Any suggestions / advise on feeder or food? This is all new to us. My dad will design a pulley system to make it easy for me to refill it. BUT, I have no clue on the feeders (Neither does my dad!) Home depot was not really helpful w/ advise. Any suggestions / words of wisdom re: feeding birds?
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Not people related food question; but bird related food question. Dh wants to hang a bird feeder.
- Thread starter barb_b
- Start date
heather_in_sf
Well-known member
My mom supports all the birds in her neighborhood. Most birds like the mixed seed blend, it has
sunflower seeds, millet and a few other things and that will attract a wide range of birds. It takes a bit of time, bird of mouth if you will, for them to show up so not to worry!
Do try to look for the big bags of bird seed at Lowes or the like, some say they don't sprout and that's a good thing unless you like weeding underneath the feeder. Sparrows love this seed blend.
Also, a fun thing to try is the niger seed, you buy a special sock thing that has little perforations and you fill it with niger seed and affix it to a post or a branch. Zebra finches in my mom's neighborhood really dig it and the perch all over the sock in a frenzy pecking the seed out.
Lastly, if you live in a place where it gets cold, you can get these plastic trays filled with suet. Woodpeckers really like the suet and so do flickers and bushtits. the names of birds really crack me up, right? My mom has a seed feeder with slots on the end for the suet and the birds go crazy. the suet does not melt or make a mess and it's high energy for the birds.
My favorite thing to do as a kid was to spackle a pine cone with peanut butter then roll in the bird seed and hang up under the eaves of the house. Sort of a bird aerobic class to get them to perch on it while they peck.
As an non-birder, apparently I have learned a lot through osmosis!!
sunflower seeds, millet and a few other things and that will attract a wide range of birds. It takes a bit of time, bird of mouth if you will, for them to show up so not to worry!
Do try to look for the big bags of bird seed at Lowes or the like, some say they don't sprout and that's a good thing unless you like weeding underneath the feeder. Sparrows love this seed blend.
Also, a fun thing to try is the niger seed, you buy a special sock thing that has little perforations and you fill it with niger seed and affix it to a post or a branch. Zebra finches in my mom's neighborhood really dig it and the perch all over the sock in a frenzy pecking the seed out.
Lastly, if you live in a place where it gets cold, you can get these plastic trays filled with suet. Woodpeckers really like the suet and so do flickers and bushtits. the names of birds really crack me up, right? My mom has a seed feeder with slots on the end for the suet and the birds go crazy. the suet does not melt or make a mess and it's high energy for the birds.
My favorite thing to do as a kid was to spackle a pine cone with peanut butter then roll in the bird seed and hang up under the eaves of the house. Sort of a bird aerobic class to get them to perch on it while they peck.
As an non-birder, apparently I have learned a lot through osmosis!!
Squirrels can be a problem. They can jump what looks to be an impossibly long distance and will
climb a pole. My favorite way to thwart squirrels is far enough from trees, deck or anything they can jump from and a pole like this where if they climb it they end up inside the baffle. The feeder then hangs from the pole.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=27366&cmpid=10csegpl&ref=6111&subref=AA&CAWELAID=530005150000061373&catargetid=1570186214&cadevice=c&cagpspn=pla
climb a pole. My favorite way to thwart squirrels is far enough from trees, deck or anything they can jump from and a pole like this where if they climb it they end up inside the baffle. The feeder then hangs from the pole.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=27366&cmpid=10csegpl&ref=6111&subref=AA&CAWELAID=530005150000061373&catargetid=1570186214&cadevice=c&cagpspn=pla
mariadnoca
Moderator
Yes, Squirrels/etc proof it. Also foget keeping it clean underneath as seeds spill everywhere.
mariadnoca
Moderator
Rats can be a problem chomping on the seed droppings. Squirrels are very bright and whether or
not they are 'flying squirrels', they do fly. The squirrel-proof feeder shown in the first photo, second from the left, is the one we used. You have to adjust the closing to keep the big birds out. We had one poor dove land on the peg and put his beak into the hole at the same time. He had his beak pretty well severed off and died 2 days later. Poor guy just sat on the top rung of the pool ladder and whimpered. A rope is easy for a squirrel to climb up or down. They can manage wires as well but only when they are really hungry.
We used mixed millet and sunflower seeds for general bird food. The more nuts you include and the less millet, the more popular it will be and the more expensive. Chickadees and sparrows are fine with that, but the birds basically pick out what they were told they should be eating. In fact, everyone liked that. A finch-feeder requires thistle/niger seed; you'll get lots of different finches with that. That's all they will eat.
The squirrels really can't handle the clear acrylic finch feeder but make a mess of the mesh bag feeder for finches. If you like nuthatches, they eat the same as chickadees and you can just buy a wire cage for the blocks. Eventually, the animals get smart and figure out how to open it. We inverted a cut-off 2-litre plastic pop bottle over the chain of the cage feeder. this worked for several months at thwarting the squirrels.
Be careful where you put any feeder as the seeds will sprout on the ground. I put mine in my rose garden but had to put black sheeting under it to prevent the seeds from sprouting.
And you need a bird bath. No restaurant is complete without a bar.
Cedar waxwings are so attractive but they like fruit. They have a very community way of eating that is fun to watch. They are bigger like blue jays so would close the squirrel-proof feeder slots.
Ducks? Want to know about ducks??
not they are 'flying squirrels', they do fly. The squirrel-proof feeder shown in the first photo, second from the left, is the one we used. You have to adjust the closing to keep the big birds out. We had one poor dove land on the peg and put his beak into the hole at the same time. He had his beak pretty well severed off and died 2 days later. Poor guy just sat on the top rung of the pool ladder and whimpered. A rope is easy for a squirrel to climb up or down. They can manage wires as well but only when they are really hungry.
We used mixed millet and sunflower seeds for general bird food. The more nuts you include and the less millet, the more popular it will be and the more expensive. Chickadees and sparrows are fine with that, but the birds basically pick out what they were told they should be eating. In fact, everyone liked that. A finch-feeder requires thistle/niger seed; you'll get lots of different finches with that. That's all they will eat.
The squirrels really can't handle the clear acrylic finch feeder but make a mess of the mesh bag feeder for finches. If you like nuthatches, they eat the same as chickadees and you can just buy a wire cage for the blocks. Eventually, the animals get smart and figure out how to open it. We inverted a cut-off 2-litre plastic pop bottle over the chain of the cage feeder. this worked for several months at thwarting the squirrels.
Be careful where you put any feeder as the seeds will sprout on the ground. I put mine in my rose garden but had to put black sheeting under it to prevent the seeds from sprouting.
And you need a bird bath. No restaurant is complete without a bar.
Cedar waxwings are so attractive but they like fruit. They have a very community way of eating that is fun to watch. They are bigger like blue jays so would close the squirrel-proof feeder slots.
Ducks? Want to know about ducks??
mariadnoca
Moderator
Yeah, not to be Debbie Downer
but we did a feeder for awhile and even if the squirrels couldn't get in they'd jump on it and knock feed to the ground so they could get to it, large birds like crows did the same, which killed the lawn/sprouted. It was a mess and that was the end of the feeder for us. Not to mention it became the bird kill zone for our cat, which just seemed wrong. So - FYI.
but we did a feeder for awhile and even if the squirrels couldn't get in they'd jump on it and knock feed to the ground so they could get to it, large birds like crows did the same, which killed the lawn/sprouted. It was a mess and that was the end of the feeder for us. Not to mention it became the bird kill zone for our cat, which just seemed wrong. So - FYI.
do you have bears? we have to take our feeders down in Spring/summer/fall when bears are around
they are considered bear bait and we can be fined.
you should have a local chapter of Audobon, or a county extension agency that can tell you what types of birds are in your area and what they feed on.
they are considered bear bait and we can be fined.
you should have a local chapter of Audobon, or a county extension agency that can tell you what types of birds are in your area and what they feed on.