Birdfeeders

The fall migration will begin soon. The chicks are out of nests and feeding to get strong for the coming migration. Be sure all bird feeders are clean and full in preparation for the new visitors which will be passing through. Be sure to keep bird baths clean and full of fresh water, for even birds who don’t visit bird feeders will stop for a drink or a quick bath. Be sure to keep the platform feeders well stocked with plenty of millet for travelling sparrows and juncos who will move through in droves on their way to southern wintering grounds. This is their favorite seed and they will eat it off the ground as well as from platform feeders. The other frequent travelling visitor is the hummingbird. Be sure to keep hummingbird feeders full for a couple of weeks after you think you have seen the last hummer. They need plenty of energy for the long trip south and will continue to stop by available feeders as they travel.

So you have a bird feeder and have noticed the increased bird traffic in the yard. Now it is time to add more bird feeders and actually have a feeding station. What are the things to consider at this point? Planning a feeding station is much like planning a garden - it is truly an individual project based on your likes and dislikes. Start with deciding what kinds of birds you want to attract in the area you live in. Are you perfectly happy attracting the birds that eat black oil sunflower seeds, or would you also like to attract maybe fruit eaters like tanagers and waxwings? How about nectar eating birds like hummingbirds and orioles? If you want a large variety of birds, then the best approach is do put out various types of feeders at different heights. Then there are style choices. In most categories, there are functional, inexpensive feeders, but also quite attractive feeders that also serve as yard decorations, such as the copper top bird feeders. Then the placement of feeders needs to be addressed. What is the best place in the yard for bird feeders? It should be near trees and shrubs for protection, but also convenient to fill and clean the bird feeders. Near a water faucet is nice, but not necessary for cleaning the feeders and filling bird baths. How much time do I want to spend maintaining clean feeders and what is the budget for purchasing feeders and seed?  If you are adding feeders near a common viewing area, it might be worth adding a beautiful copper top bird feeder instead of an inexpensive plastic one. These are all considerations to review before expanding a feeding station.

Hopper bird feeders have a few advantages over most other bird feeders. Seeds are stored in a holding bin, some with a quite large capacity, and fall down into a tray as birds eat them. The storage bin usually has a roof so seed is protected for the weather. The storage bin is usually made of either clear plastic or glass so it is easy to see when the bin needs to be refilled. These hopper bird feeders generally do not need to be filled as often as other bird feeders and the seed stays fresh and dry. Best of all, most birds love to eat at a hopper feeder. This feeder will draw chickadees, grosbeaks, cardinals, nuthatches, titmice, woodpeckers, finches and jays. If the platform is big enough, the hopper feeder may even be visited by ground feeding birds like doves and sparrows.

It is not a good idea to use seed mixes in a hopper feeder, for it is too easy for a bird to just knock off the seeds they don’t like as much and just dig around for the sunflower seeds. It is a much better plan to use sunflower seeds exclusively in this feeder. The other problem can squirrels. A squirrel can empty a hopper feeder in no time! If this is a problem in your yard, opt for a squirrel proof hopper feeder. These close the seed off in a variety of ways using the weight of the squirrel.

Bird feeders come in all shapes and sizes, are made of wood, recycled plastic, metal, regular plastic or a combination of materials. Plain or fancy, a bird feeder is only successful if birds come to visit it. How the feeder looks is only important to us for the birds only care about what it is filled with. When choosing a bird feeder there are a few things worth considering. Be sure that the feeder is easy to clean and fill. Nobody wants to hassle with an inconvenient bird feeder. Be sure the feeder of choice will keep seeds dry or at least dry quickly after a storm. To avoid mold and disease, the bird feeder must protect seed and drain easily. For platform feeders and hopper feeders, make sure the bottom is made of screening for quick drainage. Birds find their food by sight, so are especially drawn to a feeder with visible seeds and other birds feeding. Try to chose a bird feeder that is big enough to hold a few birds comfortably at a time.

The tube bird feeder is perfect for small birds. It is basically a long slender plastic tube filled with seeds. It has short perches which are difficult for big birds to land on and feeding holes big enough for a bird to pluck a seed out of. Tube feeders keep the seed well protected and dry, yet they are quite easy to fill and clean. They come in many sizes so it is easy to find one that suits the traffic in your yard and how often you are willing to fill it. Tube feeders are especially suited to hold sunflower seeds which is a favorite seed of most small birds, such as nuthatches, woodpeckers, titmice, pine siskins and finches. If you attach a tray to the bottom of the tube feeder, jays and other larger birds are more likely to visit.

There are, however, a couple of disadvantages to tube feeders. This type of feeder only appeals to certain types of birds, so the variety of visitors is limited. Also, fewer birds can eat at one time, limited by the number of feeding ports. Also, unless you watch carefully, the top feeding portals become useless as the level of seed drops. It is not a good idea to use a tube feeder for mixed seed because birds will toss aside less desirable seeds to get to the ones they like best. This will waste a great deal of seed.

Nyjer, also called thistle, is a tiny black seed that comes from a daisy. This seed is not native to the United States, but is imported from Ethiopia, India and Nepal. Although it is also called thistle, it does not come from a thistle plant. Nyjer seeds are heated to prevent germination, so there will not be strange weeds growing below the thistle feeder. Nyjer has a very high fat content so is a real nutritional boost for the many finches who love it. This seed is also quite expensive compared to other seed, so it is a good to serve it in a thistle feeder that is designed for birds to pluck out one seed at a time.

Sunflower seeds are a favorite among the vast majority of birds, so if you are only going to have one bird feeder or it is your first bird feeder, be sure it is one that holds sunflower seeds. The best choices are a tube bird feeder or a hopper bird feeder. Birds love sunflower seeds because it is so easy for them to crack open the thin shell to get to the fat-laden seed. There are three types of sunflower seeds - black oil, striped and hulled. Each type has advantages. The black oil is the most popular type for they contain more fat then the larger striped variety. The striped seed is much larger so takes a big beak to crack the shell. Cardinals, jays and grosbeaks actually look for these for there is less competition for them. The nice thing about hulled seeds is there is no mess of empty shells below the hopper bird feeder and no waste. With no shells to break open, other birds such as woodpeckers and mockingbirds may be tempted to visit your bird feeder. Many birds need a lot of sunflower seeds in the winter to survive. Consider the black-capped chickadee. It needs to eat the equivalent of 150 sunflower seeds in a day. When it is very cold, this number can easily be 250 seeds a day. It will take a large tube feeder or hopper feeder to satisfy the winter needs of a few chickadees!

Even though song sparrows are some of the most common birds to visit a backyard, you may not notice them until you put out a bird feeder that especially suites them. These sparrows live close to people all the time, but are experts at keeping out of sight. They always would choose to eat on the ground or at least near it, so offering them a platform feeder on short legs is just what they would like. Placement is also important. Choose a location that is sheltered by some plant such as a shrub or ornamental grass and place the platform feeder so it is partially under the plant. This way, the sparrows will feel safe and protected while feeding at your feeder. Of course you want to have it exposed enough that you can see the visitors. Sprinkle white millet seeds in your platform feeder and it shouldn’t take long for the sparrows to find the treat you have left for them. Little brown song sparrows and probably house sparrows will enjoy this bird feeder. You will be able to tell the two apart for song sparrows have brown streaks on their breast.

Birds get a lot of water that they need from their food supply, but they love to visit friendly bird baths. If you live in an arid region such as mountains or deserts, bird baths will be especially popular for drinking and bathing. However, in other areas, birds will also be drawn to a source of open shallow water. Especially during the hot summer months, a clean bird bath will be very busy indeed not only for drinking, but also for splashing around to cool off. During the hottest part of the summer, we must fill our bird baths at least every day, sometimes even more often. It is worth it however, just to watch the finches, orioles, jays, etc. enjoying a good bath. We even have an acorn woodpecker splash around very regularly. When chosing bird baths, consider the birds safety. Keep the bird bath up off the ground either on a pedestal or attached to a railing to keep it out of reach of cats and this also makes it much easier to clean. We keep a wire brush nearby to give our bird baths a quick cleaning before each refilling.

When we put up tube feeders, hopper feeders, hummingbird feeders in our yards, we know we are helping our local birds, but maintaining or even increasing our bird populations has some real benefits to nature. Birds and plants have an interesting connection that has developed over thousands of years. This interaction is necessary for the survival of birds and the environments they live in. Birds eat the fruits, buds, flowers and nectar of plants. As they do this, they are actually pollinating these plants and dispersing their seeds over the surrounding area. This is so important that in the eastern forests, at least 300 deciduous trees, shrubs and vines depend exclusively on birds to spread their seeds. While rodents destroy seeds by chewing into the seed coat, birds eat only the fleshy fruit. Therefore, the seeds pass through the birds’ gizzards completely intact. The protective seed cover may be scratched which only improves the chance of germination. Finally, these seeds also benefit from the high-nitrogen excrement that surrounds them when they fall to the ground. As we understand this mutual dependence, we become more aware of planting bird friendly plants in our yards. Hanging hopper bird feeders and having bird baths is important to draw birds in, but also providing these kinds of plants will certainly increase the bird traffic in your yard as well as help establish new feeding areas for birds.