there with a couple of caveats. Number one, the hummingbird feeders will go out in late April. And that obviously is a different type of food. And then also if I start getting a lot of like grackles coming in or some of the other birds, I might change over to just safflower seed. So the safflower seed is not as favorable to some of those types of birds, if I have a lot of sort of what I call the more “undesirable birds” coming into the yard, not to discriminate.

Herz: I did want to touch on like, Mass Wildlife — they’re kind of down on providing food for wildlife and actually including feeders. I mean, I think they know they’re not going to stop people from using feeders in Massachusetts. They mentioned that, you know, it can make birds dependent on humans or put them in danger from diseases or getting preyed on by cats, I don’t know. What do you say?

Epstein: One thing is that, you know, you definitely want to try to clean your feeders because if there are diseases going through a flock and you know they’re coming over to your feeders and you never clean them, that can be a problem. If you have outdoor cats and they are eating your birds because you’re attracting the birds, basically bringing dinner to your cats, that’s an issue. I don’t have cats. I love feeding the birds. I love attracting them to the yard. And so I’m going to keep doing it.

Herz: Any special precautions for people because of this ongoing bird flu outbreak?

Epstein: Yeah, that’s a good question as well, Mark. And one of the things is that if you are a backyard chicken raiser, you know, you have coops out there. That’s where probably you don’t want to be feeding the birds. There’s a small risk in that case that you could attract the bird flu with the feeders. Otherwise, songbirds are supposedly not really be susceptible to bird flu. That’s what we’re attracting to the feeders. So unless you have chickens, I would say keep enjoying the birds.

Herz: Meteorologist Dave Epstein. Dave, thank you so much.

Epstein: You’re welcome.

Herz: This is GBH.

The milder temperatures we’ve been seeing in Massachusetts this week feel spring-like, and it may have some people thinking about getting started with backyard bird feeding.

If that’s the case for you, Meteorologist Dave Epstein has all the advice and knowledge to get you started.

When is the best time to set up a bird feeder?

Epstein said if you are planning to start bird feeding at your home, he recommends starting in winter.

“The reason being is that summertime, even late spring, but especially summer and fall, there’s a lot of other stuff out there for the birds,” he said. “But this time of the year, you know, the seeds from last year are pretty much gone. And so the birds really are looking around for food, and you can certainly help them out with some backyard feeding.”

What kind of bird feeders and food should you use?

Epstein has multiple feeders. One that he recommends is a suet feeder, that you can fill with suet cakes from the supermarket.

“And the thing about suet is it attracts a lot of woodpeckers [who] love the suet,” he said. “And also the bluebirds this winter have been really phenomenal on the suet feeder.”

He also recommends feeding with things like mealworms, peanuts, black oil sunflower seed, and nyjer seeds — which can attract species like bluebirds, Carolina wrens, finches and more.

Do you change the type of feed you use throughout the year?

The type of feed can remain consistent throughout the year, according to Epstein, with a few caveats.

“Number one, the hummingbird feeders will go out in late April. And that obviously is a different type of food,” he said.

He added if he starts getting more “undesirable” bird types like grackles coming in to the yard, he opts for safflower seed to repel them. Grackles are commonly known for their noisy and aggressive behavior, along with their tendency to eat and damage crops, especially corn.

Are there any dangers to backyard feeding?

MassWildlife has advised against providing extra food for wildlife species in Massachusetts, arguing that it can teach animals to rely on humans and put them at risk for certain diseases or dangerous encounters.

Epstein says that with bird feeding specifically, it’s important to regularly clean backyard feeders to prevent the spread of diseases.
 
“If you have outdoor cats and they are eating your birds because you’re attracting the birds, basically bringing dinner to your cats, that’s an issue,” he said. “I don’t have cats. I love feeding the birds. I love attracting them to the yard. And so I’m going to keep doing it.”

What about bird flu? Does it bring any special precautions?

Epstein says if you have chicken coops, you may want to avoid feeding birds in your yard because of the risk of attracting bird flu.

“Otherwise, songbirds are supposedly not really be susceptible to bird flu,” he said. “So unless you have chickens, I would say keep enjoying the birds.”