It should be safe now to attract birds – not bears – to feeders
Nov. 30, 2022 | By Waterbury Roundabout 
Bird feeders offer an easy and safe way to interact with wildlife. Installing them after Dec. 1 limits the possibility of attracting bears. Vermont Fish & Wildlife photo by John Hall
Turning the calendar to Dec. 1 means it’s safe to put up and fill bird feeders in Vermont to attract birds and avoid luring bears, according to the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife.
“Winter bird feeding is a good way to attract birds arriving from Canada, including evening grosbeaks and purple finches, as well as resident birds including northern cardinals and black-capped chickadees,” said Doug Morin, the state’s bird project leader.
“Black oil sunflower is a good seed choice that will attract a variety of birds. Adding other seeds or suet can help to attract certain species. Thistle, for example, attracts many of the finches. Gardeners will find leaving late-blooming flowers uncut provides seeds which can also attract birds,” Morin said.
Of course, feeding birds even in the winter runs the risk of attracting bears. Most bears should be in dens by now, but some delay entering their dens due to mild weather. During winter thaws, some bears will occasionally leave their den in search of food.
Wildlife biologists recommend that if a bear visits your bird feeder or a feeder in your neighborhood, take feeders down for a week to discourage the bear from lingering. If the bear can’t find easy food, it will quickly return to its winter den.
Bears that learn to get food from people will continue to do so, potentially leading to property damage and dangerous encounters with people which can result in the bear’s demise.
Vermont Fish & Wildlife offers tips for bird-friendly bird feeding:
Place feeders closer than 4 feet or farther than 10 feet from a window in order to help reduce bird collisions with windows.
Clean feeders regularly. To eliminate harmful bacteria and viruses, feeders should be washed every few weeks with a 10% bleach solution, then rinsed and allowed to dry before refilling.
Keep cats inside. Domestic cats are the leading cause of bird death in North America, and feeders can make birds particularly easy prey.
To avoid attracting bears, feed birds only between Dec. 1 and April 1, removing feeders if you see signs of bears.
Over the next several weeks and months, bird watchers can participate in one or more bird monitoring projects: the Audubon Christmas Bird Count this month, the Great Backyard Bird Count in February also organized by the National Audubon Society, and Cornell University’s Project Feeder Watch now through April. All three efforts collect important information for understanding bird populations.