I have a couple of feeders on a post outside my living room window and I try to remember to keep them filled. I get blue jays, evening grosbeaks, finches, chickadees, nuthatches,sparrows, starlings(grrrrrr), a woodpecker (haven't seen him yetthis season), juncos, and mourning doves. I make a bird dough for the suet feeder in cold weather and use a seed mix in the seed feeders. What do you use? Whats your bird population like?

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

Answers

Nope, not feeding them. I used to at my other place, and I fed an awful lot of squirrels, and then I got the giant mouse invasion. I think that the abundant "bird" food was at least partially to blame for THAT! It was fun, however, to look out at night and see little flying squirrels eating the sunflower seeds too!

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

Feeding wild birds is a hobby of mine, I feed them year-round with a mixture of wild bird mixed seed and added black oil sunflower seed. I have a small feeder just with black oil sunflowers to attract the finches, cardinals, chickadees and varieties of woodpeckers right by the sunporch where we have a worm's eye view of the activities. I also offer commercial suet cakes year round, I can get them so cheap (two for a dollar) that it is more cost efficient to do it that way than to make my own.

We have 4 feeders and 8 outside cats, occasionally the better hunters get a bird ot two, but I remind myself that is just Nature's way of reducing the dumbest, slowest birds from the gene pool that might not survive the cold and wind of winter anyway.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

Yep, we feed the birds all year long. During the summer about all we had were hummers. We had plenty of those! We had six large feeders and filled them almost every day. Thought they were going to break us before Winter hit.

We had almost no other birds this Summer, which amazed us because last year we were overrun with them. We think the chickens free ranging might have had something to do with keeping the ground feeders from coming in. The chickens chased them and ate their food.

Winter is here and we're getting the birds back. We've got a couple of woodpeckers (I didn't know they'd eat out of the feeders), lots of sparrows, a few Cardinals and a bunch of Hooter-mouse.

Yesterday, I went walking down the driveway and it must have startled the birds because hundreds of them flew out of the trees. Now, either I scared something out of them or maybe it was leaves and berries falling but it looked like saturation bombing by B-52's! I know for a fact that not all of the falling stuff was leaves or berries.

Wildman, (cleaning up)

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

I meant to mention this in my previous post. Please be sure to clean your bird feeders frequently and thoroughly and let them dry completely before refilling. I think the easiest way would be to have two of the same kind of feeder, so that one could be "in for cleaning" while the other one was outside serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The reason I stress this is that many birds coming to Julie's feeders were sick and then died (she captured some and took them to the wildlife rescue center) -- cute little red polls. Her feeders were clean, but the wildlife folks said that many people do not clean properly or at all, and the birds were getting salmonella. None of the birds brought in (other people brought them too) survived. >:-( There was even an article in the local paper about the problem. Very sad to see them in such straits.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

Joy is right about cleaning the feeders. I've found that after I clean them out dipping them in a sinkful of water with a capful of bleach to kill the germs is pretty easy. (I also rinse the bleach water off.)

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

How strange...I was just cleaning bird feeders today when I read this.

I feed a lot of birds and consequently chipmunks and squirrels. I have flying squirels by night, red and gray by day.

Mainly what I offer is an open feeder pole (three levels) with hulled sunflower seed on top, shelled peanuts and hulled sunflower middle layer, and regular black/oil sunflower on the lower level. At the moment, I am throwing out cheese on the feeder as well, as I bought some that tasted really nasty -- the Blue Jays love it as well as the peanuts.

I also have a Yankee type feeder full of hulled sunflower, a wire- mesh feeder filled with black sunflower, a thistle seed feeder, and two suet feeders -- one for regular bagged fat trimmings, one for commercial blocks (peanut and raisin being the the favoured flavour).

I also have an electric waterer out on the deck for them and that is quite popular. At the moment, I'm seeing my year-round visitors: Chickadees, Goldfinches, Blue Jays, two kinds of Nuthatches, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and Evening Grosbeaks -- the Slate Juncos have come back, but I haven't been seeing the song sparrows, they have probably migrated. Starlings are gone for the winter, the Crows are still here tho, hoping for scraps and fallout. Later in the year the Pine Siskins, Redpolls, and Purple Finches usually turn up, and last spring I had a migration of Cedar Waxwings go through looking for whatever crab apples were left over.

The Mourning Doves were here this summer, but have disappeared now. I hope they come back and haven't all been shot off -- a real pet peeve of mine. They had JUST finally extended their range here after years of wishing for them, and then the state opened hunting season on them.

I have occasionally seen Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, but they are far fewer than the Evenings, and once we had Canadian Grosbeaks. I only see Canadian Jays on rare occasions, but we do get lovely little white and black Juncos out at the barn in the winter. THey don't come to the feeders, only frequent wide open spaces.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

I have been a feeder of birds and bird watcher all my life. At my suet I have had every kind of woodpecker found in Michigan all winter. (I wish that it didn't attract starlings) In the summer I have taken pictures of the Rose-breasted Grosebeaks, Indigo Buntings, Goldfinches, and Cardinals all at the platform feeder at the same time. I have an occasional Evening Grosbeak, but not very often. Purple finches, Pine siskins, chickadees, nuthatches, Titmouse, and a multitudes of sparrows are year around guests. Wonderful winter pass- time. Nice hot cup of coffee and watch the birds in the morning.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

My husband couldn't understand why I wanted a birdfeeder off my deck. There isn't an access from the ground so I don't have to worry about squirrels, cats or bears. It's right next to the window so I sit and watch the birds while I eat, or read the paper, or do bills... I also have a suet holder. I keep saying, "Look at that bird" They look and go, "Oh" but no excitement. All well, I'll never get them to enjoy the country.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

I had been feeding them but have pulled back until our pest problem is under control. There is a mouse that signed a peace treaty with my cat living in and out of the basement and possum have been showing up at night stirring up the dogs and me, by extension. Less feed outside means less free meals, so I will wait until this passes and it gets colder. I had been feeding suet, thistle seed and some nut meat/fruit blends.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2001

Diane, and everyone who feeds suet, try the "upside down" suet feeders, the part that holds the suet is on the bottom, where only the woodpecker type footed birds can cling to it, very effective against the starlings who occasionally try to fly in place and feed at it, so funny to watch them attempt that !!!

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

We have at least 15 bird feeders of various kinds up for the birds. Feeding the birds is one of our vices - we spend a LOT of money on bird seed and feeders. :-)

As for Starlings, we tried those upside down suet feeders. The Starlings learned to hang upside down! Unbelievable! >:-\

I've found the only way I can deal with Starlings is to trap them and send them on to their maker.

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

I'll feed any type of bird that comes to my feeders!! I know...sometimes the bluejays and starlings are a pain, but the blue jays are so pretty and I love listening to the musical repetoir (sp.?) of the starlings. This past summer (I feed them all year long) we had all of the above mentioned birds, although the Canadian jays are only around when we put out our butchering scraps. Maybe they're always lurking, but I haven't seen them. We also have lots of the pileated woodpeckers. They are huge!! My biggest thrill this fall was seeing a pair of white-winged crossbills on one of my thistle feeders! I try not to encourage the ground feeding birds...too many cats around. So I only put out two types of sunflower seed, thistle seed, safflower seed and of course suet. Oh Yeah...the blue jays and the starlings love peanut butter sandwiches!!! The "strangest" thing about my bird feeding set-up is that most of my feeders are right outside my bathroom window...so we can sit and watch :-)!! We're never bored!

I'd like to know what a "hooter-mouse" is...Wildman?!

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

Oh marcia don't encourage him!!LOL I'd like to know why they have that name. They aren't especially breasty. We have a show up here in Canada for nature oriented kids called Acorn: The Nature Nut. Its this guy with the last name Acorn and he explores natural things like birds, butterflies, fungus etc. its everyman natural science. He pointed out on one show how you can't trust names to accurately describe the birds. He then had some examples of bird names and then showed footage of said birds and they were nothing like their names (ie a very brown or blackish bird could be name 'Rosy" whatchamacallit). They guy is actually kinda funny in a laid back nerdy way.

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

I had to take down the feeders in the back yard this summer--too many ferral cats that I can't get ahold of snitching birdies for lunch. I'd like to get them up again real soon though. Get lots of sparrows (weaver finches), some cardinals, juncos, sometimes snow buntings, woodpeckers, finches. Not very many woodland birds, because were stuck here in the middle of a soybean field. But, Oh, do I ever get bluebirds. I've had as many as 30 sitting on the power line coming into the house. I sit by the upstairs window watching them flutter to the ground to get a juicy bug. I have a bluebird house about 10 feet from the kitchen window and it's real enjoyable watching them raise their babies. I had a couple of other bluebird houses, but the sparrows harrassed them so much that I had to take them down.

I put hummingbird feeders up on the back porch in the summer, but once the flowers get to blooming, they prefer them. We have 7 catalpa trees and when they bloom the hummers are delighted. I put out oranges cut in half in the big maples out front for the orioles too.

I love chickadees, but alas, the habitat is just not to their liking around our place. We're working on planting more shrubs and trees for the birds and critters.

Speaking of birds, the other night I was driving to my mom's, when I saw eyes glowing up ahead on the road. Well, of course, I thought it was a cat and so I slowed down. It was an owl! A BIG owl! It spread its wings and lifted slowly in the air. So cool. When I got to mom's I grabbed her birdbook and by gosh it was a great horned owl. Usually we just get screeches around here.

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

We get that Acorn: The Nature Nut here, too, Alison!! I watch it with my granddaughter. She thinks he's funny! So....is there really such a bird as a hooter-mouse??? Or should I be asking Jim :-)!??

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

Oh hee-hee!!! Marcia, Wildman means tufted titmouse, hence, the hooter mouse!!! Very good Wildman, that's a "hoot" in itself!!!

Jim-Bob, you have VERY smart and highly evolved starlings up there in cheese country, I hope mine remain slow learners!

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

Oh, Alison! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I, for some reason, after watching some of the birds thought of Hootermouse and wondered for hours how I was going to slip it into the conversation. Then, along comes Alison with the perfect question! This is a term that I wouldn't have thought of if it hadn't been for Jim! I had never heard the term "hooters up" or any form of it or used it in any way until Jim brought it up and now it's as if I were a teenager all over again! Went to Wal-Mart today and didn't buy anything because I spent all my time looking at..... well, you know.

I really thought it had slipped through unnoticed until Marcia and Annie came to my rescue.

Vicki, how did you get the bluebirds to show up? I've built houses for them, put out signs with arrows on them showing them the way to the houses and nothing. Put up vacancy signs on all the telephone poles within a five mile radius ( there's not that many) Offered bed and board for free. Nothing! Well, I did have one come to one of the houses, turn up his/her nose/beak and leave. Haven't seen them since! I'm thinking about building little rocking chairs and couches for them. Maybe furnished will entice them.

Wildman, (blue bird less)

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

Wild Birds Unlimited (a bird feeding supply store franchise chain, for anyone who doesn't have them in their area) has some "bird cams" - - you can get a floating window and watch the birdies while you're online: http://www.wbu.com/feedercam_home.htm

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

Say, for those of you despairing of the starlings, I hear that they are dying out back in their native England, that the numbers are starting to drop alarmingly....do you suppose that it's time we packaged them up and sent them back again?

Or is that giving aid to terrorists?

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

Wildman--I did not do anything to get the bluebirds to come. The first year we lived here they just showed up. The only thing I know is that there is perfect bluebird habitat here. Large stretches of grassy lawns in the area. In early autumn when they are molting and flocking I walk the side yard and along the road and pick up all their feathers to put on our Christmas tree. I don't know about custom made birdy furnishings, but they love meal worms.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

I'm gonna try to post the image from the feeder cam:

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

Cool, it worked!

Can anybody else see the image?

I doubt if it will update automatically on this page but I'm sure it will if you hit the refresh button...

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

That is so cool Jim, when I first saw the image there was no bird but when I pushed refresh there was a little downy woodpecker!!!

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

Check out Care2.com to send this and other live animal pictures to friends as cards. The fish are great. I liked the goats too.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001