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National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition
by Jon L. Dunn Jonathan Alderfer
Our Price: $16.32
Used from: $10.80

The Backyard Birdsong Guide: Eastern and Central North America (Backyard Birdsong Guides)
by Donald Kroodsma
Our Price: $16.47
Used from: $14.83

Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America
by Ted Floyd
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Used from: $12.49

Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides(R))
by Roger Tory Peterson
Our Price: $17.16
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The Sibley Guide to Birds
by David Allen Sibley
Our Price: $23.10
Used from: $13.90

Mealworms: A Delicacy for Birds To you and me mealworms are unattractive, squirmy insects. To many birds they are a delicacy. What exactly are mealworms? Mealworms are the larvae of the darkling beetle. It is natural for birds to like eating mealworms as they often eat insects.

Many birds love mealworms especially bluebirds, chickadees and wrens. You have 2 choices when it comes to mealworms: you can buy live worms or dried worms. The chart below breaks down the pros and cons of dried vs. live mealworms. The dried worms are dead and will not harm the birds, however, I've found that birds tend to prefer live mealworms. Birds will eat the dried worms, but the live ones are just more appealing. Some birders are squeamish and prefer not to deal with live worms, which is perfectly understandable. There are many benefits of having dried mealworms. You don't have to worry about feeding them or keeping them refrigerated. And they also are about half the cost of live mealworms. The table below lists the positives and negatives of live vs. dried mealworms.

Live	Dried
More Costly	Less Costly
Must feed and refrigerate	No special storage requirements
Can escape from tray feeder	Stay put in tray feeder
More appealing to birds	Less appealing to birds

You can buy dried mealworms at a regular pet store. I think it would difficult to find live ones though. And, they will cost you much more than if you purchased them from an online retailer. Also, you won't find them near any bird seed or bird food products. This is because mealworms have been traditionally marketed for reptiles like snakes and lizards. They will more than likely be found near the food for reptiles in very small cans. If you are purchasing live mealworms for the first time, buy the lowest quantity you can which will probably be about 1,000. Since this is your first experience with mealworms you don't want to have too much invested in case you decide caring for them is not for you. A few tips about storing your live mealworms: *Don't put them out in wet weather as they will drown *Feed them oats *Refrigerate them at a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees F *Keep in a container no deep than a shoebox There are many birds than enjoy these squirmy insects. It is natural, as insects are a major part of birds' diets. I encourage you to try feeding these to your backyard birds. I have a feeling you will be pleasantly surprised by the results. � 2008 Malika Harricharan

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Online Bird Identification News

Outdoors calendar -- Published Aug. 20, 2008 (The Record)

NRA fundraiser - Friends of the National Rifle Association present their annual chicken and tri-tip dinner and auction at 6 p.m. in the Stockton Ballroom, 9650 Thornton Road, Stockton. Proceeds support sportsmen's rights to hunt and bare arms.

Briefly in Tompkins (The Ithaca Journal)

There will be a “Community Gas Meeting” at 7 p.m. today at the Spencer Grange, 55 E. Tioga St. off Route 96 in Spencer.

Bird Flu In Indonesia: Prevalence, Mortality, And Action (Medical News Today)

In order to help Indonesia improve its high human mortality due to bird flu (H5N1 influenza), more effective diagnostic methods must be used and improved case management must be implemented to achieve faster treatment with antivirals, according to the authors of an article released on August 14, 2008 in The Lancet.

Briefly in Tompkins (The Ithaca Journal)

Guided Beginner Bird Walks will take place at 8 a.m. every Saturday in August at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road.

Researchers find trends in study of Indonesia's H5N1 cases (CIDRAP)

Aug 18, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – Public health officials from Indonesia recently published an analysis of nearly all of the country's H5N1 avian influenza cases, revealing that death was more likely in those who received antiviral treatment late, were not part of a cluster, and lived in an urban area.