Harvest is complete. Winter has enveloped the state. Many migratory birds have relocated to warmer climates.

For a small investment, however, you can attract a plethora of colorful birds to your yard, regardless of where you live. Forced indoors, those who are country at heart, whether we live there or not, look forward to the stark contrast that bare trees and blankets of snow provide for watching birds.

Bird watching is a relatively inexpensive hobby that is second only to gardening as the nation's favorite pastime, according to a National Wildlife Federation study conducted a few years ago, said Ed Mahoney. He assists his wife, Sue, with the operation of Springfield's Wild Birds Unlimited, a specialty store.

Dave Harper, a wildlife biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, who works in Alton and lives in Jerseyville, said birds are creatures of habit, and they will return again and again to grace a well-stocked yard. As a result, they become reliant on that source for food and that is why it is important to continue feeding through spring when birds can once again find their own natural food sources.

A careful observer can even detect when individual birds begin calling a certain feeding ground home, said Harper. "If you can find some little feather out of place, then you'll know it's the same one," he said.

There are four criteria to consider for a successful venture into birding. First, of course, is food; however, birds also require water, shelter and protection from predators.

Many grocery, and hardware, and garden stores now make it easy for first-time birders to buy bags of feed and begin enjoying a seasonal show. Unfortunately, said Harper, many of those feeds are comprised largely of millet and milo, which are large, course grains that provide an inexpensive and bulky filler. Generally, birds prefer sunflower and safflower seeds, and cracked corn, and will peck around the filler seed leaving it behind for the sparrows, which some consider as nuisance birds.

The lowly sparrow, Harper noted, is not a native bird; it was imported from Europe, along with the starling. "I don't know why those people didn't leave well enough alone," mused Harper, who said the two are considered to be, well, like weeds among flowers. They prefer grain and don't help keep the insect population in check, he said.

Mrs. Mahoney, on the other hand, likes sparrows and prefers a feed that will attract them.

One way to attract a greater variety of birds and to avoid purchasing feed with too much filler, is to blend your own, said Harper. He prefers to buy scratch chicken feed, which can be purchased from a grain elevator for about $8 or $9 for 50 pounds, and add sunflower seeds at a rate of about three parts chicken feed to one part sunflower seeds.

The birds who eat them prefer oil sunflower seeds, which are smaller and easier to crack open than the larger striped variety, Harper said. Small birds, such as finches, love imported Niger thistle. Because it is imported, it is not cheap, Harper said, but in the proper feeder with lots of perches it could attract a dozen pretty finches at a time.

The other way to avoid purchasing inferior feed, is to patronize the specialty stores that have identified the niche market and are beginning to spring up, even in rural areas. Sue Mahoney said Wild Birds Unlimited, which downstate has franchises in Bloomington and Swansea (near Belleville,) offers eight different blends of seed, ensuring a mix of feed to lure specific birds.

Enthusiasts could simply purchase a bag of feed and toss handfuls on the ground, but that method is not recommended because it leaves birds vulnerable to predators, such as cats. It also subjects the feed to moisture. Wet feed could rot or become moldy and that could cause disease in the birds, Harper said. It also makes it easier for the birds to pass over the filler seed. "You're wasting it," he said.

Both Mahoney and Harper recommend the feed be put in some type of feeder, either mounted on poles or hung from trees, and there are about as many feeders available as there are birds. "I'd want one with a little roof on it for protection and glass on the side to see when it's empty," Harper said.

As your knowledge and understanding of bird feeding increases, you can purchase a variety of bird feeders designed to attract different birds.

Many feeders also are designed to allow the addition of suet, which gives birds the extra fat and protein they need in their diet. Woodpeckers and chickadees especially like suet, said Harper. Suet, which is beef fat, can be purchased cheaply in the meat department of most grocery stores, or in special cakes from stores like Wild Birds Unlimited. You can purchase special containers for the suet, or simply hang it in a fine-mesh bag.

If you're feeding birds, you will automatically attract critters of the four-legged variety. You can toss ears of corn on the ground for squirrels and rabbits or buy special squirrel feeders to put in trees to act as a decoy. Doing so probably won't discourage squirrels from attempting to get at the other seed, especially the sunflower seeds, but there are a variety of feeders that are designed to thwart the critters.

Harper said a particular squirrel that likes his yard has been dubbed Rocky, after the flying cartoon character, because he's capable of leaping at least 8 feet to get at one of Harper's bird feeders. "It's quite comical to sit there and watch him judge it," said Harper.

18 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING DECEMBER 1996