Yesterday for National Bird Day I wrote a blog about the many ways that we can help our feathered friends. This morning I had a wonderful letter from a former student just setting up her pottery studio and buying her first home. She wants to help but her finances, like many of you, are limited. So how can she help and how can you?
Here are some ideas that are either free or cost little:
- Put out bowls of water. Think of the depth of a bird bath. You don’t want the bowls to be too deep. I use my pottery seconds and have about nine or ten bowls lined up. I clean them and fill them often. Some are big enough for the birds to have a bath. It is wonderful to look out on a hot summer day and see them splashing about!
- You can speak up or volunteer to work with groups that try to stop cruelty to animals. You can also help educate your neighbours. Know someone who goes fishing and uses weights? Suggest they use rubber ones instead of lead. Educate them on how lead poisoning is killing birds.
- Adopt a block or a piece of highway. You don’t have to do it formally but help clean up. People still toss their food bags into the culverts and birds often go after these and are hit by moving vehicles and killed in the process.
- Make your windows safe from bird strike. You can do this by simply not washing them during the key periods of bird migration. Or you can use masking or painter’s tape to make a few lines. You do not need to purchase fancy decals.
- Go vegetarian. Not eating meat helps the environment. Cook your own beans instead of buying them in a tin. It is a whole lot cheaper (if you have the time). And you can ‘go vegetarian’ for a few days a week. It will help the planet and in turn help all the animals.
- Lead by example. If you are looking for a new pet, adopt an animal. Maybe you want to help by fostering.
- If you are going to plant a garden, why not include some sunflowers and let them dry? or other flowers that attract the bees, butterflies, and hummers.
- One site that I found suggested that we be careful with the language that we use. They said that language plays a very important part in shaping the view of animals. Do not use words like ‘chicken’ or ‘pig headed’.
- Do not go to entertainment that is cruel to animals such as the circus.
- Urge your city councillor to leave green spaces and plant trees.
- Find out the contact information for your nearest wildlife rehabbers. If you see an injured animal, learn what to do and phone them. You might also want to write down or put in your phone the number of the nearest veterinary clinic.
