Seasonal feeding preferences?

This fall marks my first full year of bird feeding. Last fall I started feeding hulled sunflower and suet, and before I knew it I had lots of birds and I was so thrilled with my wonderful new hobby. Summer came, and so did the grackles, so I switched to thistle and a peanut feeder that made it difficult for them to feed from so they moved on and I still had all my regulars.

Now fall has arrived and all of a sudden I've had no birds. I thought maybe the thistle had gone bad so I changed it out and cleaned the feeder. Still no birds. My husband suggested yesterday that I should maybe put out the hulled sunflower again. I did, and already I'm getting birds again after weeks of having not a single one! My thistle feeder is being ignored.

I'm really new at this, so it came as a real shock that after savoring the thistle all summer, they suddenly prefer the sunflower. I never expected that birds' feeding preferences would change with the seasons!

Has anyone else noticed this? As a novice, I'd be very interested in hearing your experiences :)

HI Ceena!

The thistle feeders will only attract finches. In the summer I have reduced numbers of those as well. In fact, I don't have as many birds in general in the summer after the spring migration.

Most of the time I feed black oil sunflower seed as this is the best all-around seed for attracting many birds, so your DH is on the right track.

Ceena, birds will stop visiting feeders in the late summer and fall as there is an abundance of food in the wild. They prefer that to feeders. But once it starts to get cold again and the natural food sources dry up they come back with a vengeance. Finches love the thistle as Mrs. said. They are winter birds here. They go north in the summer. I also use black oil sunflower seed and millet. I feed cardinals, chirping sparrows, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, dove, goldfinches, pine siskins, seeds. The wrens and blue birds like meal worms. Althought the wren will on occasion eat sunflower seed.

Ceena in the winter time the Redpolls eat thistle seeds, they have not arrived yet. Should be any day now. I'm not sure where Redcliff is, is it in Alberta?
In my area, In the winter I get, Hairy Woodpecker and Downy Woodpeckers, the Chickadees, and Starlings, on the suet.
Sunflowers seeds attracts Pine Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Redpolls, Starlings, Doves, Pigeon.
I buy bags of mix seeds for ground feeders but that can create a lot of weeds, if your feeders are around your garden. So careful which mix you buy. The one with mustard seeds and crack corn is the cheapest, but also full of unwanted seeds.

These are Redpolls on thistle,( Nyger) seeds.

This message was edited Nov 24, 2008 12:36 AM

This was my first year really feeding birds all year too. I have learned a lot too. Come next summer when my woodpeckers start to stay away, the suet feeders are coming down. Maybe that will help with the nuisance birds.

There is a definite lull in late summer at the feeders because of the abundance of natural foods available. But that gives me time to get a little stock built up for the colder weather that is coming.

Thank you, everyone, for your replies!

Burn, yes I'm from Redcliff, Alberta. I had a few redpolls at my sunflower feeder last winter, maybe my thistle feeder will attract even more like yours did! Wow!

The only real seasonal change I make is to add suet in the winter. I always have to cut way back on the number of feeders I hang to only one or two during the summer as I have very few birds then, except for Cardinals.
This time of year the sparrows and juncos come but they prefer to eat off the ground so I spread millet and cracked corn on the ground for them and the doves.
I did have a single bird come yesterday until just before dark then they came in with a vengeance.

We don't use suet down here where it can be very warm during the winter. We do keep up the hummer feeders all year long as many of the birds like the sweet water = finches and those dratted squirrels. Because of the latter we are taking in the sweet water feeders because we have witnessed the squirrels climbing up a pole they weren't even supposed to be able to climb, reach out and tip the feeder and pour the water into their mouths and on the ground. Takes them about 5 minutes at the most to empty the hummer feeders. Also, when the goldfinches get here they prefer the hulled sunflower chips and won't touch the thistle. The squirrels also prefer that so we are going to have to baffle the feeders this year and/or get new feeders that are squirrel proof. There are some good ones out there.

Ann

The Goldfinches are the only birds that come here to eat thistle. The rest of the time I feed a mix and BOSS. This was from last winter. They should be here within the next few weeks.

f_chisolm, I'm waiting for the goldfinches to come to my feeders, too. I've seen them in bushes along the road but not in my backyard. I guess there is still enough natural food that they don't need me yet!

Thank you so much, everyone, for your replies! My bird count has been increasing daily, and I am thrilled.

I'm also enjoying my little experiment of who is eating what! My thistle feeder still hasn't been touched (I'm leaving it out there for the redpolls when they come) and mostly everyone has been eating the hulled sunflower. The darling little chickadees have returned, and were switching between grabbing a sunflower and flying away or a peanut piece from the peanut feeder. I've since made a batch of suet and now they are eating that exclusively over the peanuts. I've got a northern flicker and a bunch of sparrows eating it, too. I'm waiting to see which one the downy woodpecker prefers.

I can see how a person could become obsessive about this hobby! I've got visions of new seed mixes and feeders to try out dancing in my head! :p

Ceena - This summer was my first year feeding the birds too. I live on the 5th floor of an apartment building. Chris at Wild Birds Unlimited is amazed at the 60 plus birds that come to the balcony every day !

I started with one hopper feeder. Now I have two hoppers, two ground feeders, a dish for peanuts and a thistle feeder. Chris says he won't sell any more feeders to me - lol !

I also feed the birds millet, thistle, sunflower chips, peanuts in the shell, suet, and recently I added bark butter.

This is such a fun hobby ! And you begin to feel responsible for the birds who count on you. I agree with you - it can become an obsession ! But what a rewarding one it is !

My first goldfinch showed up yesterday. The blue birds were out in numbers too, checking out the blue bird box for their winter residence. The air is full of all kinds of songs.