In an earlier video I showed how I feed the non-migratory birds who live in the thujas beside my house in winter. The birds involved are mostly small perching songbirds (passerines).
I have three types of Tits (Great Tits – Parus Major, Blue Tits – Cyanistes Caeruleus, and Willow Tits – Poecile Montanus) who rely on me for their winter survival, but other wild birds have been joining on the feast lately as well. In particular, the Tree Sparrows (Passer Montanus) have become quite regular.
The Sparrows may not look as cute as the Tits, but they are animals struggling to survive over the freezing winter months just the same, so I help them all without discrimination.
Fat Balls
Previously, I have provided the birds with sunflower seeds, both shelled and unshelled, by refilling the birdhouse I have on a peach tree near the thujas, but to give them extra nutrition, I have now also purchased Fat Balls.
Otherwise known as Garden Dumplings, Fat Balls are solidified mix of animal fat (suet) with various seeds, cereals and even dried meal worms blended together to form a ball tightly packed with the energy and nutrition that birds need for survival in winter.
Birdwatching Health Benefits
I have included an extended footage of tits and sparrows feeding on the fat balls in order to provide an opportunity for viewers to relax watching the birds. I have also kept the original audio with the birding footage, so that more senses are involved in the meditative activity.
Birding, much as any time spent in nature, have been shown in studies to have various health benefits. For example, research by academics at the University of Exeter, the University of Queensland and the British Trust for Ornithology found that the more birds, shrubs and trees a person sees in a day, the less likely they are to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress.
Relax to the images of birds feeding on a fat ball, and let their moves, the colors of their feathers, as well as their chirps ease your weary mind and send your worries away. At least for a moment.
Please DO read my Medical Disclaimer, though.
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