What Do You Know? Quiz #4

Feeding Wild Birds in the Winter

by Jim Pease
Iowa State University Extension
Extension Wildlife Specialist

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Winter bird feeding is an increasingly popular activity, both in Iowa and across the nation. How popular? Take the following quiz and find out! You'll also learn some of the basics of winter feeding: what to feed, where to place feeders, and what you're likely to attract. Good birding to you!

1. According to the 1991 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, how much do Americans spend annually in wild bird feed?

a. $1 million

b. $50 million

c. almost $200 million

d. more than $2 billion

2. According to the same survey, about how many Americans participate in feeding wild birds?

a. 10 million

b. 38 million

c. 65 million

d. 154 million

3. More than 900,000 Iowans, known and respected for our generous though conservative nature, spend about $24 million annually on wild bird feed.

True or False

4. Which of the following should NOT be included in a program of winter feeding for birds?

a. grit

b. salt

c. white proso millet

d. peanut kernels

e. water

f. suet

5. Which of the following is the one feed that will attract the widest variety of wild birds?

a. black oil-type sunflower seeds

b. striped sunflower seed

c. cracked corn

d. niger seed

e. suet

6. To attract birds to feeders most successfully, you need

a. a location in a wild area

b. some nearby cover

c. a variety of different kinds of feeds at different levels and locations

d. unfrozen water

e. all of the above

f. all of the above except a)

g. all of the above except d)

7. Juncos, white-throated sparrows, and field sparrows are all examples of some birds that prefer to feed

a. at a hopper-type feeder about 5 feet from the ground

b. at a niger seed feeder

c. on the ground

d. on suet

8. Discarded Christmas trees

a. are useless and dangerous and should be thrown in the garbage on the 26th of December

b. should never be used around bird feeders

c. can be used as temporary cover for birds and should be placed about 5-6 feet away from your feeder(s)

d. should be stuck in the snow below a hanging feeder so as to incorporate the feeder within it

9. Water may be used to attract winter birds by

a. heating it with an appropriate bird bath or tank-type heater

b. refilling a bird bath several times each day

c. mixing in car antifreeze (ethylene glycol) or glycerol in the water

d. "a)" and "b)"

e. birds don't need water in the winter

10. As the weather warms in March (we hope), we should

a. clean up spilled and spoiled feed beneth the feeder(s) to prevent disease spread

b. change feeds to more "spring-like" feeds

c. stop feeding all together

d. put out food for hummingbirds and orioles

For more information and ideas on birds and bird feeding, the following Iowa State University Extension publications are available at your local ISU Extension Office or through Publications Distribution:

Bird Feeding: Tips for Beginners and Veterans (#G3176) Cost: $1.50
Managing Iowa Habitats: Attracting Birds to Your Yard (#Pm-1351d) Cost: $ .75
Shelves, Houses, and Feeders for Birds and Mammals (#NCR 338) Cost: $1.50
Landscape Plants that Attract Birds (#G1609) Cost: $2.00

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