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Bird Feeding, Alaska Style

An excerpt from the November/December 2008 issue of Bird Watcher's Digest

I've been feeding birds for 40 years. There isn't any place I've lived, from south Florida beaches to Arizona suburbs and now Alaska, where I haven't been able to practice my hobby. I did get a surprise, however, when I moved to Alaska. Formerly confident I was a bird-feeding expert, I had no idea that a bird-feeding learning curve awaited me here.

Raiders of a Bigger Kind

In Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau – Alaska's largest cities – the songbirds are just as domesticated as any Lower 48 bird. Indeed, many have winter homes in California and Cancun, and they commute back and forth with the weather just like the human residents. However, there are certain considerations in how and when you feed birds in Alaska that usually aren't an issue in, say, Los Angeles.

Even in the heart of Alaskan cities, you'll find bears – both black and brown. They raid bird feeders as zealously as any gray squirrel, and like freeloaders everywhere, once they find a handout they go in search of more. Although they can be as determined as any small mammal in getting to what they want, bears don't usually gnaw into your attic and mess with your wiring. They just push and rip their way into your garage to reach the bag of seed you stashed there.

Because of the difficulty in finding a pleasant response for all involved when an emergency call comes in about a habitual bird-feeder-raiding bear, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game suggests that feeders be hung well above a bear's reach, taking into account that black bears can climb quite well. If the bears are too persistent, Fish and Game recommends putting out feeders only after November 1, when the bears have packed themselves off to their dens for the winter, and taking them down before mid-March, when the bears wake up.

Read more in the November/December 2008 issue

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