“Bird feeding is the second most popular hobby outside of gardening in the United States,” Thompson said. “Most people don’t know that.”
Despite the poor economy, people are still spending money on bird seed, she said, and 2010 was their best year, she said.
“People may give up travel, so they stay at home. People that just enjoy nature find it a very peaceful past time,” she said. “Bird feeding weathers the downturns in the economy very well.”
It is a hobby that does not have to cost you a lot of money, as you can decide to only put so much food out per day, she said.
“Some people might pick up a couple of bags,” or you can spend a lot. Thompson said one customer spends between $7,000 and $10,000 a year on his bird seed.
Carol Bennett of Bellbrook, who works part-time at Wild Birds Unlimited, is a long-time birder with three feeders in her backyard.
She decided to work part-time at the store when she retired, and has also become a Master Gardener.
“The two go together,” she said. She plants native bushes and flowers that produce berries and seeds that the birds like.
“It makes your yard ever so much more interesting,” she said.
Her yard attracts woodpeckers and finches, nuthatches, wrens, cardinals and hummingbirds.
“There are Juncos here right now,” she said. In addition to a “nice general blend of seeds” and thistle, she puts out suet, which provides high fat for woodpeckers.
“I sit on the sofa with my two cuddly cats and drink my coffee and watch the birds,” she said.
In Moraine, January has not proven as bright for Deborah Shell, founder of Wings Over the Rainbow, a parrot rescue and sanctuary at 4950 Springboro Pike.
There the birds tend to squawk and make raucous noise rather than sing or whistle wordless tunes.
A macaw can eat $300 worth of food a month, Shell said. She has 172 parrots, many with problem behaviors and handicaps, from large aggressive, noisy macaws to small cockatiels.
She depends on donations to run her sanctuary for unwanted birds, many of which cannot be placed in permanent homes. This month donations have been down, she said.
“People forget that parrots need help,” Shell said.
January is National Adopt a Rescued Bird Month, so Wings is offering bird lovers who cannot adopt a parrot the chance to sponsor a bird for the month by making a $25 donation to help cover the cost of food and care.
“We can’t ask people to donate $300, but they can help by donating $25, or even $20, if they like,” she said.
Sponsors can visit “their” parrot at the shop and will receive a photograph and certificate of sponsorship, she said.
Sponsors can choose a parrot in person or by going to sites.google.com/site/wingsotr, or visiting Wings Over the Rainbow on Facebook.
For more information, call Shell at (937) 396-0950 or e-mail her at wingsotr@gmail.com.
The shop is closed Mondays.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2341 or kullmer@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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