Info on birds and hot pepper: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1857/are-birds-immune-to-hot-pepper-enabling-them-to-eat-vast-amounts-and-spread-the-seeds
The Birds of Winter in the mid-Atlantic
That was a very interesting read, Greenthumb.
Coleup, perhaps there was a squirrel on your roof?
Thanks for the info about the cayenne.
I love to observe the tracks too.
Re mealworms. I've got a good production going of soldier fly larvae in summer, It would seem, one could set up the soldier fly system that they use to feed chickens, and then freeze quite a few larvae for winter bird feeding. The larvae will 'self harvest' because they want to crawl away from the compost when ready to pupate, and if you give them a nice escape route into a bucket, they collect themselves.
I made a visit to one store specifically for a pure suet block but they didn't have any- grr. Guess I'll have to run by Severna Park, Wild Bird store or Homestead should have pure sue.t. I broguht home a mealworm mix block and a cheapo special block and will let the birds show me a comparison.
That's interesting, Sally. What kind of compost bin do you have? Is the bucket the only way out for them? I'm trying to picture why they crawl into it.
So the birds get to do a taste test, huh? Why are you looking for pure suet; is it supposed to be better for them?
I bought live meal worms today and stuck them in the fridge because I have to clean out their "chest of drawers". It became a dumping ground for seed heads and an EE bulb.
This video shows a bin that looks specifically made for them, I have not seen this before. It;s hard to tell but the bottom of the bin must be a ramp up to an open slot. they fall out of into a compartment on the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpzuJhRc8Qk
The sidebar will offer you plenty more videos.
A big batch of coffee grounds is a great way to draw them initially. I'm sure I'll have plenty to share again this summer once it warms up.
Interesting Sally.
I'm sort of fond of soldier flies, now that I know about them. (but I wouldn't go digging my bare hands into a mess of rotten scraps and live larvae like some of those guys.)
Muddy re the pure suet. It's just my personal theory that buying a pure suet block gives you more of what they really need- suet- and less of cheap filler seed I do not know what Cornell et al say about best suet practices. I guess suet plus cornmeal, fruit, or worms makes sense. The blocks of suet plus seed like millet, I just wonder if they're worth it.
Martha Sargent's peanut butter suet recipe is in this article...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/467/
The rest of the article is about making a PB feeder by recycling a Christmas tree trunk. I could use a new feeder but didn't cruise the neighborhood on the right day to look for trees on the curb... we have an artificial one now.
Thanks for the link.
Soldier fly larvae are looking pretty good!
I just did some more research into the source of the mealworms, i.e. darkling beetles, which apparently are bad for plants as well as poultry:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/PESTS/darklingbeetles.html
http://www.answers.com/Q/Are_darkling_beetles_bad
If the birds ate every mealworm, it would be fine, but inevitably some end up on the ground. I fumbled once when filling a mealworm feeder and lots ended up on the ground. I picked up as many as I could, but I'm sure some got away. Now I know why my daughter said "You don't want those things running around in your garden."!
Plus, there's all that labor involved. I think my birds will feast on live mealworms tomorrow, and I will set my sights on creating a soldier fly larvae incubator : - )
gosh= who knew- see also
http://www.aces.edu/poultryventilation/documents/Nwsltr-50DarklingBeetles.pdf
Let's start a trend, use BSFL instead of mealworms.
coleup- maybe the veterans composting place would like to get into rearing soldier flies LOL
I'm convinced! I hope there aren't too many of those little buggers crawling around my garden already. Maybe I've been falsely accusing rabbits of eating my seedlings.
Good thing we don't have to worry about what this article says is the main difficulty: "obtaining black soldier fly larvae or eggs to start or replenish the colony". Thanks in advance, Sally : - )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetia_illucens
Edited to say that I see you already offered them up already, Sally.
When I put out live mealworms a while back, I once saw a tiny bird - maybe a wren or chickadee - stuff about 12 in its mouth before flying back to its nest.
This message was edited Jan 13, 2015 7:42 PM
Here's a couple shots of our resident Pileateds.
Look at those claws - those are seriously big birds! That post is a perfect place to put suet feeders.
I hope they come to my yard again someday.
You guys really Rock, when it comes to getting the facts. Great info on the mealworm issue. That put the end to my even thinking of trying it. Or buying live mealworms.
The Pileated are big birds, Not sure you realize just how big they are till you see them fly. They have a huge wing span and when they move around the trees they only fold them out part way and kinda hop from one tree to the other or guild in on half open wings. But once I saw them bolt down the lane with fully open wings, what a sight.
great info on the soldier flies... I like the idea of harvesting them for bluebird treats! Mealworms seem to make the difference between yards with and without bluebirds around here. I'm going to try to get more bird houses out there this year, too, so that they aren't all occupied by wrens and chickadees.
Their is a specific shape hole for Bluebirds that will keep other birds out but you need a field. You may find that they won't nest in your yard and that with the new construction there are fewer than before.
A couple of ideas about BB houses. Google oval hole BB houses for details. Don't use a roosting peg on BB boxes, they don't need one and the presence of one just encourages other birds. I also recently read that BB boxes can have a translucent roof, and if properly positioned they don't over heat and it discourages other birds. I have also read that it is better to only have one BB box rather than 2 too close together. They are territorial. There is also some thing about stapling a piece of monofilament fishing line to hang over the hole, BBs don't mind it and just brush it aside but other birds (hopefully cow birds) will avoid it.
Last June--we went to my cousin's house in Warrenton VA. for a
"Christmas in June" get-together. A new plan as of last year.
He has quite a big back yard and lives in a wooded area. trees all around.
He built and put up a BB house on a post near his veggie garden.
There were babies in there--and he walked me over to show me.
He had a hook and latch wall you could open on the side ans I saw the newly
born babies.
Eventually--the mother flew to her BB house and was feeding the babies by
regurgitating food. My cousin told me they do that. I did not know.
But the head of the mother was inside the hole while she was feeding them .
We were a good distance away so I could not see any details.
BTW--the hole was round--of a certain measurement.
G.
Critter, the bluebirds love the concoction I made for them: store-bought suet blocks mixed with peanut butter (no-salt, no-sugar from Whole Foods) and dried mealworms. The only reason I mixed it with PB is because my daughter bought me an unusual suet feeder that will not accommodate a block, so it has to have a consistency that I can press in with my fingers.
I couldn't fit a bluebird box into my backyard because there are too many other boxes. Front yard is out because of neighborhood cats; also, most of the big shrubs have nests and BBs are territorial as Ric said. Someone has put BB boxes in a Fairfax County park near me, in the middle of a field with brush but no trees (preferred habitat), and with white roofs because apparently BBs like that too (or maybe other birds don't).
I've considered putting 2 boxes in the HOA forest, one on either side of the creek.
About BSF composters: I told my daughter she could make one for my birthday or Mother's Day. She said that was an odd gift, but I reminded her that she gave me a can of worms for Christmas!
Thanks!
I didn't know about oval holes or using a strand of monofilament. I had read that bluebirds will nest in deeper cavities than other birds, so a "tall" birdhouse with a high entrance hole will be more attractive to them than to others.
We don't have a field behind us any more, but there's a pretty good stretch of grass with all the relatively unlandscaped back yards leading toward ours from the other direction... I figure putting one at the edge of our little orchard area should work. My neighbor has a bluebird house in that area though that hasn't ever attracted any nesting birds, blue or otherwise, although the bluebirds that come through in spring have checked it out a few times.
Bluebirds would be nice, but actually we're happy when any birds nest in our yard. Except English sparrows -- although when they nest in a place we can reach, I shake their eggs. That keeps the eggs from hatching, but the birds will sit on them for a while anyway rather than laying another clutch. I would do that with starling eggs also, if we ever had starling nests in our yard.
I'll have to keep that egg-shaking tip in mind; I had never heard that before.
Jill--
Where DO English Sparrows build their nests?
I sure have a slew of them at my feeders all the time...but many others too.
I have heard them in my old Junipers up front--but then
these old shrubs are the perfect safety place for many birds.
As are the old. L-shaped Chinese holly shrubs at the corner of my patio--
where my grill is--that I never use.....
it always has too many plants on it--on the side shelves.
Got to have one's priorities...;o)
Evidently my birds have not heard how much they love safflower seed. Everything else including millet is gone. Can chickadees eat it?
I am pretty sure my chickadees eat safflower. Maybe they got used to it when they had no other choice. I'll try to observe more.closely.
I had always heard how particular bluebirds were about nesting, and all the discussion here kind of confirms what I had heard. I will definitely count myself lucky that they found an unconventional spot to nest in right in my hillside shade garden for the last few years, and really hope they return this spring.
There are Virginia and Maryland Bluebird Societies (probably PA,too) that are affiliated with
The North American Bluebird Society
http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/
Their fact sheets are great:
Getting Started with Bluebirds (PDF)
NABS Bluebird FAQ (common questions) (PDF)
Nestbox Plans
Nestbox Reccomendations (PDF)
Monitoring Bluebird Nest Boxes (PDF)
Sample MS Excel Monitoring Spreadsheet (with Sample Data)
Predator Control (PDF)
House Sparrow Control (PDF)
Mealworms
The Virginia Bluebird Society has a volunteer coordinator for each county and is available to help set up and monitor Bluebird trails throughout VA. I believe volunteers will come out to a property or nest box site to advise on placement, etc of nest boxes.
http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/habitat/bluebird-box.asp
Hey, how cool would it be for Muddy, Aspen, Critter, etc to become part of a Bluebird trail!!
http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/starting-a-trail/
Someone local has worked to promote the bluebird population, and most of the power poles within several miles of our place are adorned with a bluebird house, at least the ones on non-wooded stretches of roads.
Coleup, yes, chickadees can eat safflower seed; in addition to cardinals and doves, sparrows and other little birds also eat it.
Which regular birds ear cracked corn? NOT blackbirds--the DO--others?
I throw it out--and it is usually gone. Squirrels?
I put it in the squirrel feeder (with sunflower seed and other goodies -- we have fat, spoiled squirrels). I also toss some cracked corn out on the deck for the mourning doves. I'm not sure what other birds are "into" it.
Well--I sure have enough Doves..SO--they eat most of it???
I see quite the collection of birds here...can't complain.
One reason could be that they are 100% safe under my big patio
and roof--and trees. That is where my big 3-tube feeder hangs.
I also scatter seed on the floor under the big feeder and the birds
feed there all day.
And--in the summer--the trees leaf out and no hawk can see anything...
At the most--I think I have 4 squirrels that live around here...
Never seen more than that at the same time. They get enough food from
the bird seeds. If I have any peanuts on hand--I will toss some out for them too.
Usually--I have none...
I don;t feel too bad for them--as 3 houses away--there are huge old Oaks
with plenty of acorns on the ground.
Squirrrels have been licking at my suet block with peanut in it, through the cage, it's well on its way to gone in couple days, this is why I have been doing plain suet that they don't bother with. Plain suet has a devoted following of woodpeckers and nuthatch and takes weeks to get eaten by them.
I add hot pepper to the PB suet and also to the peanut butter that I put out in another feeder. The squirrels have figured out which feeder is "theirs," although they do raid the big sunflower seed feeder also. Do not feel bad for the squirrels here; they are fat as ticks.
I'm looking at an order of pure suet blocks. Dang, still coming up to 3.50 or so a block. I'm going to call Wild Bird Center of Severna Park tomorrow and see if they're carrying it.
I'm not a fan of the blocks with all the millet and other fillers, either. Sally, let us know if you come up with a "bulk buy" opportunity!
Best I can do is about 3.30 per block after including shipping, for ten blocks. Shipping goes up at that point so total goes up. Maybe I'll go ahead and get the ten.