Maritimers feed birds struggling to survive in ‘delayed spring’

Mary Poppins sang it best: “Feed the birds.”

This spring, birds in the Maritimes are struggling to find food. The frozen ground and deep snow make it almost impossible for them to thrive in their usual habitats or source the bugs, worms and seeds they’re used to dining on every spring.

The “early migrant” birds, like robins and American woodcocks, are having the hardest time surviving.

“Under normal circumstances, by the end of March to the beginning of May, we’re getting a lot more heat, we’re getting a lot less snow,” zoologist Andrew Hebda, of the Nova Scotia Museum, told CTV News. “And of course that opens up a lot more habitats for animals to forage.”

"The problem is that they have nowhere to go. The woods and the alder thickets and the normal breeding areas where these birds would be are still full of snow and it’s impossible for them to find food because of the icy crust that’s below the snow surface,” Dave Currie, president of the Nova Scotia Bird Society, told CBC News.

“Also, it’s just too far for them to get through that snow to get food.”

Currie told CBC News that he’s received “lots of calls” from people who’ve found dead or starving birds on their property.

As the birds wait for the snow to melt — some reports suggest the snow will be around until early May — Maritimers are stepping up to keep the birds healthy and thriving.

In response to veterinarians’ request for public assistance, people are clearing areas of snow on their lawns to help the ground thaw faster. They’re spreading out seeds, fruit — and even worms. And they’re bringing distressed birds into animal shelters for medical attention.

Currie and Helene Van Doninck, the veterinarian in charge of Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, offered a series of helpful suggestions to CBC News readers, including leaving out dog hair, lint and yarn scraps, all of which birds can use to line their nests.

One store owner in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia, made headlines after he bought five tonnes of bird seed from a local feed store and then gave it away for free to customers in his store’s parking lot.

“They just get it for free,” Leno Ribahi, owner of Leno’s Stop Shop, told the Chronicle Herald. “Whatever they need. If they need one bag, they take one, if they need five, they’ll take five.”

“As long as they feed it to the birds and are not eating it themselves,” he said, grinning.

Ribahi told the paper that he spent about $4,000 on the birds this year.

“I live on a 14-acre property and I see a lot of birds up there that don’t have enough food,” he said.

“We always fed them at home, and here, we’re just giving some other people a chance to feed them.”

Ribahi hopes that by the time his five tonnes of seed is consumed, the ground will be exposed and the birds will be able to forage for themselves.

“Do what you can to help these poor little souls,” said Pamela Gallant, a Nova Scotia Bird Society member who tried, unsuccessfully, to save a hungry sparrow. “Birds especially have so much going against them. So many things can kill a bird so whatever we can do, I think we should.”