Cat--
Make that ONE feeder----that is why I am so upset with all these black birds...
The little ones hardly get a chance once these "pigs" descend....
G.
Mid-Atlantic Bird Watching - Spring 2014
You have to admit, dreary days and snow make cardinals all the more beautiful.
The doves seem to have gone back to just a single pair visiting intermittently. I have to agree that the various woodpeckers seem to be the most wary of staying on the suet if they see us. We have the downey, hairy and red bellied, and once this winter saw a couple of yellow bellied sapsuckers. That was so cool.
For us, the female cardinal is the one who arrives first. We also have Carolina wrens. Right now we have the usual group of chickadees, titmice, juncos, goldfinches, sparrows and nuthatches. We have an outside coffee table with a tray under it for shelter, and a tray table over it sideways to allow 2 fairly snow-free surfaces. Not very attractive, but the birds are not complaining.
We've had bluebirds (not recently) come in a flock to the suet feeder, but they don't stick around.
CatMint, we also had a male stray in our neighborhood. I wasn't sure whether he belonged to someone until a neighbor saw him eating birdseed under his feeder. I'm pretty sure he was eating the apples and raisins I put out for birds as well. It was so heartbreaking that I started feeding him and also decided to trap him in a humane trap. It took awhile, and during that time we had a heavy snowfall and I could see his pawprints in the snow leading to my front door.
Gita, I feel your pain, having seen major grackle pig-outs at my feeders. You have to try safflower seed!! Our HD doesn't carry it, but bird stores do. In the meantime....my cardinals and doves eat just before dusk, but the grackles seem to be in bed by then. Also, do you have any chicken wire or anything else you could use to make a cage around the feeder? I found that the cage must extend 4 1/2 inches from the feeder port so the grackles can't stick their ugly heads in.
I have every kind of black bird out there today... starlings, tri-colored blackbirds (which we always called "red winged" when I was a kid), cowbirds, grackles, and even a couple of big ol' crows! With several feeders plus some scattered seed, most of the little ones seem to get something also, but geez the black birds are piggy!
There's also a pair of ROBINS out there, poor things.
I've found that scattering some scratch feed gets the grackles and black birds attention and pulls them away from the feeders. It is also cheap by comparison. Same goes for scattered old bread. They (the piggy birds) are not only pigs but lazy, giving them a free easy lunch and they pass on the feeders nearly every time.
Another suggestion that worked for me when trying to convince grackles to go eat somewhere else: I moved the feeders when they weren't looking to someplace out of line of sight. They're stupid birds, so it sometimes took them a few days to find them, whereas the other birds seemed to find them within hours at most.
Perhaps you could throw seed under a shrub where other birds hang out while the grackles aren't looking?
Talk about awesome kitty t.v. .. there's a pair of doves eating under a chaise lounge a foot away from my patio door.
The grackles (I do still get some) are gone. Yay!
Muddy--all good ideas.....
Safflower seed alone would only feed the birds that love it--not the small birds-right?
So--what would the Junkos and Chicadees and Nuthatches, etc eat?
The Chicken wire cage around the feeder sounds interesting....Hmmmmm...
I DON'T have any Ch. wire though...
HD is currently undergoing a change in packaging of their bird seed.
It will be more containers to keep the birds and mice from damaging the goods.
It is a smelly, disgusting area--anywhere bird seeds gets put--there will be mice and
even Rats--IF the HD is in a city type of an area.
The birds eat well--believe me...the mice chew out the holes--and also the wrapping
around Suet cakes--and the birds eat and eat.
I am not sure--but I think HD may also be cutting back on all the specialized bird seed
and just going for some bagged mixes. I saw that they already had huge bags of
just Sunflower seeds for sale. Will keep checking on it when all the resets are done.
Do you know that all the birds have learned to open the BIG automatic doors???
They fly up there, where the motion detector is--flap their wings--the doors swing open--
and the birds can come and go as they please. Wonder how the mamas teach
their babies to do that? There is a whole population of sparrows that live in the
store year-round.........up in the rafters...
I went outside today to hang up 3 more suet cakes--and sprinkled a bit of seed here
and there in "hidden places"while the Grackles were not looking... HA!
The Black Birds found them in no time flat. They also went for the fresh cakes...
I can try the stale bread--how about whole kernels of corn? I have a sm. bag of Deer corn.
Day old bread can be had in groceries for 50% off. Easy to get that!
How about freezer-burned diced ham?
I threw some Apple and Orange sections out once--and no one went to them.
Development life--maybe...
Too much to think about! My brain has a limit....:o)
Gita
Just took a peek---here is the scene around 2 of the suet cakes...Lost cause!!!!
Edited to say that I am the ONLY one in my immediate area that feeds birds--
OR--does any serious gardening....My house is easy to ID in the summer....
This message was edited Mar 3, 2014 2:55 PM
How smart that the birds can open HD's doors!
My juncos, sparrows, cardinals, finches, doves (edited to add chickadees and wrens) will eat safflower. I have a hanging feeder with only safflower, and I have never seen a grackle on it. When I don't see grackles, I'll add some millet or sunflower seeds to the safflower in the seed trays. When the grackles find it and dig in, I replace it with just safflower, and they leave.
This might not work for you because you're the only one feeding birds and so they're probably hungry enough to eat anything, but it's worth a try.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology says "Safflower has a thick shell, hard for some birds to crack open, but is a favorite among cardinals. Some grosbeaks, chickadees, doves, and native sparrows also eat it. According to some sources, House Sparrows, European Starlings, and squirrels don’t like safflower, but in some areas seem to have developed a taste for it."
birding.about.com says "While safflower may not be the first seed choice for backyard birds accustomed to more familiar fare, once the seed is introduced, they can grow fond of it. Bird species that regularly feed on safflower seeds include:
Black-capped chickadees
Black-headed grosbeaks
Blue jays
Carolina chickadees
Downy woodpeckers
Evening grosbeaks
House finches
Mourning doves
Northern cardinals
Purple finches
Red-bellied woodpeckers
Rose-breasted grosbeaks
Tufted titmice
White-breasted nuthatches
Other bird species may also sample safflower seeds if they are made available, but the best feature of these seeds is not the birds that eat them, but the birds that won't. Safflower seeds have a bitter flavor and a different shape than other types of birdseed, and grackles, blackbirds and European starlings will typically leave these seeds alone, making them an ideal addition to feeding stations where these "bully birds" might dominate feeders."
This message was edited Mar 3, 2014 5:00 PM
Thanks for all this info, Muddy.
I did not know all these birds ate safflower.....I will try to buy some...
Bird seed can really cost a lot---sometimes i think that--we are spoiling them at a great cost
by having food so easily available. How do they survive where there are NO bird feeders???
Perhaps many birds would die--but that would be a natural culling of the weakest...
Just pondering here....G.
I'm a total believer in safflower, though I also add white millet. Thanks for adding all the info Muddy.
In the great scheme of things, I think bird feeding is a small factor. We are adding resources back in some places, while we have long taken them away in other ways. I think they know how to look for food when they HAVE to, and when feeders are easier they use them. They're smart about eating the most for the least effort, AND about not starving if they can help it at all.
Look how smart they are - opening the doors!!! Don't they ever try to trap the birds?
You're welcome! I'm paying particular attention to which birds eat what because I'm doing The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project Feeder Watch, and that's one of the things we have to record. I have time today to sit around and watch the birds, so that's what I'm doing!
I noticed that even though the chickadees and finches have access to a caged feeder full of black oil sunflower seeds, they alternate between eating them and the safflower in a separate tube feeder.
I feel a wee bit sorry for a solitary starling trying to eat from an upside-down suet feeder. It flutters up and tries to eat while flapping around but gives up.
Sally--
Next time you are in a HD--just look up. The sparrows are all up there--in the beams.
They nest and are all noisy this time of year as it is courtship time.
How the babied grow up--and what the parents feed them--I have NO idea.
Obviously--NOT worms??? Come to think about it--I have seldom seen fledglings??
The bad part of all this is that products on shelves can get quite dirty from droppings.
I think the birds like to "live" more under all the palates on the highest racking.
Haven't really heard too many people complain.
G.
Thanks, Muddy. I may have to do that with the one cat who is clearly a stray. I feel badly for him out in the cold and the snow scrounging for food. :-(
Gita, I still internally get amused at the birds in big stores. But honestly, it could be kind of a health hazard for employees moving those pallets with droppings....seems to me.
I have to agree about strays that are totally scraggly and sick looking. They may well be very sick and the pound is the right place. They may be terminally ill and that is the kind thing to do, rather than continue to spread disease. Probably not easy to catch them though.
I think I can rent a humane trap from the SPCA. I should look into how much this costs...
Feline Leukemia is rampant among strays, and in those infected and not cared for, it's effects are usually terminal. It is a retrovirus and as easily spread like a cold. There is a vaccine, but most strays have never seen a vet. When we had cats we took advantage of the PAWS program to spay and neuter, and added basic immunization to the bill. Since we lost Bubbles, I've tried to befriend a few of the strays by feeding them with no luck. I'd love to have a barn cat (which is where some of the strays sleep) but they are just too feral.
I'm going to need to get dressed and fill the feeders soon. the birds have been chowing down with this yet another cold spell. 14*F this AM.
This message was edited Mar 4, 2014 9:54 AM
Alley Cat Allies was a great help to me and resource for local assistance with traps and spay/neuter clinics for the mama cat that had kittens in my back yard shed 2 yrs ago.
http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=984
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/is-it-more-humane-to-kill-stray-cats-or-let-them-fend-alone/2014/02/06/472f9858-82a4-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html
Finally had to man-up, put on my pants and fill the feeders. The birds had all but cleaned up most of the seed that had fallen under the feeders. Since I have my pants on I'll tend the GH and chickens.LOL
Thanks, Ric and Coleup. I did work with cat rescue groups before I turned my energy to my new human 'kitten' in early 2002 :-) and it is always heartbreaking for me.
Ric, I think these are both former pets rather than truly feral. This morning I found them huddled together under my back porch. (I had set a bowl of food down there, to keep it out of the snow.) I think I will call the humane society about renting a couple Havahart traps. Assuming I'm able to capture them both, Ric, could you use a couple barn cats? They seem to be pretty good hunters.
I would love to, but relocating strays is always dicey. We also have a couple of neighbors that consider cats as vermin. If they would wander onto either of those properties at the wrong time they will not come back. Even when we had cats and I would run across their little offerings in a bed, I'd just scrape it aside or move it to a better spot and continue. The only thing I don't like is when stray Toms spray our front porch area. It's darn near impossible to get rid of the scent. I had a great aunt that loved cats and kept too many. Going into her house was like putting your nose to a litter box, UGH and she had such a lovely home. With the advent of the newer litters that absorb odors and such visiting her became enjoyable.
Hi folks - I had been a member of Daves for about 5 yrs but about 1 & 1/2 yrs ago it suddenly became the only website I couldn't access on my home laptop; the screen just came up blank. The guys at Geek Squad could access it on my computer at their store tho. Comcast finally got it working but never figured out exactly what was wrong. Whatever - I'm just glad to be back! I'm smack in the middle of the burbs, with about 1/2 acre. I currently have 6 feeders up - a domed plastic one, a plastic "upside down" finch feeder with thistle for the goldfinches (which I have year-round. Chickadees can also feed upside down. It's a hoot to see some of the other birds land on the perches & look down at the goldfinches like "How are you doin' that?!"). I have a metal tube feeder for suet pellets, 2 large suet cages for the big woodpecker cakes & 2 Squirrel Buster Plus feeders - one for safflower & one for a great patio mix I buy at Ace. The patio mix doesn't have any red millet & all the seeds are small enough that they don't jam up the portals. And the Squirrel Buster is absolutely the only feeder I've found that really is squirrel proof! Very sturdy & well worth the money. I've found that the snowbirds & mourning doves will also eat thistle so I've been putting that out in a dish in this nasty weather. And I've been putting out peanuts in the shell for the blue jays & squirrels. I have a couple squirrels that actually follow me around the yard & will take peanuts out of my hand. I have a pretty large # of cardinals year-round, too. Unfortunately I also get a lot of starlings (violent bullybirds. I've actually seen very young ones with fuzz still on their heads attack their siblings!), grackles & pigeons. They're all pigs. I guess you just take the bad with the good.
Sorry for the longwindedness! I'm just so happy to be back on my favorite site!
Welcome back, Carol!
Woohoo!! Welcome home
Welcome back, neighbor! I'm fifteen minutes from anywhere in Glen Burnie.
I saw a new bird-food product that came in yesterday--meal worms...
So far--we have never carried them....and I had never seen these.
I was putting stuff out and this item had no particular place..
I found a spot, made a tag, and now we have these. Will see how they sell...
A small bag--$6.98 G.
They are for Blue Birds.
ONLY for Blue Birds??? Others don't eat them?
Yes, others do but they are highly recommended for Blue Birds.
I don't get bluebirds, unfortunately, but chickadees and wrens are very happy when the mealworm dish is full.
I think I saw two hawks mating the other day and I know I saw two doves getting friendly. have enjoyed feeding the birds on the deck the past six weeks, was nice to sit and just watch them. Back to work on Monday!
good tip muddy! good luck Robin!
Big bunches of robins all over.
My yard is half snow and half grass/mud, and the blackbirds were all over the grass -mud. I hope they are eating weed seeds or bugs.
It IS the courting time for many of the birds....the male Doves strut, all puffed up,
around the female--who is usually ignoring him...
The sparrows yell and shriek as the males, aggressively, try to get close...
Wonder if i should change out the Finch see mix i have had in the tube feeder
for Thistle seed. I have yet to see a goldfinch......booo...hooo...
Maybe the blackbirds are scaring them away?
Maybe my feeder sits in a wrong spot? It is under the edge/corner of my patio roof.
It is protected...somewhat...unless we would have high winds--but it is on the East corner,,
Most of the winds here come from the west--the other side of the patio roof...
Here it is--from August of last year--remembe? r I got this at 50& off at Big Lots?
The feeding ports are all metal--and it completely comes apart to clean it.
It was reg. $40 (Big Lots price)-- So--$20 was a deal!
You like my cake-top I put over it as a baffle?
The cake-top makes a super baffle, Gita. I haven't seen goldfinches recently either, only purple finches and house finches. I usually don't see many, if any, during the winter anyway. They'll be back.
I also saw 3 birds twittering around each other today in some sort of mating squabble. I didn't think real spring weather was that close, but I hope they're right!
Muddy---
I am the queen of recycling all kinds of things....just have to have a "vision"....
Here's a good one for you---If you buy the yogurt cups with the granola on top--
the lids are Perfect saucers for very small pots..
So are lids from all kinds of jars...like a mayo jar...spice jars--even pill bottles..
Here is a picture I just took of small CC cuttings showing the little granola lids as saucers...
LOL, as long as you don't start eyeballing the yogurt in the dairy case *because* you can imagine the lids making great plant saucers...
We've had goldfinches hanging out all winter, although not in droves. I've kept their feeder filled with thistle seed (nyger, nyjer, whatever)... they are really picky about the freshness, maybe because it has such a high oil content that it can get rancid easily. I get a 10 or 20 pound bag, but I divide it up into "refill bags" and put it in the freezer.
Jill--for me to buy any yogurt--it has to have a coupon.
If these granola topped ones were on a coupon--I may pick some up.
Ole miser--ME.
It took a long time for me to get goldfinches but I've had them year-round now for a while. They're very skittish, so easily bullied. The upsidedown feeder is perfect for them. Like I said above, chickadees can use it too as can nuthatches & I think titmice (I don't get nuthatches). I have it hanging from a window awning, so I get to see them up close. It's really sweet.
Got hyacinths popping up!
Thousands of Water Fowl maybe heading your way. Got a call from Josh he was down to the River (that's the Susquehanna River) last night and there were thousands of different types of Water Fowl, geese, swans, several different types of ducks. He said hundreds of each variety, huge flocks.