Words On Birds 11-28-25

 

     With Thanksgiving past, the holiday shopping days are before us, starting with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Though we have already been bombarded with holiday advertisements and sales, we encourage you to “shop small” again this holiday season. Support your local businesses, avoid the crowds at the big box stores and malls, and stop staring at your computers. Area small businesses continually source more products locally and help support local crafts people and small manufacturers closer to home. They give back to the community that supports them.

 

     Almost everyone enjoys birds, whether they travel to find new birds or just appreciate the ones in their backyard. Others might just appreciate their soothing sounds or their vivid colors. Birds also stimulate interest in nature for children, tearing them away, if only momentarily, from the electronic world. Actually, birds help stimulate an interest in nature for all of us. 

 

     As I do every year around this time, I will share with you some of my holiday gift suggestions that may help spark, or enhance someone’s interest in birds and nature:

 

     A bird feeder is an easy way to bring birds within reach. Even if someone has a bird feeder, they can always use another. I prefer the Quick-Clean tube feeders from Aspects that allows the bottom of the feeder to pop off with the simple push of a button for easy cleaning.  Their quality feeders are made I the U.S. and have a lifetime guarantee.  

 

     If squirrels are a problem, the Squirrel Buster feeders are the way to go. They come in all sizes and price range, but they are the most effective feeders on the market for keeping squirrels at bay. The squirrel’s weight shuts off the food supply, frustrating them to the point of giving up. It allows those feeding the birds to enjoy their tranquility, undisturbed by the banging on windows to scare off the squirrels!

 

     If you want to keep it even more simple, a holiday birdseed wreath, ornament or bell can be just hung outside and enjoyed by the birds. We put out seed cylinders year around because so many birds enjoy them, and it takes a long time for them to go through them without having to replenish every other day.

 

     For those who have enough feeders, a heated bird bath will draw more birds year ‘round. Even birds that don’t normally come to seed feeders will enjoy the availability of fresh, unfrozen water. Heated baths can also be unplugged and used all year long.

 

     For folks on your list that might not want the task of filling a feeder or a bird bath, a bird house (a.k.a. nesting box) is relatively maintenance free – though cleaning them out at the end or beginning of the nesting season is advisable. Birds will also use bird houses in the winter to keep warm and get out of the elements, especially at night. Lots of birds – from small wrens and chickadees to bluebirds and screech owls – will utilize a nesting box built for them. Children enjoy bird house kits that they can build and put out for the birds.

 

     To help identify the birds at the feeders or in the field, identification guides are appreciated gifts. One can always use another field guide. Peterson’s, Sibley’s, Stokes, and the National Geographic guides are the most popular. There are also simpler, specific guides for Massachusetts (or other states), New England and most regions of the world.  

 

     For general reading, local authors Tina Morris of Boxford’s Return to the Sky, The Owl Scientist from Mark Wilson and new books from Sy Montgomery, both from New Hampshire, are all excellent. For children, classics like Owl Babies and Stella Luna are always popular, and the new TyTy Tells a Tale About Birds from Newburyport’s own Laurie Powers Lebanc is a fun book.

 

     For the person who is ready to get closer to birds, a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope makes a great gift! Today’s binoculars are lighter and brighter and come in all price ranges. And most optics are versatile enough to be used for viewing sports, boating, star gazing or just sight-seeing as well!

 

     Then there is a wide array of gifts with bird motifs on them. Everything from bird calendars and holiday cards to bird jewelry, bird T-shirts, hats and socks, towels and pot holders, wind chimes and wind bells, cloth gift bags for baked goods or wine, notepads and wall decorations are available with someone’s favorite cardinal, loon, chickadee or other bird imprinted on it. 

 

     If you want to give a gift that also helps the birds, how about a bag of Birds & Beans shade-grown coffee and a coffee mug with birds on it. This delicious coffee is grown on farms in Central and South America that don’t clear cut their trees, but leave them for many of our neotropical migrants, such as warblers, orioles, scarlet tanagers and thrushes to enjoy during our winter.

 

     For children, there are toy binoculars, singing and non-singing plush birds, bird games and puzzles, build-a-bird feeder or bird house kit and a number of great new children’s bird books for all ages – from infant to young adult.

 

     So do keep nature in this year’s holidays and choose a gift that will introduce someone to birds, or will further someone’s interest in the nature around us.