New to bird feeding

definitely GG, Thistle goes bad very fast.

Another thing is your location,because your in the deep south a lot of your thistle eaters have probably gone north.

LOL (flying piglets)

tabasco,

Big thanks, for that informative link on birds and feeds. Here the link is again.

http://www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com/seed_preference.htm

A really nice feature on the page is that you can click on a bird name and it takes you to a picture and description of the bird.

gg=alice

According to this link,

http://www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com/seed_preference.htm

my Black-capped Chickadees, Mourning Doves, House Finches, which are here year round, should show some interest.

Besides other factors perhaps they just prefer the Safflower and other seeds and nuts or maybe they prefer those in the summer? And maybe the finches, the only ones of the three listed above that I see on thistle feeders in winter and occasionally Chickadees in winter, don't "get the hint" until the Goldfinches and Pine Siskins cover the thistle feeder? Could also be like young children who might not show any interest in an object until another child does?

I usually don't see Purple Finches in summer at my feeders, although they are supposed to be around these parts year round. They don't show as much interest as the GFs and PSs in the thistle, either, when they are here.

Over the years surely I've had some good thistle in spring/summer/fall?

This reminds me of something. Years ago I used to get my seeds at a local feed store. One day when I was in there buying seeds I told the employee how my cardinals and squirrels would come up to the window and peer in when the sunflower seeds needed replenishing. In my mind I see them as pounding on the window and screaming for my services. ( I tell people that my plants screech and scream at me when they need water.)

She told me about one customer who had a Parrot, a pet of many years, literally go berserk one day requiring veterinarian attention. It turns out the Parrot had an addiction or dependency on sunflower seeds, or something in them, and went into withdrawal when the woman ran out of sunflower seeds for a few days. One serving of sunflower seeds and the parrot was back to normal. I'm just repeating the story as told.

Anyway....

I wonder if some of my birds are addicted to Safflower!?!

gg=alice

Sorry GG, I was thinking of Goldfinch.Thats funny I have never seen my Chickadees eat thistle, just House Finch, Goldfinch and Junco's..

Parrots, yes sunflower seed is very addicting but worse is how bad it is for them. I had a few friends who always used to feed their parrots sunflower and it caused liver disease and killed them in half their expected lifetime. When I first got our African Grey parrot I used to feed him a sunflower mix for parrots but after my last friends parrot passed away I kept trying different things vets would recommend etc. and he wouldn't eat any of it. Then on a trip to a new (for me) bird store, they showed me a mix they make theirselves at the store. Its called The Ultimate Blend and much to my shock my Grey went nuts for it. No sunflower in the mix but some type of pellets he love and loads of other different things. There are a few treats like natural pistachio nuts ,almonds and cashews but not alot. Many other good items are in the mix. I was just so thrilled when I saw how much he loved it. I've never given him a sunflower or peanuts in the shell since then.

I don't know if the wild birds are addicted to safflower but I know my Cardinals love it.

I had a purple finch today and a titmouse (sp?) too! I am thinking of starting a journal. What bird, what time of day, what date any thing else I should keep track of??

Oh yes and what they are eating.

If you can tell the gender be sure to note that too.

Oh dpoitras, that would be fabulous.

Type and location of feeder.

What other birds they will feed with.

If they share the feeder or shoo other birds off and what birds they don't like. (My hummers chase any other bird, and not just other hummers, that gets too close to the hummer feeders when they are guarding the feeders and not off catching bugs or tending to babies.) My Cardinals, Mourning Doves, and House Finches all eat together without squabbling, taking up any and every space that can be occupied . The Painted Buntings will let only a single Cardinal feed with them flying off if any other larger bird lights on the feeder or more than one Cardinal but chasing away all other smaller birds including the House Finches. Painted Buntings will only feed en mass on the ground. Otherwise limited usually to two at a feeder and occasionally three.

When a very, very, rare startling comes in to get suet or use the bird bath, the other birds don't mind. None of the other birds seem to mind or get startled by the very, very, frequent Crow families, one family at a time, coming in to devour the suet and corn logs, nor are they bothered by any of the larger birds that come in occasionally, like Jays and Mockingbirds, including the Greater Road Runners but everyone startles when a very rare hawk comes in.

Sometimes birds come in or show up with others. You might want to note that too. For instance when Gold Finches arrive here for winter they are always accompanied by a few Pine Siskins, like a small flock. The Titmouses and BlackCapped Chickadees seem to hang out together. The Carolina Wrens are usually seen one at a time. Single for the woodpeckers. If there's one Cardinal there are usually many, many more male and female feeding or close by. Usually a small "flock" of mostly mated pairs of Mourning Doves. Nuthatches, verios, warbblers usually one at a time and very rare.

Feeding habit, i.e., do they "graze n gourge" or flit in for one seed and take it to a limb to crack it open.

How about at the bird bath. Do they come in as a group or singly and/or mated pairs

Do you see them also hunting insects near the feeders.

Please do keep a journal. See I tend to go overboard and then find it too hard to stay with it. But I'm bad.

gg=alice

I think theirs a Life List for birds somewhere you can download.

Resin, do you know of any?

Also some Field Guides have them.

Heres one from the Blue Ridge. Its a PDF file thats 5 pages long.

http://www.theblueridgehighlander.com/mountain_birding/Birding-Guide.pdf


I guess it would be good for all areas but it would be a start for some.

Heres Birding Software for all areas of the US.

http://www.thayerbirding.com/dnn/

I think in the spring I am going to get a bird bath!! I wish you could all see my 2 year old grandson watch birds. I very active boy who normally can't sit still will sit for a 1/2 hr at a time with me just staring and pointing at the birds. It is so cute when he puts his finger over his mouth and says to me "shhhh". I hope I am giving him somethig that will stay with him forever. My 4 yo granddaughter is more about the flowers. She gets out of the car and usually the first thing she says to me is "Oh Grandma your flowers are beautiful". Today we planted some coral bells. I let her dig the hole and cover up the roots. Then she watered them and kept coming back to see her handiwork. We had quite a fun day today. Family and family traditions those are the important things in life!!

Geekgranny - I hope that someday I get to see a painted bunting!! That is a bird I have always wanted to see!! They are so colorful. Just a beautiful. Oh another thing I would love to start doing is taking pictures with the hope that I get some suitable for framing!! Wouldn't that be just wonderful!! And something that I can give to my grandchildren for their bedroom!!

I THINK I AM ADDICTED!! Do they have support groups for this addiction - wait, isn't that what this forum is??!!!

The blackbirds and crows started coming in today. The crows are just watching right now but the blackbirds are at the feeders. I thought they would bully the other birds because of their size but they just share with them.