Trying my hand at a bird feeder

[clovishound]

Been suffering a little from cabin fever, and with a new long tele burning a hole in my pocket, I thought I'd try my hand at attracting birds to the back yard for entertainment, and also as unpaid models for some pictures.

I didn't want to lay out a bunch of money on a whim, so I picked up a cheap tube feeder and some economy feed. After couple days with little response from the local avian population, I did some research on line. First off, it's not the best time of year for attracting birds. Nothing to be done about that. Secondly, the recommendation is to start with just black oil sunflower seeds, then move to a mix as visits increase. Bought a bag today, and emptied out the cheap stuff and refilled with sunflower seeds, putting some on the ground underneath, and a shallow open dish nearby. There has been some activity prior to this, and it looks like they went straight for the few sunflower seeds in the cheap mix.

The squirrels haven't discovered it. YET!

Any suggestions, experiences.

Just for interest, here's a gal I got a shot of in the front yard before this experiment.

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And I guess squirrels can make decent models as well. Though I'd rather just deal with the birds.

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[Vaquero]

Well, once the squirrels do find it, it will be hard to keep them out of it.
Right now there is an abundance of food sources, but once they do find it they will visit often.
We have a couple but I usually don't mess with them much during the Summer mons.
But Fall, Winter and early Spring we try to keep them full.

Couple of good pics. there.

RP

[clovishound]

Well, once the squirrels do find it, it will be hard to keep them out of it.
Right now there is an abundance of food sources, but once they do find it they will visit often.
We have a couple but I usually don't mess with them much during the Summer mons.
But Fall, Winter and early Spring we try to keep them full.

Couple of good pics. there.

RP

I would say the Henry H001 would take care of the squirrel issue, but living in a subdivision, they rather frown on that behavior. If I am enjoying the birds, and the squirrels become a problem, there are feeders/products that are advertised as squirrel proof. I'm hoping that by fall I'll be free to pursue photographic outings with some frequency.

[GeoBoy]

I start feeding the birds on Thanksgiving day and I am going to give Wild Bills Feeding Frenzy bird feeder, made in the USA, on a pole mount. I use Lyric Supreme bird food. Go to squirrel-free.com .

[North Country Gal]

Even in the winter, it can take a day or two for the birds to "discover" your feeder when you first put it up, so that delay is nothing unusual.

Black oil sunflower is what we use almost exclusively. If you want birds to come to your feeder, nothing better. If the goal is to attract birds, it's actually cheaper in the long run.

Winter only feeding up here unless you like having bears in the yard. Even if you don't have bears, you can expect raccoons once they discover your feeder, unless you take the feeder in at night. Raccoons can be a problem around the yard and house, too.

As for the squirrels, there are two ways to deal with them. One is to use squirrel baffles on the feeder pole and/or go all out with squirrel proof feeders. The other way is to set up a squirrel feeder away from the bird feeder. As long as you keep the squirrel feeder full with corn, the squirrels will mostly ignore the bird feeder. Once the word gets out on the squirrel social media, though, you'll have every squirrel in the neighborhood in your back yard.

[markiver54]

We use Sunflower chips. Put some out and every type of bird you can imagine loves them. We also use Black Oil seeds in one of our feeders. The Cardinals love them.
As far as Squirels go, I don't like them at all! They will go through your seed very quickly if you don't have baffles or some kind of deterrent. As far as I'm concerned, the only things squirrels do in life is plant Oak Trees where you don't want them.
We also use Hot Pepper Suet. The birds all love it, but the squirrels won't touch it.
The only problem amongst the birds are the Starlings and Grackles, ( black birds ). They go through all the seed and suet like a buzz saw.

[clovishound]

As far as Squirels go, I don't like them at all!

Have you tried them dredged in flour and spices then fried?

[markiver54]

As far as Squirels go, I don't like them at all!

Have you tried them dredged in flour and spices then fried?

, not yet.

[BrokenolMarine]

Squirrels can also be very destructive to property. They get into attics, chew wires, etc. Back in VA they were called tree rats. We had problems with them on the farm getting into the coop and eating up chicken feed. Sniping worked, and the population would migrate to other properties for several months. When they returned, Miss Tina and the CZ would be waiting.

[cooperhawk]

As far as Squirels go, I don't like them at all!

Have you tried them dredged in flour and spices then fried?

Yup, they are quite tasty. A little nutty though.

[Ernie]

Have fox squirrels that come from a couple houses away for black oil sunflower seeds. Red squirrels I won't tolerate as they are soooo destructive. Had raccoon bend and break a cheaper pole 2 nights ago so I welded up a sturdy one and placed it tonight. Will rig up a ring to keep out the chipmunks and squirrels this weekend.

[clovishound]

Fox squirrels are rather rare around here. The grays are everywhere.

Saw today the local gray squirrel at the pan I put out to try and attract the birds with. So far, it looks like nothing has touched the feeder itself. If I don't get some activity in a week or two, I may move it to the front yard near the large azaleas. I see a lot more bird activity there, even without a feeder, just not as convenient to keep an eye on, or as good a background for shooting pictures.

[markiver54]

Birds...especially Blubirds like to have the cover of bushes to perch in while going back and forth to feed. You might do better moving it as you suggested. Also, it can also take two to three days for the birds to locate and start using a new feeder.
This is based only on our own experience and observation.

[fortyshooter]

Well sometimes the little birds get some seed but mostly those big black squirrels get it! https://youtu.be/L-E2ZDs_IGk
I follow this guy's channel and this is just another day's visit....they are like family!

[clovishound]

I don't think I have too much to worry about from one of those guys. I haven't even seen tracks from them when hunting. I have seen the big cat tracks on occasion, and they are supposed to be more scarce than bears in our area.

[markiver54]

Our experience with bears has been sporadic hits; not consecutive.

[cooperhawk]

We're not supposed to have bears this far south in Minnesooota, but I've had two visit and tear down my
feeders and rip them open. The first one got so friendly that the DNR killed it, the last one...........

[clovishound]

Well, I'm finally starting to get some traffic. So far it seems to be in the morning and late afternoon. They haven't seemed to discover the actual feeder, only hitting the feed on the ground. They are still rather skittish. I tried taking a few pictures through the back door. Too many panes of glass, and the morning sun shining directly on the glass didn't help. Got one that wasn't terrible, but I'm hoping they will eventually get used to people so that I can shoot them either through an open back door, or sneak around the side of the house and take some pictures from the back yard itself. I will try some this evening through the back door glass and see if the lack of direct sun helps. I probably need to clean the glass again as well.

Not very good, but in the spirit of forum tradition: No pictures, didn't happen.

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[Sir Henry]

The previous owner of my place planted flowers and shrubs to feed the birds, bees and butterflies. One bush in particular flowers and the seeds fed a lot of birds all winter. The bush is right outside a window so I get to see them up close feeding.

I have several bird houses also and they all get used. This winter I want to study the native birds and build more habitats for them.

The only birds that I don’t like are the crows. They like to poop on my tractor and aim for the seat. I’m not sure if they are protected here. If they aren’t I’m going to introduce them to a Henry.

[Hatchdog]

When we were camped up at Kettle Falls a couple of weeks ago we had crows and man are they annoying. Here at home we have ravens and they are wonderful. They have such a varied vocabulary and are a pleasure to listen to. Our dog enjoys them too, listening and watching they fly about.