The Cold Weather is Taking a Toll on Birds. My Daughter Wanted to Help!
My daughter, who loves everything about nature and everything in it, wanted to do something nice for the birds who are looking for some springtime food and unable to find it’s due to the snowstorms and cold temperatures that April brought to South Dakota.
Together, we did a little research and found out that this is more on the minds of just my eight-year-old. More and more people in Sioux Falls and cities around the Midwest are finding deceased birds along the sidewalks and lawns.
Birds in the upper Midwest - especially the robins - are suffering from hypothermia and malnutrition. Simply put, snow has blocked the birds from their food supply. Worms, mealworms, insects and caterpillars are not roaming about the frozen grounds leaving birds with nothing to eat.
Experts are encouraging residents to fill up your birdfeeders. If you don’t have one, buy one. ACE Hardware had a nice selection and some were on sale. We bought one for the front yard and one for the backyard.
Now we’re enjoying watching the birds fill their tummies - at least until the weather warms up. My daughter has turned it into a school project and is spreading the word among her friends. It's important to let our young ones know that we can care for animals and do something nice for them.
Who knows? Perhaps this little quick, inexpensive, and fun little project will chart her career course in veterinary medicine or other animal-related jobs. Either way, we had a great father-daughter project we can be proud of.
See Also: