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Why
invest in landscaping?
Bird feeding craze started in New England, sweeping
nation
By Peter Reuell, The Citizen
GILFORD, N.H. -- All right, this is an easy one.
What's the hobby that has swept the nation in the past
10 years and is now second only to gardening?
Hunting? Fishing? Wrong. The leisure activity that
has quickly grown in the last decade, and now enjoys
more than 52 million adherents nationwide, is bird
feeding. That's right, bird feeding.
According to Steve White, owner of the Wild Bird
Depot in Gilford, the popularity of bird feeding
skyrocketed in the last decade. Hunting and fishing
combined don't match it. Every year, White said,
Americans spend approximately $2.5 billion on birdseed
alone. An additional $843 million is spent on
accessories like feeders and birdbaths.
Dave Eastman, a forester who helps homeowners
create bird-friendly landscaping, said the popularity of
bird feeding has spread from coast to coast.
"We've really exported the whole New England
habit of feeding birds in the wintertime to pretty hot,
desert-like places," Eastman said.
White credits the baby boomer generation with bird
feeding's leapfrogging popularity.
"We want everything," White said of the
baby boomer generation. "We're never satisfied with
anything. We want the best of everything."
White added that baby boomers might also find bird
feeding a simple way to get back to nature.
"It might also be a feeling of guilt for the
way nature has been treated by our bigger cars and
bigger houses," White said.
The typical bird feeding hobbyist tends to be
slightly older, usually about 35, if not older, and is
normally a homeowner. One of the oft-cited benefits of
bird feeding, White said, is that it allows people to
get close to nature without a major time commitment.
"These are people who want to bring nature
into their home without a lot of fuss," White said.
"There's no major time constraint as with pets like
dogs or cats."
White's store has also been enjoying the new boom
in bird feeding. White built the store just over one
year ago, and said he's been so successful that there
are now plans for a second location. An Internet Web
site and a toll-free 800 number are also in the works,
White said.
One of the reasons he's been so successful, White
said, is that he enjoys the hobby himself. He said he
knows from experience that the products he sells work,
because they all have to pass a test in his back yard
first.
"Nothing comes into my store that hasn't been
tested in my back yard," White said.
Eastman calls bird feeding a
"consciousness-raising" activity, saying that,
by getting in touch with the birds, some people can
begin to see how the ecology of the entire globe works.
Eastman's landscaping -- "birdscaping," as he
calls it -- is designed to install more than simply
feeders. He plants bushes and trees that will attract
birds for nesting sites and a plentiful food supply.
"It's a whole food chain type of thing,"
Eastman said.
He added that the bird-watching and bird-feeding
community know surprisingly little about the habitat of
most birds.
"The birding community doesn't know much
about habitat, not like trout fisherman and deer
hunters," Eastman said.
Eastman, who also builds custom and
species-specific bird houses, has been in business since
1984, and has done several projects in the Squam Lakes
area. Eastman has also recently written a book on his
"birdscaping" ideas and currently has a Web
site and a catalog of his products.
Pam Fielden is one of many who have caught the
bird-feeding bug. Her yard is hard to miss. It's the one
with the aviary in the front yard. With more than 10
bird feeders along with a birdbath, Fielden's yard has
become a favorite spot for dozens of birds on the
lookout for a free meal.
Fielden said she has always fed birds and had bird
feeders out, but she didn't get heavily involved in the
hobby until about five years ago.
"My mother always fed the birds, so it was
something I always did," said Fielden.
Fielden currently has 14 feeders in her yard,
including an assortment of 11 different regular feeders,
along with three feeders that hold suet cakes. In the
summer, though, Fielden goes all out. When warmer
weather comes around, Fielden's yard features more than
20 different feeders and three bird baths, and nearly as
many different types of birds.
In addition to her normal feeders, Fielden puts
out special feeders designed for hummingbirds and
butterflies in the summertime, each offering a different
type of nectar.
Though Fielden admits that she goes all out for
her hobby, she said everyone can enjoy bird feeding with
a minimum of investment.
"It depends on how much you want,"
Fielden says. "I buy books and binoculars because
I'm really into it."
And in her case, Fielden's hobby is no small
commitment. Many of her feeders need to be refilled
daily. Similarly, food must be kept fresh and feeders
must be cleaned annually.
"It's work," Fielden admitted. "You
have to keep the feeders clean and keep the food fresh.
I don't have that problem because I go through it so
fast."
All her dedication is paying off, though. Over the
course of the nearly five years that she's been involved
in bird feeding, Fielden, her children and her
grandchildren have gained the trust of the birds. Some
birds will actually go so far as to land on her and sit
in her hands, Fielden said.
"I try to provide the environment that makes
it safe for the birds to come," Fielden said.
Though she is dedicated to the hobby, Fielden
emphasized that anyone can learn the basics of the
pastime and enjoy it. "Once you learn the
techniques and the habits of the birds, it's really very
simple," she said. |
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