I’ve spent some tweaking the last couple of weeks with the bird feeder positioning and the type of seed, and I think I finally have a winning combo.
The last week was all out chaos because I was just putting out sunflower seeds, and every bird in the tri-state area was eating here. You could watch the level of bird seed drop by the hour. The problem, though, was that I was attracting a lot of bigger birds- grackle and blue jays, and the cardinals and little fellows were getting pushed out.
I think I have finally found a winning solution. Out back, I have one feeder close to the ground filled with nothing but black sunflower seeds. That gets the attention of the big fellows. The other feeder is about 5 feet off the ground and has perches, and I filled it with a Nature’s Way bird seed for songbirds. That gets all the chickadees and the cardinals, and they are all unmolested by the big birds on the ground.
Out front, near the rhododendron, I have a perch feeder that I filled with Scott’s Bird Smart, and that seems to be doing a really good job attracting the birds I like. I’m getting lots of little fellows like these two:
I never thought I would be interested in bird feeders and birds, but it really is a lot of fun. Plus, it just sounds good to hear chirping and wind chimes.
Just Some Fuckhead
You need to put up a bird feeder webcam.
asiangrrlMN
Thanks, Cole. I needed the bird breather.
Martin
@Just Some Fuckhead: I’d be afraid to watch out of fear we’d catch a glimpse of naked Cole cleaning out the gutters.
jeffreyw
Mystery seafood soup.
akaoni
Cole, this officially means you’re old. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I had a similar realization earlier this year.
Seth 4:10
Superheroic Immigrants Vs. Arizona
MikeJ
Are those two birds gay? I understand it’s an open secret at Harvard. YOU HAVE TO TELL US COLE!
asiangrrlMN
@jeffreyw: That should go in the pastafarian thread! Yum, tentacles.
jeffreyw
Spent all day mowin, Mrs J went to the store for me since they called from the shelter and told her they didn’t need her today. She did pretty well at the store, for a woman.
Comrade Kevin
Next, you need to get a nyjer feeder. Then you’ll have the goldfinches covered, as well as the house finches.
Poopyman
@akaoni: Yeah, he might be old, but a lot of us got there first.
Thanks for some ideas, JC. I’ve got 3 feeders with black oil sunflower seed exclusively, and I’ve been thinking about changing things up to keep out the blackbirds. The cardinals, wrens and finches seem to get their share, but I’ve suspected i could be getting a lot more. Gotta try the Scott’s mix.
And ain’t nothing better than walking outside in the morning and listening to the birds.
Yeah, I am old. STFU, and stay offa my lawn!
jeffreyw
@asiangrrlMN: Almost titled that post “Tentacle Porn” but was afraid BHP would not be amused. LOL
licensed to kill time
So that’s Petey the Redbreast? Did you name the little dude?
Foxhunter
You really need a thistle seed feeder. Brings the color to your landscape in the form of gorgeous yeller finches.
robertdsc
Does Tunch get to watch the birdies, too?
SteveinSC
Don’t forget the ole’ Red Ryder BB gun, because you’ll be needin’ it for the squirrels, pardner. Mind you don’t shoot your eye out.
Cat Lady
You have heard of Alfred Hitchcock I hope.
jeffreyw
That’s the spirit!
R-Jud
Oh no, another bird nerd! I grew up surrounded by people like you!
mr. whipple
Pretty soon you might become a bird elitist, and be less than thrilled with the house finch. Those, and English sparrows, I could do without. Irrational of me, but wtf.
Poopyman
@R-Jud: And you’re a better person for it. I hope you thank them appropriately.
Sue
I am one of those weird bird feeder people who don’t mind the squirrels; I just put extra out and everyone seems to stay pretty fat. Last winter I even had a rabbit vacuuming the ground beneath the feeder.
My big dream is to install a heated bird bath, because I can’t make them put on sweaters.
John Cole
BTW- I have no idea what that red bird is.
Comrade Kevin
@John Cole: It’s a house finch.
Rollins
They are both House Finches. Male is red, female is brown.
David in NY
Uh-oh. A few posts down he’s had it with political conflict. Now he’s just lying back watching the birds. A few days ago he was tending his lawn (though there was some conflict with dandelions, I recall). Doesn’t sound like the outraged, snarky blogger we have known.
Though I understand. I spend weekends ignoring politics and world disasters while I dig in the garden, thin the arugula and lettuce, weed the flower beds, photograph wildflowers in the woods (last week wild azaleas and lady slippers) and, in a few weeks, cook my produce (rhubarb pie up soon!). Keeps one’s blood pressure under control and madness at bay.
Tony Alva
Ye Olde Tunch sees each of those birds as a headless stuffed turkey sitting on a well trimmed kitty sized platter.
Litlebritdifrnt
It is addictive John. I started out with a couple of feeders and now have approximately 17 (19 if you count the hummingbird feeders I put out over the weekend). Get yerself a good guide (one with photographs not drawings) and start yourself a life-list, you’d be amazed how exciting it is to get “newcomer” to your list visiting. In addition to your seed choices you should also put out some suet for the woodpeckers (they also like peanuts as do the blue jays) May I also suggest a bird bath? During the summer the birdies need water almost as much as they need food (put some small rocks in it for the chickadees and finches to perch on, don’t use river rocks which are too slippy, use something that the tiny birds can grip with their feet).
My blue jays must be feeding a brood because they were visiting the tray feeder every five minutes or so, stuffing their beaks with peanuts and flying off. Can’t wait to see the baby blue jays, they are so comical.
@Mr. Whipple. I like the house finches, luckily I only get the nice sparrows, not the citified house sparrows (I live in a swamp!) I love the sound of the White Throated Sparrow. Now the grackles and cow birds I could live without.
David in NY
@Sue:
I’ve discovered a pretty good solution like yours. I have one wide open feeder that the squirrels can climb up and sit in while they gobble seeds (though that’s not nearly all the time and the birds get a lot). Then I have another enclosed one with a squirrel baffle on the post that they could probably defeat with a little work (but I only remember seeing a squirrel in that one once). Not surprisingly, the squirrels mostly go to the open one and leave the other for the birds.
David in NY
There are bears in our area, and we are being a bit daring by keeping the feeder up at this time of year. Though we are near the middle of (very small) town and are not aware of bears right near by.
Litlebritdifrnt
@David in NY:
Yaaayyy rhubarb pie! I am absolutely pickled tink that I managed to overwinter my rhubarb (I have lost three plants three years in a row). It is now getting big and pretty soon I will be out there with a bowl of sugar grazing on it. (None of it will ever make it indoors to become pie unless it gets really big). My old Dad used to swear by peeing on his rhubarb. Not sure I want to try out that theory!
asiangrrlMN
@jeffreyw: BHF, you mean? I certainly would have been amused. BTW, I am studiously ignoring your inflammatory comment at #9!
General Egali Tarian Stuck
I love the House Finches. They have existed in every part of the country I have lived. I wouldn’t be surprised if the little bandits were at the North Pole.
John Cole
@Rollins: Well, I like them.
They are pretty bold, too. Unlike many of the other birds, they don’t seem to mind if I am sitting a couple feet away. They just come in, hang on the rhododendron and the feeder and chirp up a storm and make quite a fuss.
Bad Horse's Filly
John Cole, bird whisperer.
Rosalita
Finally, a wild life/pet post… thank you
Litlebritdifrnt
@David in NY:
I am like you, I like my Squirrels, they are always entertaining.
Pole Dancer
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/Squirrels%20and%20other%20critters/Squirrel_filtered.jpg
Rosalita
@Just Some Fuckhead:
this!
Brachiator
@John Cole:
It may have been asked before, but what camera are you using for your pictures?
Bad Horse's Filly
@jeffreyw: If y’all are going to be talking about me, I’d better show up in more threads. Btw, you lost me at tentacles…no wait you lost me at mystery seafood.
And always remember, when talking about porn, my mother reads my blog and she, ahem, likes you.
I’ve haven’t broken the news about where I met you. It’s a deal breaker – she only talks to me because she gave birth to me.
Litlebritdifrnt
@John Cole:
Your next lesson will be to distinguish between a Purple Finch and a House Finch. There will be a test!
Poopyman
@John Cole: Yeah, dirt common around here, but still charming little things. Chickadees are the same way. It’s nice they overwinter too.
Vince CA
Stop giving me more reasons not to read your blog. If it wasn’t for DougJ, I wouldn’t be here. I’m severely allergic to dogs, I think bird feeders are an anathema, and I don’t follow sports. I imagine there are plenty of places in the tubes to relish in these three things, but none of them should ever come up in my RSS feed when I hit Balloon Juice. Also, I hope your injury is healing up nicely and you’ll get back to politics soon! Please?
Rosalita
@jeffreyw:
we missed you on the FSM post that mutated into discussions about pasta… I was sure a photo was coming
R-Jud
@Poopyman: I jest, I jest. I love my bird nerds.
The only thing that really hacks me off is that thirty or forty minutes of every bloody hike is spent waiting around while Dad and Uncle S discuss whether the bird they just saw was or was not a pileated woodpecker, and where they nest and how they mate and so on. Repeat again for every unusual tree, flower, lichen, insect, etc.
While it is good to observe and notice things and ask “what is this?”, when the mosquitoes are biting and you have to pee, it’s really no fun to listen to a debate about taxonomy.
Ethan's Mom
@Comrade Kevin: I thought it was a purple finch. How do you tell the difference between a house finch and purple finch?
jeanieous
Important info from my birdseed store: Cardinals have a hard time feeding from those tubes in the pix. Something about they don’t feed sideways…standing on that little perch and turn their heads to get the seed. They are front feeders and need the kind of feeder with a dish on the bottom. I never knew that until the bird store lady told me, but damn if I didn’t watch my feeder and found it is true. I like your idea of having a lower feeder for jays…squirrels…whatever.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Cat Lady:
I actually had a new neighbor come up to me once while I was filling up the feeders who said “you HAVE heard of the bird flu haven’t you?” I looked at him (just another Marine passing through) and said “yeah, and SARS, and swine flu, and every other panic de jour why?” He shook his head and walked away, I think I confused him with “de jour”.
asiangrrlMN
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Earlier thread on the lack of pastafarians on the Supreme Court. Rosalita and I were SURE jeffreyw. would post food pr0n on that thread.
Punchy
Well, of course. It was the Cardinals who were doing the molesting, silly.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Ethan’s Mom:
See my post at #41!
Comrade Kevin
@Ethan’s Mom: The purple finches are, well, less red, and their underside tends to be white.
mr. whipple
@Litlebritdifrnt:
The problem with the house finches is that we have a million of ’em. Since you live in a swamp, maybe you’ll get a swamp sparrow :)
Rosalita
@Ethan’s Mom:
I stand at the window with my bird book and I still can’t figure it out…
mr. whipple
@Brachiator:
Click on any pic to see the large version, then right click and hit ‘properties’. Gives ya the camera, date and all the settings and data.
David in NY
@Ethan’s Mom:
Peterson describes a purple finch (if memory serves) as a finch “dipped in raspberry sauce.” I think the (male) house finch has bright red in patches only on the brow and rump, but not elsewhere. The purple finch has its somewhat duskier color all down the back.
Ash Can
I’m all happy because the white-crowned sparrows are back, on their annual pass through our neighborhood on their way to the northwoods or wherever they summer. Like the house finches, they have a nice song and are cute as buttons. And this thread reminds me to put a thistle feeder on the shopping list. I know that the goldfinches are back in the area because we saw some along a suburban marsh trail last month. Gotta make sure the little buggers have enough to eat.
Thadeus Horne
The Hummingbirds arrived at my house three days ago. Tonight, I am expecting 2′ of snow and below freezing temps.
I don’t know how they survive, but they do.
Jon H
I’ll second the suggestion to put up a suet feeder to attract woodpeckers.
There are also things you can get that are like a spooled ammo belt except instead of bullets each pocket holds a dead mealworm. Those are for insectivores.
I can’t really support the birdbath suggestion. My parents have one, and it’s mostly ignored. Sometimes a bird will take a drink out of it, but that’s all.
asiangrrlMN
@Thadeus Horne: Where do you live, generally? I want snow!
jeffreyw
@asiangrrlMN: Yeah, BHF.
Shucks.
Brachiator
@mr. whipple:
Some photo info is there, but not camera and settings info (I’m using IE8)
jeffreyw
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
That’s two!
jeffreyw
@Rosalita: Sigh, I was out mowing and missed the whole thing.
Poopyman
@Brachiator:
Not there in Firefox either.
shortstop
What everyone else said about getting old. In my 20s, you couldn’t get me to look at a bird, though I already loved me some mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Now I run around birdy places with binocs every chance I get. Went to the Pantanal four years ago specifically for the birds.
I do not keep The List, though. I have an addictive personality and I just think it would turn ugly.
Jim, Once
@Thadeus Horne:
Exactly when our hummers arrived here in eastern Iowa. And that night there was frost. I haven’t seen them at the feeder since, but I’m not worried. They’ll be brawling with bumblebees and a half dozen other hummers by next week. A few years ago, I put the feeder up late – they came buzzing over to our patio sliders, to let us know what the thought of our irresponsibility.
Thadeus Horne
@asiangrrlMN: I live in the Northern Colorado Rockies, Grrl, and while I appreciate snow as much as the next guy, this Spring has been rather trying. I have shoveled too much snow in the last 30 days and my back is getting a little bitchy about the whole damn thing. And the mud! Let’s don’t even talk about the mud.
Cris
I’m not a birding expert, but on general principle think I disagree with you about this. The advantage of drawings is that the artist can depict an “idealized” specimen, one that exhibits all the notable characteristics without distracting aberrations.
Thadeus Horne
@Jim, Once: I have actually had them fly into my house to express their displeasure at my feeding schedule. If you’re late with their sugar, they are not shy about letting you know it.
Brachiator
@shortstop:
And apparently, there is a cool iPad app for birders (I don’t have an iPad, I just like seeing how people combine technology and their hobbies).
Ah, yes, iBird Yard
David in NY
@Cris:
I, too, go for drawings.
Jim, Once
@shortstop:
Yeah, I’m the same way – but I risked starting one anyway. I’m glad I did; it’s been fun. So far, I have 62 species (including pileated woodpecker, pelican and bald eagle) that have visited our little 1.5 Iowa acres (along with assorted foxes, woodchucks, deer – plus one mountain lion and one badger).
Jim, Once
@Thadeus Horne:
INTO your house?!? That’s amazing. We always have to save at least one a year from our garage, using a butterfly net. They fly in, but can only fly upward, helicopter-like, in their attempts to get out.
David in NY
@Brachiator:
Oh, man, for the first time last summer I was out with a group of natural history recorders near the Taconics in NY, saw a stripy kind of bird, looked like a water bird in the tree. Amazed as fellow hiker pulls out I-phone and finds picture that looks like it’s a bittern, and we all agree that’s it.
On the other hand, I took pictures of the bird, got home and checked my field guides, and discovered it was an immature green heron (very similar and stripy, but with a slimmer look). So, technology is not everything (though my digital camera was a big help to me). (Oh, and the eight-year-old son of the group’s leader told us it was a green heron. But would we listen? Noooo.)
Jim, Once
@David in NY:
What a great story. My son just gave me an iPad for Mom’s
Day – I am so on that app. I love it that little 8 year old guy called it.
Comrade Luke
I have a fucking bird feeder right under some tree branches about 5ft up a fence pole, and haven’t seen a bird in two weeks. What am I doing wrong?
Dog is My Copilot
I can’t even begin to imagine how much money I’ve spent on bird seed over the years. Those look like purple finches (or house finches). I have a hard time telling the difference. I’ve even learned to recognize some birds by their song and vocalizations. It’s really fun. Next thing you’ll need is a bird book, if you don’t already have one.
licensed to kill time
I only had a bird feeder once, someone gave it to me. I couldn’t keep up with all the seed it needed (expensive where I live) so I gave it away. I never lack for birds, though. I have a morning glory vine that started in a pot and grew to take over most of the porch, the side of the house and started up a tree.
The hummingbirds REALLY like the morning glory. They are tough little bastards and fight for space at the flowers. I have had them fly right up to my face and check out my nose to see if it has any nectar. I also have a simple bird bath that attracts LOTS of birds, and it’s fun to watch them splash and shake water drops off their wings.
Bird baths are cheap and fun.
Brachiator
@David in NY:
Great story. Very cool that the eight-year-old knew his birds.
DCF in VT
Hi John,
I’m writing to offer a couple of suggestions regarding bird feeder types/styles that have proven successful here in Vermont. I hope you find them of practical value – and enjoyment!
MADMTN 26-port BLK LADDER FINCH MAGNET Thistle feeder
http://cgi.ebay.com/MADMTN-26-port-BLK-LADDER-FINCH-MAGNET-Thistle-feeder-/250544799250?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a55a23e12
No/No C00322 Red Cardinal Feeder
http://www.amazon.com/No-C00322-Red-Cardinal-Feeder/dp/B000HHLHK8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1273614770&sr=8-1
Mini Hummingbird Hummzinger, Red
http://www.amazon.com/Aspects-Inc-ASP-153-Hummingbird-Hummzinger/dp/B0019Y0YCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1272991025&sr=1-1
Heads up for Tunch, and kudos to grrlll Lily….
DCF
Jim, Once
@Comrade Luke:
Dunno. Do you have squirrels in the tree?
Comrade Luke
@Jim, Once:
I don’t think so. I’ll keep any eye out. Do squirrels attack birds?
(Yes, I’m that naive)
Jim, Once
@Comrade Luke:
No, but they jump on the feeder and clean it out, scaring birds away in the process. Our son hung his bird feeder from a low-hanging tree branch, and finally realized not a single bird was showing up, but the squirrels were exceedingly well-fed.
Jim, Once
@Comrade Luke:
BTW – you don’t need to have your feeder hanging near or from a tree for this to happen. We finally had to electrify our feeder, in a way that didn’t hurt the birds, but gave the squirrels a surprise. I feel bad about that – I’m trying to talk my husband into just feeding the squirrels separately, but Iowa farm boys are kind of hard-nosed about that sort of stuff. Hooking up the feeder AND the edge of our second story deck had the added advantage of keeping herds of raccoons off our feeder, deck and potted plants, as well.
Comrade Luke
@Jim, Once:
Oh, then that’s not the problem. The food level hasn’t budged.
Jim, Once
@Comrade Luke:
Ah. Well – I have no wisdom to impart, then. What food are you using? We started with sunflower hearts and thistle seeds, and now we have mobs at the sunflower heart feeder. It’s expensive, though.We spend $46 on a wholesale bag of 50 pounds (sunflower hearts), that we have to replace 5 + times a year.
Comrade Luke
Behold.
On the left, a hummingbird feeder that has never seen a hummingbird.
Up on the fence post on the right, a FULL bird feeder. It’s filled with something called Bountiful Nut Crunch, by Audubon Park.
Big City Mary
First a cat, then a dog, now the birds-you are well on your way to being addicted to feeding critters, and you will not stop with birds and the squirrels, you will be attracting all manner of animal life depending on your neighborhood.
When I was under employed in 2004-2005, the Pocono house became a quasi tourist attraction because a flock of wild turkeys started living under my deck (a story up from the ground). They had been eating the corn out back and found the bird seed falling on the front deck from the feeders to be equally attractive. I knew it was out of control when I would get up in the morning, open the blinds in front of the sliding glass doors, and the turkeys would be on the deck pecking the door to get my attention.
I would head out the back door with a bucket of corn, carrots, potatoes, cabbage and apples, and have to push the deer away to get to the feeding area. It was like I was running a farm with all expenses and no income.
When I forgot to bring the 5 bird feeders in one night and the 2 bear cubs ripped the feeders down, including bending the steel poles, and then smashed the feeders, really sturdy nice feeders, into pieces, than I backed off trying to be Saint Francis. And then I got a full time job.
joeyess
@Comrade Kevin: Yes, it’s a Red House Finch. They’re a couple.
Beautiful songs and the male’s colors are fantastic. I have a pair as well.
waldenpond
@Comrade Luke: Try putting the hummingbird feeder out in the open. Here in No Ca, the hummingbirds are busy in the mountains and won’t be back to our yard until summer for nesting. If your neighbor has hummingbirds, put your feeder close to their yard and once you poach their birds, gradually move the feeder to the desired spot.
Move the other feeder away from the fence as cats may be using it. Try tossing some seed on the ground underneath the feeder.
Comrade Kevin
@joeyess: Heh, I was actually looking at that page earlier, to make sure I got the difference between the House and Purple finches.
Comrade Kevin
“You do not have permission to edit this comment”. Grr.
Of course, I meant that I wanted to get the difference between them *correct*.
The House finches are just after the two kinds of Goldfinches I get in how common they are at my feeders.
dmbeaster
Those are House Finches – not Purple Finches. The streaked flanks below the wing on the male is diagnostic, and the drab indistinct patterns are diagnostic on the female (female Purple Finch has bold brown and white patterns). The male is more colorful than I am used to seeing, so it makes sense to suspect it as a Purple Finch.
Get the Sibley Guide to Birds — the gold standard of bird books. I used the Petersen and other books for years before the Sibley book came out in 2000, and it is head and shoulders above anything else. Its only drawback is that it is big and bulky to tote around, but so what.
binzinerator
Song birds.
Wind chimes.
Hola Fruta.
Netti pot.
Nekkid mopping.
You cripple yourself in a fall to save your dog. (Hell, you were carrying your dog to help keep its feet warm).
Your cat owns you. And you love it.
There is little room for doubt here: you are coming-out-of-the-closet metrosexual.
Or what the Germans used to call a ‘softie’.
Oh ho! A two-level effect! Just like shrubbery:
“Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must place
it here beside this shrubbery, only slightly higher so you get a
two-level effect with a little path running down the middle.”
“A path! A path! Nee!”
binzinerator
Previous comment is in WordPress purgatory.
Balls.
Edit: Hmm. This one appeared first.
Wonder what tripped WP filter. Was it ‘shrubbery’?
dp
House finches are a western species that was deliberately introduced to eastern north America. Supposedly, all of the birds in the east are descendants of the ones released on Long Island in 1940. They compete with purple finches (native species) and house sparrows (non-native species).
My favorite feeder birds are the red-breasted nuthatches and tufted titmice that brighten up the long winters in upstate NY
shell goddamnit
About the lack of birds – it may be that you’d get birds if you had a feeder near the tree instead of in it. IME birds like to feed in the open where they can see, but also like to be near cover. Are there birds in that tree at all already? If not there may be some source of danger nearby that you don’t know about, like a neighbor’s cat. Move the feeder instead of changing food – if you put out food, generally speaking birds will eventually show up. It can take a while before they find it, also.
CodpieceWatch
Best feeders I ever bought – some seed hits the ground for the big birds, but they can’t get inside.
http://www.gardeners.com/Squirrel-Resistant-Bird-Feeder/20762,36-283,default,cp.html
LTC
If you have a Wild Birds Unlimited where you are, you should check them out. They have good seed …. not filled with filler crap like milo and grain….birds don’t eat milo and most grains … and I have found them to be a little cheeeeper than some of the feeds like Scotts and Kaytee!
http://www.wbu.com/
PETSMART has some no-mess seed that is actually free of filler and is cheep cheeper than the WB
U and the Scotts….I buy it for the patio since there are no shells and crap to clean up!
I am sorry you got into the bird feeding however….we started it two years ago….the damned birds are eating me out of house and home….hungry little boogers!
I do enjoy watching them however. And don’t tell me that mockingbirds down’t feed at seed feeders..This morning we saw a momma mockingbird feeding her young’un….from my feeder!!! The young bird was perched on the top of the pole and Momma would go down, grab a seed and bring it back to the baby….pretty cool, actually.
And I agree with this…Yeah, I am old. STFU, and stay offa my lawn!
ArchTeryx
@Litlebritdifrnt: What? The guides with drawings, not photographs, are far, far superior.
When you’re identifying birds, you want to have a good idea of their ‘field marks’ the things that distingush them from similar birds. Photos are complete crapshoots when it comes to showing off field marks. Composite drawings, on the other hand, always tell you EXACTLY what to look for and illustrate it clearly.