Bring spring to your feeder Currants and raisins are good food to offer birds as we approach spring. Some of the early spring migrants will be fruit eaters, often finding natural food scarce. Blue jays, robins, waxwings and bluebirds all eat fruit. Set it on a platform feeder so the birds can see it.
Bird word Wing loading: Birds need an appropriate proportion of body mass to wing area to fly. Soaring birds, such as vultures, have low wing loading, which means more wing area in relation to weight. Birds with a heavy wing load tend to have narrow wings, which causes them to flap to stay aloft.
JIM WILLIAMS
Bird book in brief Cape May: magical words to birders. Almost every serious birder wants to travel to this important New Jersey migratory stopover, where millions of birds -- from shorebirds to songbirds -- pass through in spring and fall.
No one knows Cape May better than the husband and wife naturalist team of Clay and Pat Sutton. And they prove it in "Birds and Birding at Cape May: What to See, When and Where to Go" (Stackpole Books, $26.95).
The book tells you exactly where to go to find which bird in which season. It also provides a great deal of fascinating history of the area, known worldwide for its bird-packed forests, salt marshes, swamps, bogs and beaches.
Because it's unparalleled in the variety and number of birds concentrated in a very small area, Cape May has been called the best place in eastern North America to watch birds. The Suttons' comprehensive field guide brings the area to life, with stunning photos and engaging writing. If you're headed east to bird, you should have this book.
VAL CUNNINGHAM
