Urged to stay at home to limit transmission of COVID-19, more Tri-City residents are inviting nature to join them.
Randy Solomon, who’s been selling bird feeders, seed and baths for 25 years — the past 13 at his Backyard Bird Centre shop in Port Moody’s NewPort Village — said his online sales have quadrupled since the start of the public health emergency.
“People have been spending a lot of time in their homes,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot you can do but drink wine and watch birds.”
Solomon said more people are discovering the simple pleasure of watching birds congregate at feeders in their backyard or on their balcony.
“It’s almost like having pets that are free to go,” he said.
According to the Associated Press, downloads of the National Audubon Society’s bird-identification app doubled in the spring and unique visits to its website skyrocketed by 500,000.
Solomon said the surge in birding’s popularity during the pandemic is easy to explain. At a time when everyone is anxious about their health and finances, he said watching birds is calming.
“They’re a part of your domain,” Solomon said. “People are drawn to their colours and behaviour.”
It’s also a relatively inexpensive pastime.
A simple feeder can cost less than $20. Fill it with clean, high-quality seed and the birds will come, Solomon said, as long as they feel safe.
Squirrels can be a feeder’s biggest pest.
While various designs have been concocted that claim to discourage the agile rodents, Solomon said the most effective is a weighted feeder that closes off when a squirrel climbs aboard.
“Eventually the squirrels will just go away,” he said.
Solomon added Tri-City residents also have to take particular care their feeder doesn’t attract bears looking for an easy meal. That means positioning it at least three metres high or hanging it from a second-storey eave.
Feeding hummingbirds has also become increasingly popular, Solomon said, especially for people living in condos or townhouses who don’t have a back yard.
“People are just fascinated by hummers,” he said.
The iridescent little birds with their high-speed wings and long beaks subsist on a high-energy diet of flower nectar, a food source that can be easily replicated with a mix of one-part table sugar and four-parts water in a colourful dispenser with special access holes for their visitors.
Solomon said it’s important to keep the solution fresh, changing it out at least once a week. It also helps to supplement the feeder with bright flowers nearby that will catch the eye of the fleet flyers.
“They’re visual creatures,” he said.
Solomon said while there may be plenty of natural food sources currently available for all species of birds, a feeder makes it easier for them to stock up so they can concentrate on feeding their young as they prepare to leave the nest.
