Making ornaments is a great activity, but the best thing you can do is plant a native plant in your yard that will be a permanent natural food source. Winterberry is beautiful in the winter, and birds love the colorful red berries. Also, consider leaving leaf litter, seedheads, and plant stalks, which are crucial places that birds find seeds and insects in winter. What might look like a dead garden to you looks like a fully-stocked grocery store to a bird! Use Maine Audubon’s Maine Native Plant Finder (mainenativeplants.org) to research plants that are right for your location.
Here’s a recipe we like for wildlife-friendly ornaments.
You’ll need:
1 T unflavored gelatin
2 T cold water
⅓ cup boiling water
2 cups birdseed
Cookie cutters (about a dozen)
Combine gelatin and cold water and stir well; let sit for a minute.
Add boiling water and stir until dissolved.
Add birdseed and stir to combine.
Press the mixture firmly into cookie cutters.
Let them rest in the refrigerator overnight on a tray covered with parchment paper. Carefully remove the ornaments from the cookie cutters, then thread them with twine or string to hang outdoors.
SUPER SIMPLE
If you don’t have time or inclination to use gelatin, there are many simple ornaments to make:
• Mix birdseed into unsalted peanut butter and spread the mix into a pine cone.
• String dried apple slices, orange chunks, raisins, and dried cranberries to make a garland.
• Cut an orange in half, and scoop out the flesh. Thread yarn or string through both sides of the cut edges (like you’re making a little basket handle) to create a handle or loop so you can hang it. Inside the cup of rind, add suet and bird seed.
OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS
• Use natural materials, like birdseed and suet that we already use to feed birds, then look for novel shapes or containers so they look more decorative (to you!).
• Popcorn doesn’t offer wildlife much nutrition or fat. If you do want to use (unsalted and unbuttered) popcorn on a garland, just do it in moderation.
• Monitor the ornaments! If they are near your home, make sure you’re not attracting wildlife you might not want. Because it’s temporary, you don’t need to worry about habituating wildlife. Also, if we have warm days, make sure the ornaments aren’t spoiling; bacteria and mold can cause major problems for wildlife.
• Hang the ornaments on a tree that’s near other evergreen trees or bushes so visiting wildlife has plenty of shelter from natural predators such as hawks and owls.
