Well. Somebody is heaving safflower seeds over the side ... Where mourning doves are waiting!
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Birdseed
- Thread starter realdog4
- Start date
My mother has two large house style feeders and the squirrels were always getting into them and knocking the seed all over. I attached a thin piece of bailing wire to the top of each one about 3 feet long and drove a roofing nail into the base of a fascia board on the back of the garage wall and hung them about 5 feet above ground level.
They're hanging over an old cement dog kennel run. The larger birds, Grackles, Cardinals and Sparrows mostly, knock a lot of seed out onto the concrete where the Doves walk around cleaning it up. One pair raised a family there last summer. They're so friendly she has to shoo them out of the way like chickens when she goes to the garbage can. She keeps an old pot of water at the end of one run for the birds, coons and skunks lol.
Sure am enjoying the feeder's visitors. Bought some $$ chow, they love it.
Two female cardinals - finally concluded they are under-appreciated and beautiful birds!
Only one male, then finally saw two at once. (Ark must have come ashore nearby!)
Doves can't land on the feeder, but do a great job cleaning up.
A drove of house finches. Basically, a red-headed sparrow.
Wish I could see one of these ...
en.wikipedia.org
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Two female cardinals - finally concluded they are under-appreciated and beautiful birds!
Only one male, then finally saw two at once. (Ark must have come ashore nearby!)
Doves can't land on the feeder, but do a great job cleaning up.
A drove of house finches. Basically, a red-headed sparrow.
Wish I could see one of these ...
Painted bunting - Wikipedia
AA
All right. I know there are a bunch of birders here!
Got a bird app recently and was surprised to realize what I thought were female cardinals were tufted titmouse... Skip the jokes please.
I want more and cool birds like this! So bought a second bird feeder, added nyjer seeds and mealworms.
Kicking back now for nature appreciation. Since I'm working out of the house for weeks now, really enjoying the bird show.
Now if that painted bunting would show ...
AA
Got a bird app recently and was surprised to realize what I thought were female cardinals were tufted titmouse... Skip the jokes please.
I want more and cool birds like this! So bought a second bird feeder, added nyjer seeds and mealworms.
Kicking back now for nature appreciation. Since I'm working out of the house for weeks now, really enjoying the bird show.
Now if that painted bunting would show ...
AA
Since I made that birdseed blend above, the "restaurant" business has exploded!
Two big bluejays this morning. Like an F/A-18 Superhornet, these birds are 25% bigger. Did you know jays are in the corvid (crow) family? Explains their meanness.
The titmouses - there are four - are probably my favorites. Cardinal pair are a flash of color, the male always protects the female. She feeds, he watches and gets seeds that fall.
Lastly, mourning doves get the fallen bits.
As many as eight house finches at once; these flying mice get little respect.
Also nuthatchers, tiny birds with long bills. If you stand still, theyll land within three feet of you.
Working from home ... I'd be missing this show in the office!
AA
Two big bluejays this morning. Like an F/A-18 Superhornet, these birds are 25% bigger. Did you know jays are in the corvid (crow) family? Explains their meanness.
The titmouses - there are four - are probably my favorites. Cardinal pair are a flash of color, the male always protects the female. She feeds, he watches and gets seeds that fall.
Lastly, mourning doves get the fallen bits.
As many as eight house finches at once; these flying mice get little respect.
Also nuthatchers, tiny birds with long bills. If you stand still, theyll land within three feet of you.
Working from home ... I'd be missing this show in the office!
AA
My cousin Diane had the same problem. Her dogs didn’t stay away from the skunks, and she had to do a lot of cleaning.
I have a hard time keeping the feeders full during the summer. I keep 5 feeders on a pole to provide a nice bird smorgasbord. The large feeder is a mix of cheap basic seed with some extra sunflower and safflower seed added in. There's 2 tube feeders with a nut and berry seed mix, a suet feeder with a woodpecker blend and then a small feeder with a finch mix in it. The hummingbird feeder hangs on its own about 15 feet away. I've never had much luck with thistle/nyger seed which the goldfinches supposedly love. It must go bad pretty quickly. The birds will eat it until it drops an inch or two and then they ignore it and it sits.
I see a pair of cardinals regularly. Chickadees and various sparrows and finches are very common. Among my other regulars are bluejays, goldfinches, woodpeckers and mourning doves. I see nuthatches too but less frequently. The hummingbirds come pretty regularly throughout the day but I usually only see one at a time. Earlier in the week I looked up to see two perched and drinking at the same time which is a rare sighting for me. I can't be certain but I think a third hummingbird might have zoomed in and scared the other two away. Judging from the directions they fly in and fly away, I think I have two and maybe three regular visitors.
I see a pair of cardinals regularly. Chickadees and various sparrows and finches are very common. Among my other regulars are bluejays, goldfinches, woodpeckers and mourning doves. I see nuthatches too but less frequently. The hummingbirds come pretty regularly throughout the day but I usually only see one at a time. Earlier in the week I looked up to see two perched and drinking at the same time which is a rare sighting for me. I can't be certain but I think a third hummingbird might have zoomed in and scared the other two away. Judging from the directions they fly in and fly away, I think I have two and maybe three regular visitors.
I had to shoot a rat off the feeder at 2:30 a.m., dang it. Cannot tolerate that.
Sloppy birds are having too much fun. Need a net or dome.
AA
Sloppy birds are having too much fun. Need a net or dome.
AA
A rat on the bird feeder?! How is your feeder hung/mounted that a rat could get to it?
It’s against our local by-laws to have bird feeders out during the summer as they attract bears. Had a big one stroll through the yard yesterday. I feed lots of birds through the fall and winter, even hummingbirds. I learned the hard way about keeping feeders in summer. Puts the bear in danger, once a food source gets established.
Rhody
I'm a Lumberjack.
Here its discouraged because of coyote and probably other undesirable. Knock wood haven't seen skunks about this year. We had raccoons attack the garage for the first time. I put 2 heavy c clamps on the lid but they shredded the exposed bag liner trying to get in before they gave up after a few weeks. That said i miss a feeder around. We have some resident cat birds about who are fun to watch as they run about.
Rhody
I'm a Lumberjack.
up early or out late!
I don't drink and keep odd hours.
Did just switch bird feeders to a nonspill type, with only a little food. They immediately took to it. Bears won't profit from this either - yes, we have year round nuisance bears.
Also put out snap traps, got one this a.m.
A rat, not a bear!
AA
My wife found some Katee wild bird mix at Wally World the other day. $15 for 40 pounds. I figured it would be junk, but it looks like high quality seed with not much in the way of twigs and detritus.Bump for an older thread! But I just did this; 20-pound bag of cheap seed, added safflower for my cardinals, doves and chickadees.
Glad the House-Eaters don't like safflower, feeder is anti-squirrel but some falls.
Actually, the House-Eaters tell spooky stories about my property ...where aggressive curiosity is rewarded Amelia Earhart-style.
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Birdwatching greatly rewarded by a switch to pure sunflower seed. Pairs of cardinals, Bluejays, titmouses, woodpeckers and innumerable house finches. They just don't want millet or nyjer. Meal worms are only occasionally taken.
Rats kept in total check by a resident fox. Lots of great video of him/her/them. Pinches of food at a time leads to no waste!
Suet feeder popular but repeated raids - and theft of same! 
by a racoon - have temporarily discontinued that.
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Rats kept in total check by a resident fox. Lots of great video of him/her/them. Pinches of food at a time leads to no waste!
Suet feeder popular but repeated raids - and theft of same! by a racoon - have temporarily discontinued that. AA
Rhody
I'm a Lumberjack.
We’re toying with the idea of a hummingbird feeder. I was told some models have a stopper of sorts that limits spills when they remove their beaks
I’m not looking to attract more bees.
ive avoided a seed feeder due to small animals and the larger ones interested in the small. Like coyote
We’ve got em a few have tracking collars and you can see a map of their activities or at least where they’ve been. An interface with nature is like to avoid.
I’m not looking to attract more bees.
ive avoided a seed feeder due to small animals and the larger ones interested in the small. Like coyote
We’ve got em a few have tracking collars and you can see a map of their activities or at least where they’ve been. An interface with nature is like to avoid.
We’re toying with the idea of a hummingbird feeder. I was told some models have a stopper of sorts that limits spills when they remove their beaks
I’m not looking to attract more bees.
ive avoided a seed feeder due to small animals and the larger ones interested in the small. Like coyote
We’ve got em a few have tracking collars and you can see a map of their activities or at least where they’ve been. An interface with nature is like to avoid.
It's true. You can't upset the balance of nature or be feeding rats.
Hummers are purely seasonal here, spring and fall, and just for a few weeks. It does do good to feed them, their caloric expenditures are crazy high. Squirrels will drink the sugar water, but for some reason they avoid my house.
AA
Update to the Katee bird seed. The last time the misses attempted to buy it at Walmart, they had some cheaper brand in its place. We mixed black sunflower in with the heap seed at a 1 to 5 ratio. The birds loved it. But I started noticing a fine chat on the ground under the feeder and when I took the feeder down to clean it, it had a lot of chat in it. What lowlife dilutes birdseed with chat to increase profits?
I’m working on a new feeder now as the old one has surrendered to the elements. Photos coming soon.
i just realized that I forgot to post the photo to this thread.
colors were of my bride’s choosing.
colors were of my bride’s choosing.
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