Creating A Bird Sanctuary In Your Yard

March 5, 2005 | sweetliberty

[GodBlessUSA]

Beautiful Garden Becky! I love this time of year! Thanks for posting your pictures! I can't wait to see your Glads in bloom :).

[GodBlessUSA]

It's amazing that they have flight patterns and can communicate. I put my feeder out and it's been out long enough that already changed it. Here I go again, changing a feeder for no visitors. LOL!

[GodBlessUSA]

LOL!
I feed the squirrels in the back. For the most part they stay there. One squirrel is making me nuts. One of about 6. Fortunately, he can't get on the feeders but it's non-stop with the suet. I have to get this book and get one for my sister. It sounds like fun reading!

[sweetliberty]

6 squirrels? Only six???? My low end count before they get going for the day is at least twice that. They don't touch the suet feeders, but I think I may had to invest in another Droll Yankee feeder to replace one of the other "squirrel-proof" -yeah, right - feeders.

[GodBlessUSA]

At one time I had counted into the teens and more but the population comes and go. They were preparing for babies in Feb. and March and there were a lot more back then.

I have a baffle on my feeders with seed and they can't jump on top. They never bother with the thistle or Hummingbird feeder, so I guess some have become frustrated. The ones I put seed out for seem content and chase others, if the population in that area gets too big. They are not territorial but they don't want to give up their food either. LOL!

I use a squirrel proof cage suet feeder. It works but only Downy uses it. I have the other suet on trees for Flicker and Red-belly. It's an upside down one but you know those squirrels are clever and find a way. LOL! I have read starlings can't cling upside down to it. They do! :)Suet is expensive so it drives me nuts when they eat a block in one day. :)

[sweetliberty]

I don't know why mine have never taken an interest in the suet, but I'm glad. And the thistle feeders they probably leave alone because they can't get enough of the seed into their grubby little fists at a time.

[GodBlessUSA]

Good Morning SL:)
I even tried the suet they aren't suppose to like. They ate it like crazy. I don't know if you feed any of them. But I put some seed out for them on the ground and a stump and they pretty much stick to that. I chase off the suet feeder ones. I find them to be vindictive. So if I don't feed them, they retaliate in my garden. LOL!

[pelikan]

Would you please add me to your ping list? Thanks!

I've got my bird/butterfly garden established already but have "problem birds" now...could really use some pointers on dealing with pigeons and starlings...and grackles

[sweetliberty]

I was using that Squirrel Away powder. It worked at first, until the little beggars cultivated a taste for it. How on earth do people who use ground feeders deal with it. I've seen pictures of those low to the ground platform/table type feeders, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how you would control other critters. I did see one set-up in my bird book of one that was homemade and had a cage like thing mounted over it with openings just big enough for the birds, but that would exclude ground feeders like the doves.

[GodBlessUSA]

I know. They can grow accustom to everything. For a time they wouldn't eat safflower. They get use to it. Ewwwww, Dahshle/hidebeast on fox. Glad I put the volume down. :)

Anyway, I could never use a platform. It stinks because I know the Cardinals would love that. I throw enough seed that they can grab it from the ground too. My problem will become worse when I put fruit out. I just know it! :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Woo Hoo Pelikan on the Garden/Bird Forum :)

[sweetliberty]

Sure. Be glad to.

The Grackles here have thinnned out. I took Conservababe's advice and made a lot of noise when a bunch of them swarmed into the yard. It does scare the other birds away temporarily, but they come back. The main thing is to prevent them roosting nearby. Same with pigeons and starlings (the roosting, I mean). I don't have a problem with pigeons (crossing my fingers), but the grackles are a pain. The starlings haven't been too bad.

Another thing is to use a lot of feeders that are largely inaccessible to bigger birds. One poster mentioned not putting feed in platform feeders until the Grackles had moved on.

[pelikan]

Do you know of a feeder that would be large enough for cardinals but small enough to prevent pigeons?

I've got a Yankee feeder for the squirrel problem but the cards don't like it...

Thanks for the tip for the grackles!

[sweetliberty]

I quit putting food on the ground, since those 2 birds died. I don't know if the stuff on the ground had anything to do with it, but I didn't want to take any chances. With all the rain we get, it's not hard to imagine that seed on the ground could become a fertile breeding ground for all sorts of micro-organisms, so for now, the ground feeders will just have to settle for what gets spilled by the other birds and by me when I fill the feeders. Unfortunately, discontinuing the food on the ground seems to have renewed the squirrels' determination to access the feeders.

[sweetliberty]

The Cardinals are persnickety about what they will eat out of. I do have a couple that will eat out of the Yankee Flipper, but they prefer the platform feeder. Perhaps our resident garden shop owner/bird feeder could offer some advice.

[pelikan]

Woohoo back at you, GodBlessUSA!

[sweetliberty]

There was a bird "incident" in the local paper this morning. The last paragraph is pretty funny.

Turkey crashes into window

[GodBlessUSA]

OOps I meant thread. Forum. LOL!

[GodBlessUSA]

Well, at least someone may use the Turkey and eat him. :)

I have had a couple birds crash into the window. Usually when they try to escape a Hawk. Fortunately, the screens prevented serious injuries. I can imagine the loud bang a Turkey must have made!

We are lucky because it's not very rainy here normally. I rake the Sunflower seed up daily. Pain in the neck but it keeps it from spoiling or becoming too messy. :)

[Conservababe]

Do you know of a feeder that would be large enough for cardinals but small enough to prevent pigeons?

If you purchase the levered control squirrel-proof bird feeder, you can set the mechanism to close for a more heavy bird.