Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Feeding Short-grain Brown Rice (raw) & Golden
CrownedSparrows


> Hi Tweets,
> We have a cockateil and feed him a mix of millet, shelled sunflower seeds
> and pellets with vitamins. Henry is a millet junky. He selectivly eats
most
> of the millet and leaves a lot of uneaten sunflower seeds and pellets. I
> sprinkle them under our rhodo that all the birds live in. The junkos,
> towhees and song sparrows in particular just love this mix.
>
> I always thought that raw rice was not good to feed the birds because it
> swelled up in their stomachs and could kill them? Is this a myth or true?
> Nancy Lander
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Allinger" <nhojregnilla at hotmail.com>
> To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>; <obol at lists.orst.edu>
> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 6:06 AM
> Subject: [Tweeters] Feeding Short-grain Brown Rice (raw) & Golden
> CrownedSparrows
>
>
> > Tweeters & Obolers,
> > Since a posting to OBOL several years ago reminded one of us that
> > sparrows were called rice birds by our ancestors, we turned to using
some
> of
> > our delicious brown rice for bird feeding on the ground rather than the
> > White Proso Millet. We tried the long-grained brown rice (cheaper) but
it
> > was not taken as readily as the short-grained varieties. Those sparrows
> are
> > real gourmands!
> > We feed on the concrete slab of the patio, but we also do it under
> shrubs
> > where we do not spread herbicies, slug bait, fertilizers or other
> chemicals.
> > We like the slab, 'cause we can wash it down from time to time if it
has
> > too many droppings accumulate between the heavy rain storms. The birds
> like
> > to be fed under the rhododendrons, which requires raking out the fallen
> > leaves to give them a decent chance to find most of the grains. Feeding
> > under the shrubs is the preferred location of the sparrows, as they have
> > escape cover from raptors. This is important as when the noisy Evening
> > Grosbeaks are at the black-oil sunflower feeders, they seem to call in
the
> > raptors from far and wide.
> > Here we regularly have Spotted Towhees, Dark-eyed Juncos,
> Golden-crowned
> > Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, and both Steller's and Western Scrub Jays.
> > Locally, I find the brown rice at the Vancouver Oriental Market at a
> very
> > good price. Elsewhere it is priced at a few bucks for for 10 kilo bag.
> > Price runs from about 45 cents to 65 cents a pound. Don't know why the
> > local bird shops haven't caught on to this. Perhaps their profits would
> > plummet if they offered it as an alternative to the Millet, and ended up
> > competing with the prices at the oriental markets. Well, maybe not.
How
> > many folks spread their millet on the ground?
> > May you have happy sparrows at home with lots of chickweed in your
> fallow
> > garden spot!
> > **** ************ ****
> > John Allinger
> > Hockinson, Clark County, Washington
> > -- (Southwest Washington)
> > Elevation: 500 feet / 160 meters
> > Latitude: _45_45_N
> > Longitude: _122_30_W
> > < nhojregnilla at hotmail.com >
> >
> >
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>