Wild Bird Feeders

[Pag36]

I too always think about putting seed in feeders when I see this lol.

I wonder how birds know what kind of seed is in there? The bag says "this" seed will attract this and that bird. I love watching them.

[Sammi1961]

This thread always reminds me to go out and check my feeders. I need to go out and fill them again and throw some seed out for the ground feeding birds. It is really cold here so maybe the birds need a little extra to help stay warm.

[SanDansMom]

We have one feeder with seed, and one hummingbird feeder. I am amazed at all the birds that come. How does the word get around? When we moved here, we saw almost no birds at all, but it wasn't long after the feeder went up that they all started coming. They are all welcome, except for the pigeons! First there was one, then two, and suddenly I was counting 12! We do try to discourage them. I am sure all our neighbors hate us for feeding birds, since the pigeons will come. Recently we have been visited by a hawk. When he visits, all our other birds disappear in a hurry!

[SanDansMom]

Yesterday the hawk came by for a visit. While he was here, the largest black bird I have ever seen, other than a vulture, landed on the back wall. He made the hawk look very small. The hawk left immediately! I don't know if this black bird was a crow or a raven or something else. He must have been at least 14 inches long, with a long black bill. Today a woodpecker scoped out the stucco column at the corner of the patio. I hope to see him again, that is, if he doesn't have plans to peck holes in the column.

[barbszy]

We don't see any hawks here, but a few miles away, where it's a little more open, we do see some.

DD saw a blue jay at my feeder this morning.

[Sammi1961]

I am still getting lots of red cardinals and purple finches. The purple finch is the NH state bird. I love watching the woodpeckers on my suet feeders hung in the old rotting apple tree. Dh wants to cut that tree down but it still has a few live branches and I read somewhere that old, rotting trees are great sanctuaries for all kinds of birds. So far I have been able to talk him out of chopping it down.

[Lizzie-boo]

Sammi, I've heard that too, about dead trees. DH once read that even a brush pile is a favored habitat for some birds.

Liz

[ellenmelon]

Both of these are wonderful. Last year I got on the National Wildlife Federation website. They have this neat program where you can register your backyard as a wildlife habitat. If I remember correctly, nesting, roosting, water and food sources, and protected areas are their categories. They give lots of help for plants to plant, things to leave be, etc to help support and protect wildlife and still have a nice yard.

We now get woodpeckers for the dead snag we have outside the kitchen window. I must admit it isn't exactly elegant, but in the summer we grow morning glories up it so it looks okay and in the winter there are feeders and the woodpeckers that work the bark over pretty well.

[SanDansMom]

The woodpecker came back this afternoon, this time to the feeder. I was surprised that he ate from it, as it was just seeds. He was there at the same time as the little parrots. I suspect the parrots are escapees from someone's cage, but I don't know. I am always happy to see them, living the wild life.

[ellenmelon]

Oh Laura I am glad you mentioned the parrots. My daughter has begun to read a sweet book about wild (escaped pet) parrots in California. The book is called The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story With Wings by Mark Bittner, copyright 2004. The author's memoir, for it is a true story and made into a movie too I believe, tells of his struggle between feeding the parrots and still maintaining their independence and wildness.

We have a pet parrot and just last spring my dh helped to rescue a giant parrot a neighbor has that had escaped and roosted in our tall silver maples. The bird's name was Marcia. We think she came to our yard as we had our conure out on the deck in her travel cage.

Just this morning as I was taking out the recycling I noticed an old Baltimore Oriole nest swinging from a branch in the weeping willow. It reminded me to take advantage of the late season bird food sales to stock up for the migrating flocks that come through in the spring. Seems like they travel in front of spring storm surges.