Wanted - Hungry Birds
January 22nd, 2008The bird feeder’s mounted, filled to the top with black oil sunflower seeds and white millet. Now if someone could just tell the birds it’s here. It seems bird feeders are like new restaurants, it takes a while for the word to get out.
In order to advertise and promote our feeder, Daphne Solecki, coordinator of the Young Naturalists’ Club of British Columbia, suggests we scatter seeds along the ground and on the window sill, in other words, provide samples like they do in grocery stores at dinner time.
Although if you’re thinking of hanging a bird feeder at the cabin, I wouldn’t recommend it, as you will likely attract bears, raccoons and other little four legged creatures. When I ask Mark from Vancouver’s Wild Birds Unlimited, about bear proof feeders for the cottage, he suggests people attach a medium seed tube to a thin metal line strung across two trees or two posts. I’m not sure about this; I liken that to hanging candy just above a child’s head and then telling them they can’t have any.
The good news is, we have no bears in our backyard, so I scatter seeds liberally around the feeder. I have chosen this particular mix , comprised mainly of black oil sunflower, for its high oil and protein content.
Chipped sunflower seeds are also recommended for feeders, and will attract Steller’s Jays, titmouses, finchs and chickadees, but it’s expensive so make sure your feeder is squirrel proof.
Our feed mix, in addition to attracting chickadees, (I spotted one yesterday but he seems to be keeping the feeder a secret) will also entice Evening Grosbecks, house and purple finchs, sparrows and Red-breasted Nuthatchs. Adding thistle seed to our mix would attract even more finches, as it is their favourite food.
The placement of the feeder will also determine who comes to dinner. Platform feeders attract the biggest number of wild birds; it seems they like a place to perch while they snack. They also attract other animals, so we opted for a window mounted feeder that caters to birds only.
Ironically, we have quite a few birds, mostly Dark-Eyed Juncos, already pecking through our yard. It seems these ground feeders have more than enough food without us adding to it. Or maybe they prefer “homemade” seeds to our “take-out” variety.
Whatever the case, my favourite bird, the Steller’s Jay, likes peanuts in the shell, which our feeder cannot accommodate.
If you’re interested in setting up a feeder or simply want to attract more birds to your backyard, there are some great online sites like, the-scoop-on-wild-birds-and-feeders, and Bird Feeders Direct.
If you do have a feeder at the cabin, I am interested in hearing if you’ve had any problems with bears. I’m off to stalk our feeder.
Cheers,
Julie
Email This Post
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:18 am
I chuckle each time when remembering the first time I hung feeders here. This Muskoka, Ontario cottage (home) was built in an area never previously occupied by humans, much less bird feeders; virgin bush if you will. Within minutes of hanging my Sontag feeders, the chickadees were on them. I was stunned they could recognize previously unknown (?) food so quickly. At that time, none of my more-than-a-mile-away neighbours were feeding the birds so it’s not like they were in the vicinity and used to feeders as I am located smack in the middle of thousands of acres of conservation land. In a few hours I had redpolls, assorted finches/grosbeaks, hairy and downy woodpeckers, a pileated woodpecker, juncos, a single blue jay and red and flying squirrels. What an amazing day and night, and it wasn’t even a rough winter, as in, there was lots of natural food in the bush. In my 30 years experience, if you cannot afford to buy all varieties of seed, the black oil is the most enriching for all and all the woodland birds will devour it, often before the niger seed, including the wild turkey hens that visit daily in spite of my dogs. The messy blue jays scatter enough to keep everyone happy, including the moles/voles/mice; all cute. Encourage your grocery store to give you suet for free; that is the only reason I loyally shop where I do and they know it. Considering bears, in eight years here there have been only two that caused next to no damage, they simply wanted that hanging fat when emerging from their dens in April; nothing I would hold against them. My dogs obviously have an influence here. Oh, for platform feeders, please position them within some protection so the raptors cannot swoop down and gobble the feeding beauties up. The bottom line is, feeders are not a natural occurence. We are messing with nature so we must be responsible about it, cleanliness (disease) and safety for all top the list.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Thank you Barb,
Great tips on the food and feeder location. The birds in our neighborhood are well feed and have yet to show an interest in our offerings. I think the cabin will be a better place for a feeder.
Thank you again for comments.
Cheers,
Julie
January 24th, 2008 at 12:49 am
The biggest concern I have with feeders,at home and at camp, is the chance that birds will hit the windows. We just installed 4 huge windows in our new room at camp and the first thing I did was apply decals on the OUTSIDE of the windows. I got them at our local birder store, but you can see them here: http://www.windowalert.com/?gclid=COfinYnSjZECFQ6CPAodDyQQFg
After doing some research last summer, I discovered that any deterrent for the birds has to be placed on the outside of the window, because of reflections, etc.
Also, hang your feeders fairly close to the window itself. Not only can you see the birds nicely from inside, but this prevents the birds from gaining too much speed when leaving the feeder - which also prevents them from hitting the windows.
We don’t get many varieties of birds. Just chickadees, nuthatches and the odd woodpecker and blue jay. The squirrels eat the most I think!
We put seed out whenever we’re at camp. I try to put out small amounts at a time so there’s none left there when we leave. Once we returned to camp and found the feeders had been dropped to the ground. By bears or racoons perhaps, we don’t know. In the spring, when bears are more hungry, we tend to only put small handfuls of seed out so as not to attract the bruins. Haven’t seen a bear on our property in the four years we’ve owned it, but we have seen them across the channel at our neighbour’s.
January 24th, 2008 at 5:02 am
Hi Debb,
I realized after we bought our feeder that they’re not recommended for windows. Our location is very dark, so I’m hoping they wont’ have problems with the glare. Thanks for your reference.
I hope you enjoy your time at camp - how many more sleeps???
Cheers,
Julie
April 14th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
[…] The analogy, if you build it they will come, is certainly true for our window mounted bird feeder. Hesitant at first, and still quite shy, the birds are coming, more every day. It’s seems word has spread and the seeds are quickly disappearing or perhaps they read my blog, Wanted Hungry Birds. […]