Posted on 03/05/2005 8:07:37 AM PST by sweetliberty
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As it turned out, the previous thread on this topic generated a lot of interest and several people recommended doing it as a regular thread, so here is the second installment.
How you go about creating a bird sanctuary in your yard, or outdoor space, will depend on a number of givens, some which can modified, and others over which you have no control. One of these is geographical location or climate zone. If you live in the Colorado Rockies, you are not going to attract Cardinals, no matter how many black oil sunflower seeds you put out, and if you're on a beach in Florida, it's a pretty safe bet that there will be no snow buntings visiting your yard, the cornucopia of insects notwithstanding. Of course, if global warming keeps encroaching on us, we may soon find Alaska overrun with Parrots and Flamingos, but, I digress.
Within any given area, there are a variety of habitats, so no matter what your specific location, it is possible to vastly increase the types and numbers of birds in your immediate environment by modifying your habitat to make it more bird friendly to a wider array of birds native to your region.
Another "given" is your available space. If you live in a cottage in the woods by a stream, you will obviously have a lot more options available to you than if you live in an urban apartment with nothing more than a small porch or balcony. Of course, I think the majority of us live somewhere between those extremes. The point is, even if you have nothing more than a porch, you can still make it bird friendly, thereby increasing your enjoyment of these highly entertaining creatures. If you don't even have so much as a porch, I would suggest moving!
The purpose of this thread is to share ideas for maximizing our outdoor spaces to make them appealing to birds and butterflies, to share our experiences and knowledge or expertise, photos and resources. The discussion is pretty free-flowing and may expand to include gardening, landscaping and related topics. The direction the thread takes will really be up to the FReepers who post on it. We can focus on a different topic every week or two, or just keep it open and casual, updating the thread periodically. The main thing is that we learn and have fun.
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This evening, one of my pairs of Cardinals was courting at the feeder. He was feeding her. It was so sweet.
And when I was driving home from Little Rock, about 30 miles from home, I saw a hawk and 2 Golden Eagles, all within a couple of miles of each other. The hawk flew down and landed on the ground in a field near the side of the road. The eagles actually flew across my path, both of them about a mile apart from each other, low enough that they were easy to identify.
I was so tempted today to get one of those "scare"owls. Their heads actually turn. I thought it might be good for getting rid of the Grackles, but I was afraid it would scare off the other birds as well.
Do you feed the Mockingbirds regular or golden raisins? The ones I have just love the golden raisins. They will pick through everything else to get them.
Do you use fresh cranberries, or Craisins? If I put out golden raisins and craisins, they completely ignore the craisins.
LOL! 7 out of 10 - then I'm definitely serving cranberries! :)
I'm not sure where you live GBUSA, but Quester looked up nandina where he lives and told me that they wouldn't survive where he lives because of the harsher winters. Maybe the it's the same for you.
Becky
Let me know how the meal worms go. I thought of doing that but there are so many Starlings here and I know they would eat them up. They are as bad or worse than Grackles. I saw a Starling pin down a Juvenile Jay last year and start pecking at his chest. They are nasty too.
I put my humming feeder out yesterday. Hoping to see some travel through. I was thinking of putting an Oriole feeder up too. I see them every once in a while. Have you seen your Pilieated Woodpecker lately?
I hadn't thought about the Starlings. That's the only prolem with trying to expand the variety of food available to get more kinds of birds. Sometimes you get the undesirables, too. There are Starlings about. And even the Red-winged Blackbirds are intimidating to the other birds. You'd think the Bluejays could run them off, as loud and agressive as they are. Some of my Bluejays will take on the squirrels occasionally.
A few years back, my daughter-in-law rescued a baby mourning dove from a blue jay. He was trying to kill him.
Awww....poor thing.
Do you put your jelly out in a dish, or smear it on a tree?
Oh, and I have new residents to report as of this morning....Brown Thrashers. I was talking to the next door neighbor and she said there were a bunch of them around yesterday. I wasn't, so I didn't nortice till today. I always liked them too. They were plentiful in our yard when I was growing up.
That's great seeing the Brown Thrashers. It brought back memories of seeing them when you were young too. That's fun! I never saw a Thrasher, yet....
Good you spoke with your neighbor with the feeders? That will be nice having someone nearby interested in birds too. I have one neighbor who complains about the noise of birds and too many squirrels. If there's a mole she blames me for feeding the birds. Nuts. I keep it clean so I don't care what she says. LOL. I'm not called the Right Wing Bird Lady for nothing :)
I put the Jelly in a dish. My mother saw it one day. She thinks I'm nuts. They were eating out of a crystal heart candy dish. LOL!
I'm going to take the kids birding tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have some good pictures! Maybe a new bird sighting.
It wasn't the new neighbor with all the feeders I was talking to. It was my next door neighbor. She was outside when I went out making a racket to shoo the grackles away. She has some feeders, too. She said the Thrashers like the worms and that we have a lot of them.
Okay. Thanks. Maybe I'll try that. I haven't many takers on oranges so far though.
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