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Saturday, December 8, 2012

It's a small place, but the food is great!

I've been feeding birds for as long as I can remember. There's plenty to attract these avian beauties to my yard already: water, places to roost and forage, insects in summer, fallen seed in winter, but I've always enjoyed putting out additional seed to get even more fowl to visit. A garden without birds just doesn't feel "alive". My main bird feeder has been on the disused basketball hoop for 20 years, and you can get a nice view of the activity there from the bedroom window. 


I've had finch feeders in other parts of the garden, but for the last couple of years I've had very little success with them -- the finches just won't use them. A few weeks ago I decided to utilize the finch feeder pole in front of the kitchen window for a second small "regular" bird feeder. If I can't get the finches to arrive, at least I'll be able to see the less-picky visitors at this other end of the house.

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The problem is, this is a very small feeder. There's just not that much room for comfortable perching:


The cardinals can barely manage it.

The sparrows have a bit of an easier time, but even the tiny chickadees don't look comfortable:



You need to have the right technique I guess:


But even that doesn't lend itself to a relaxed meal...


"I hate to eat and run, but I'm getting a stiff neck, and do you know how difficult it is to find a bird that can give a decent neck rub?"

I'm thinking of extending the perches a bit on this low-cost feeder. 

Now to just figure out how to get the finches interested again...

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5 comments:

  1. Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax!December 8, 2012 at 11:06 AM

    I've bought dried meal worms. They wriggle even though they are dead. The birds better love them because they look disgusting scattered across the ground as an advert to attract winged diners.

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  2. Kaveh MaguireDecember 8, 2012 at 1:55 PM

    Chickadees and titmice always take a single seed away with them and eat it on the branch of a nearby tree. So they don't need a larger perch.

    I stopped feeding the birds for now. There was a flock of ring tailed pigeons hanging out at my feeders which are not much better than regular city pigeons which are not much better than rats with wings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 8, 2012 at 9:17 PM

    where do you buy your bird seed? i find feeding birds now VERY EXPENSIVE. it used to now be so pricey, buying a sack of bird seed. now it costs 20 bucks for a small bag? or if anyone knows of a source where you can buy bulk bird seed at a good price let me know. thanks! Beth

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  4. AlanDecember 9, 2012 at 8:08 AM

    Kaveh: I stop feeding when the Grackles start hanging around.

    Beth: I usually buy the biggest bags at Lowes. The small bags are way overpriced. Still though, it's expensive to feed birds, but worth it to me.

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  5. Christine @ The Gardening BlogDecember 9, 2012 at 3:44 PM

    I love bird posts :)
    The Cardinals are tooo cute. Barbie has them in her garden, I've yet to see one in mine. Your photos are lovely.

    ReplyDelete