Hi, we've put up a new feeder in our front yard on a pole but no birds have approached it. They sit on the fence around the area. We have hung a sunflower head grown in the garden this year near it also but no one has come near that either. Can you offer a suggestion as to what we might do to entice the birds? Thank you very much for your guidance. Deb
Hi Depsi, First a few questions.
How long has the feeder been up?
What type of seed or seed mix are you using and how old is the seed/seedmix?
The feeder has been up one week and the seed is "Wild Bird Seed" that we bought at Home Depot. The sunflower head was put up yesterday in an attempt to lure them in. It is hanging upside down on the post that has the bird house on it...the plan when we get the rest built is to have two more houses + a number of different feeders added to the wood one, all in the same area....this summer we had a bird bath there and between the birds and the deer we were filling it 3-4 times a day....so there has been bird activity in that area just not a feeder....Thank you...Deb The bird seed was just purchased this past week....just opened....
This message was edited Nov 29, 2007 12:25 PM
Hi Depsi, Give it more time; their really leery of new things.
I'm not familiar w/ that mix but if you see that its made up of mostly the tiny round seeds you might want to add more Black Oil Sunflower Seeds to it and next time maybe go w/ a Nut n Berry mix which seems to be popular with all types of birds.
Keep us updated ;okay? Pelle :-)
Your first pic is such a beautiful snow scene!
One of the first things I noticed was that your feeder was not real close to any cover, i.e. evergreens, bushes,etc. Birds are pretty wary out in the open where they can't dive into some close cover in a second. It looks from your snow picture that you probably have lots of predators in the form of hawks across that street with all the conifers.
Jim
Depsi are there bushes nearby that they could dive into for cover?
Those evergreens might be far enough away for the birds to see the Hawks coming but they do need places to hide.
Let us know in a week or 2 if theres any progress w/ them coming to the feeder. :-)
I see you have problems with deer eating your young growth. That high deer fence should keep them out of your feeder.
Debsi,
Beautiful snowy scene photo!
I like the second photo too with the birds (Finches?) and the one getting ready to land. Neat shot!
I don't have anything to add that the others haven't said already.
Thanks for sharing!
Marilyn
Thank you all for your comments..No, there is no close cover and I didn't think of that. Our house is out on a bench over the canyon so we have trees & bushes on the lower part of our property but not where the pad was bulldozed out for the house. We had many, many birds during the summer in the bird bath so just expected more to the feeder...it sounds like we are being impatient. We will definitely take your suggestion about the different feed, the nut & berry even sounds good to me. We have birch, spruce, roses, peonies, and all kinds of mint and sage planted in that area but of course, it's all just been planted this fall. We have an old plow from the land around us in front of everything as yard art and the fella's fly in and sit on it + go all over the ground amongst the mint eating. We were just thinking that maybe we need to spread some on the rocks around the feeder. We are very new to this and are looking forward to really enjoying the birds as we gain more knowledge and we very much appreciate your help...Deb
Depsi,
Neat shot of the deer drinking out of your birdbath! lol ;-)
Marilyn
Yes that is a nice pic!!
Just an update: no birds yet but husband has moved a brush pile in on the space + bought another sunflower feeder and two suet feeders with three kinds of suet and put bamboo perches out from the original bird feeder and laced bamboo back & forth on the corners of the deer fence so when these little fella's do come they will have a number of perches to choose from and a buffet of food...ordered the Stokes Field Guide from Amazon, too, and Bob is going thru all my seed & garden catalogues looking for what we can plant as cover as well as ideas for the bird houses he's building....oh ya, we got the fever!!!! Deb
This message was edited Dec 1, 2007 4:15 PM
Deb,
That's wonderful! Happy for you! Birds will love that brush pile too!
Glad you got 'the fever'! ;-)
I've been adding more and more feeders and have really customized my wild bird mix (for ground feeders and feeders). Getting 'something' for everyone in the mix..... millet, BOSS, BOSS hearts/chips, cracked corn, peanuts, other nuts, several dried fruit pieces, safflower, thistle, finch mix, and I can't think what else! ;-)
We feed every day, all year, every year. We just love to see the birds, hear them singing (and cheeping), seeing the babies come in the Summer months.... everything! ;-)
Hope everything goes great for you attracting the birds! ;-)
Marilyn
Hi Deb,
Sounds like your doing a great job!
One day when I had a Coopers Hawk in the yard I saw him fly down to one of my Mugo Pines which are fairly short (2-3 ft. high) but can spread quite a bit.
He poked his head in one side and a bunch of little birds flew out the other side so he walked around that side poked in and other little birds flew out. this happened once more as I stood there watching and chuckling. He did not have any success getting a bird so flew back on top of the arbor.
LOL, all of a sudden a Groundhog came out from under that same Mugo Pine!
I was cracking up trying to imagine him stuffed in there w/ all the little birds!
The brush pile is a good idea; right now we have one towards the back of our property and I'm seeing alot of Carolina Wrens using it.
Your doing a great job!
Let us know when you see birds using the feeders. Pelle :-)
A butterfly bush near your feeders would be good. I have a forsthyia that grows by leaps and bounds and wants to take over the world. THAT would be a good choice for near by!
Try to look for some evergreens also for year round protection and possibly housing.
Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks will literally barrel full speed into things trying to get a meal. Alot of them wind up w/ broken breast bones due to this behaviour.
Pelle,
Funny story! Maybe the birds and the groundhog were all cuddled together for warmth! ;-)
Glad the Hawk didn't get any birds. I know they have to eat too, but...........
Marilyn
Just had a whole flock of little black capped birds all over the area where the feeders, suet are....all over the fence, down thru the brush pile, around the base of the feeder, sitting on the plow but not one got on the feeders or the suet...I think we are getting closer...what a delight this is....we have scads of hummingbirds all summer over the feeders we have around our deck but this is our first time with other birds....what fun!!!! we had two hawks this morning hanging around the property but they are gone now...we also have a woodpecker my husband calls a "flicker" that frequents our shop gutters and roof...looking forward to the Stokes book to identify these fella's....we will never get anything done again watching...lol Deb
Hi Depsi, Sounds like its coming along!
The Hawks might keep the birds from the feeders (even after they start feeding) for good portions of the day until they get more cover.
Your very lucky to have a Flicker; their beautiful Woodpeckers!
Heres a nice site on birds; I'll leave it on the Flicker info.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Flicker.html
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, birds have found the feeders!!!! We had bluebirds all over the feeders and the bird house until a vehicle went by just a moment ago....we also have sunflower heads hanging out there as well as a feeder of the black sunflower seeds...I think we have won the battle...you are wonderful encouragement.....Thank you, Deb
Great news!!
Congratulations Depsi!
Deb,
That's great! Happy for you!
Keep us posted.
Marilyn
This message was edited Dec 2, 2007 4:07 PM
Thank you for that thread. very helpful and very needed by us!!! My husband looked at it and confirms our visitor is a Red Shafted Woodpecker. The facts about it explains why this one goes thru my flower beds and under our driftwood stacked against the walls. We have a terrible storm coming in with high winds this afternoon thru tomorrow so hope all the little fella's stay safe. There is a story in William J. Bennett's book "The Moral Compass" titled "Sheltering Wings by Harriet Louise Jerome" about doves sheltering sparrows during an especially cold day which just flat touched my heart when I read it years ago. May we all be as compassionate to each other....have a great day....Deb
Just had a flock of little black capped birds
Or possibly Chickadees?
Nevermind; no "flocks" of Chickadees.
This message was edited Dec 3, 2007 1:10 PM
Hi, Yes, the little fellas on the ground are definitelyJuncos so we put a feeder on the ground as well as spread some seed over the mulch and top of the rocks. Today we bought another feeder, this one for finches and bought nyger seed to fill it. It is just a blast standing in our kitchen window watching these little guys come and go knowing we have helped them a bit thru our winter here. We have to go to Spokane next week for 3 days for dr consultation so will be going over to Couer deLain (spelling????) to the Bird Unlimited store there. We may have a housing development in our front yard before we are thru...What fun....Deb
OMG! if you shop at WBU you are soooo hooked now!! Glad you are getting some birds now!
I do agree we are hooked and glad of it...Bob is out pruning our little cover trees as we speak..During the summer we have swallows that are all over our property...flocks of them and they swoop down within 3 feet of us when we are outdoors + they come in and sit on the shelves in our garage. I believe they are called Teal Back Swallows or something similiar. I will have to research it again. They are just incredibly beautiful and we have scads of finch + the hummingbirds. This coming spring we will have many houses out there for the different species. Can't wait. Anything in particular we should be looking for at the WBU? Deb
Depsi,
Probably one of these three swallows--Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, or Barn Swallow. These are three that have a bluish back.
Jim
Heard you say you have lots of Finch Deb.
Do you have a thistle feeder?
You don't have to buy it at WBU because their everywhere but...
You've got such a nice setup and I just love the pic of the deer drinking from your bird bath.
I really like WBU but they're expensive!! I've gotten some really good feeders and good seed & seed mixes at farm supply stores, such as Tractor Supply. WBU is the only local place I can find that carries the shelled peanuts for the peanut feeder.
Yes and their nice to have to also mix in w/ your other seed mixes.
I throw some into the platform feeder along w/ other seeds for the Blue Jays; lately I've seen Cardinals taking them!
Deb,
If you're interested, the correct spelling is Coeur d' Alene, ID. I did a google search for you and I got the correct spelling from the city website.
http://www.coeurdaleneidaho.org/
Just trying to be nice, is all. Hope you don't mind. ;-)
Yes! WBU is the only place to get the peanuts for the birds that they love! ;-)
Marilyn
OhMI, Marilyn, I don't mind at all. I was just flat lazy....started typing the message and realized I didn't know how to spell it....Thank you.....and yes, Jim, they are Violet-green Swallows. we had identified them once before from an article online. We have nyger seed & a feeder for the thistle....and yes, we have herds of deer here, as you can see everything is fenced against them and the flocks of wild turkeys which cross our property 2-3 times a day. July of 2006 we had a moose in the front yard + have elk also. We only feed the birds....Deb
I saw peanuts at Petsmart too but their different not halves but the birds still liked them.
WBU carries just about everything but they a litlle more expensive. But they offer guarantees on all their products. They have monthly specials and specials on seed. Buy 10 get 1 free or such.
My regular wild bird store carries peanut halves,
All the seeds have gotten so expensive.
We went to a feed store yesterday trying to find the peanuts as well as two different hardware stores. Thank you for suggesting Petsmart. We have one of those in Lewiston., I do believe we will buy what we can find at WBU since we are making a special side trip to go thru it. You guys have been great in encouraging my husband and I. We are delighted....Deb
Depsi-- Loved to read the progression of your bird feeding hobby in this thread! How many feeders do you have now?!
I just wanted to add that if you put up a real Christmas tree, I might suggest you get a big one and then afterwards be sure to put it out by your feeders for "instant" cover.
We can get shelled peanuts at our feed store. The feed store also supplies to us bulk bags of Black Oil, thistle, and safflower seeds among others, then we make our own mixes according to the varieties birds we have visiting our yard and where our feeders are located (i.e., I use sunflower seed hearts on our deck because it's less messy).
And please don't forget to sign up for the Winter Bird Counts in your area. Some counts can be done from your windows and any counting you can do helps the naturalists learn more about the bird populations.... http://www.idahobirds.net/news/cbc.html
http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/getinvolved.html
