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Index of Subjects Hi, Jim. I think Pat McKay may be out of town at present. I have a Chat that has been present in my back yard in Halifax since October and is doing well. My Chats in previous years have been driven off by gangs of assertive orioles, but not this year. I find that Chats in winter here need much the same foods as orioles, although Chats seem less hardy/more delicate. Chats/orioles seem to need both fruit and protein to survive the winter here. For fruit, grapes are the easiest to get them feeding on. Red Globe grapes are greatly preferred - sweeter and juicier. As Tom Kavanagh noted a week or so ago, previously frozen grapes are readily taken. A small bunch, 3 to 5 grapes, tied onto a downward-sloping branch on a tree or shrub, is usually recognized fairly quickly as food. They can also be cut in half and presented on a feeding platform/tray. Cherries placed on the ground or a feeding tray may also be recognized as food. Some Chats and orioles also recognize oranges as food. I recently got my Chat feeding on clementines, again sweet and juicy. I cut them in half and cut them up a bit, just as you would prepare a half-grapefruit to eat yourself. One of the best ways to get fruit into Chats or orioles is grape jelly - they love it, it is concentrated and it doesn't freeze. In my experience, they quickly find a small container of grape jelly tied onto an outward-facing branch in a shrub or vine. For containers, I cut the bottom 1.5 inches off a small disposable plastic water bottle, poke holes in it near the rim and insert twist-ties to tie it onto a shrub. Use the grape jelly full strength, do not dilute it. Superstore "President's", Sobeys' "Our Compliments" or Welches' grape jelly are good ones to use - the No Name brand seems to have too little fruit, too much sugar - not fit for bird consumption. Another presentation that may work is to cut a couple of sections out of a half-orange and fill the space with grape jelly. Protein is a little more difficult, but essential - without it, a Chat or oriole will not survive the winter. I use 2 sources of protein. One is mealworms, which can be purchased from petstores. Chats/orioles seem to need a minimum of about 15 to 30 mealworms a day (depending on weather) to make it through our winters. If the Chat has not been getting protein up to this point of the winter, more mealworms may be required to restore it to health. The other protein I provide is a soft suet mix that I make up, based on a recipe from David and Mary Johnston in Port Hawkesbury: Soft Suet Mix: 1.5 cups lard, melted 1.5 cups peanut butter 1.5 cups rolled oats 2/3 cup cornmeal 1/2 cup or more of chopped hulled sunflower seeds, peanuts or other nuts Mix together and cool. Can be stored in fridge or freezer. Can be presented in a standard suet feeder, or in small containers. If you get the Chat eating the grape jelly, you can gradually add melted soft suet in with the jelly - 1/3 suet at first, can be increased to 1/2 suet. Other presentations of food that may work (each bird has its own vision of what constitutes food) are, for instance: - chopped peanuts, other nuts or sunflower seeds, on a feeding tray; - grated hard suet (e.g. Scott's suet, carried by Canadian Tire this year, has a high proportion of protein). The biggest problem with feeding Chats or orioles is that starlings also love all of these foods, and are much quicker at finding and devouring them. This can be helpful at first if you are having trouble getting the Chat/oriole to find the food - it will follow the starlings to a certain extent. But once found, you can't afford to feed these expensive substances to a large flock of hungry starlings. So in my yard a feeding cage is essential - especially for feeding the mealworms, grapes and grape jelly. A suitable cage has openings of 1.25 inches, which Chats/orioles can get through but starlings cannot. The other key factor is providing shelter - Chats have been nurtured through to March in Nova Scotia, only to be killed off by a freezing rainstorm, from which they could not dry out. Having had to cope with mobs of 9 to 11 orioles in the past couple of winters, I have the benefit of a heated feeding cage. But I'd be glad to discuss options with Jack. If Jack has questions, or would just like to be in touch with other Chat-feeders, please feel free to give him my email. I'd be glad to email him my phone number in Halifax. All the best, Susann ----- Original Message ----- From: "James W. Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> To: "NatureNS" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 1:06 PM Subject: [NatureNS] re foods for y-br chats? > This is a message for Pat McKay in Dartmouth or anyone else who can help. > Jack Colwell in Wolfville has a regular chat in his yard and wonders what > to offer it to tempt it to stay around and help it through the winter? > Thanks from Jim in Wolfville >
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