Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 59F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..
Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 59F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
Updated: November 4, 2022 @ 5:11 pm
The Woodland Window at the Pokagon State Park Nature Center looks out to a menagerie of items intended to attract wildlife to the space for visitors to enjoy watching — and hearing, thanks to an exterior sound system — in this August photo. Nature Center staff are putting out an annual call for donations of seed and other items to help keep the feeders stocked.
The Woodland Window at the Pokagon State Park Nature Center looks out to a menagerie of items intended to attract wildlife to the space for visitors to enjoy watching — and hearing, thanks to an exterior sound system — in this August photo. Nature Center staff are putting out an annual call for donations of seed and other items to help keep the feeders stocked.
ANGOLA — Staff at the Pokagon State Park Nature Center remind people that although Woodland Window is a great place to observe and learn about Indiana native birds and animals, the center could use donations to keep the birds coming.
The donations the center is looking for include sunflower and safflower seed, suet cakes, unsalted peanuts, cornmeal, peanut butter, flour and shortening.
“We have a large bird viewing area at the Nature Center, and we put out a variety of seeds to attract different animals for people to enjoy looking at, but also to learn about those animals,” said Pokagon Interpretive Naturalist Nicky Ball.
Almost all the seeds that the Nature Center puts out in Woodland Window come from donations, said Ball. While it is hard to estimate how much seed the center goes through in a month, a 50-pound bag of sunflower seeds usually lasts for about a week to two weeks, and that is the seed the center uses most.
“We go through quite a bit,” said Ball. “That’s usually number one because so many different animals would eat that.”
The animals that would eat the sunflower seed include a lot of local songbirds, such as cardinals, but also squirrels and chipmunks that a lot of people enjoy watching at the window, too.
Other seeds, said Ball, attract different birds. For example, the unsalted peanuts and suet will attract woodpeckers, and safflower seed, which is a little white seed, attracts cardinals and mourning doves.
“The good thing about safflower is that the squirrels don’t eat it,” said Ball. “It’s a nice one for people who don’t want squirrels in their bird feeders.”
The last four things on the Pokagon donation list — cornmeal, peanut butter, flour and shortening — are used to make a mixture for the woodpeckers.
“That’s a big saver for our woodpeckers, too,” said Ball. “That’s something that we make ourselves using those ingredients.”
She explained that birds at Pokagon State Park do not need human help to find food, and “they will find what they need out in the wild,” but the Nature Center likes to put food out to attract the birds and the animals to the observation area “to use them as an education tool.”
“But they really don’t need what we put out there,” said Ball.
Ball reminded that in the wild the birds eat native seeds, and that was why the Nature Center kept reminding the visitors not to cut the seeds of the native plants in their gardens. Berries that are left on plants, leftover corn, and walnuts can also become food for the birds.
However, said Ball, on really cold winter days when it gets below zero, the birds and the animals really flock to the feeders. Then the feeders become a nice way to ensure that “they are getting a little bit of fat.”
“That’s going to help them survive the winter,” said Ball.
The seeds are available for purchase at the local stores, such as Rural King, Walmart, Tractor Supply, Menards and Meijer. The donations can be dropped off at the Nature Center or at the Pokagon office.
“We always appreciate people who drop off a bag of seeds once in a while. That really helps us out,” she said.
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