American Backyard Feeders May Do Harm to Wild Birds

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Friday, December 27, 2002 | JAMES P. STERBA

[TroutStalker]

Last year, Americans spent $2.6 billion on birdseed. That's more than twice as much as they spent on prepared baby food, and two and a half times as much as they spent on food for needy nations. They shelled out a further $733 million on feeders, houses and baths for birds.

[fire_eye]

Anyone else notice that NIGER seed is now spelled NYJER?

Yeah, I saw that... Illiteracy hard at work again (remember, we've banned "Niggardly" from the English language now too). When you're so illiterate you don't know the difference between "Their", "They're", and "There", needless to say, you probably can't pronounce "Niger" correctly either, so the solution is obviously to just ban it.

(MY solution, of course, in response to such tactics, is to start pronouncing "Niger" the wrong way...)

[Wednesday's Child]

We love feeding the birds and do so year round. Right now we have a suet feeder, thistle feeder, all purpose feeder, 2 birdbaths, another birdbath in the stream of our small pond and seed bells plus we have numerous bird houses.
We get a lot of enjoyment from feeding the birds. In fact, we have a number of Chickadees that will take seeds from our hands. Took a bit of patience, but now, whenever we stand on the deck, they fly right to us. Now that's something wonderful! We plant bushes and flowers just for the birds too.

[fire_eye]

Ahh, aren't you lucky to have an owl that comes to you when you call him.

Well, there are 4 or 5 of them that show up in a group off and on, and one of them seems to like me...

You should contact a birding store like "Wild Birds Unlimited" or someplace like that to find out what kind of food (other than other creatures) would appeal to the owl.

I don't think they eat anything but other critters. I'm not above feeding them a mouse or a Liberal, if I caught one in my garage (I usually trap them alive and feed them to the cats in order to teach them (the cats) proper respect for me) but I probably would draw the line at buying live mice to feed an owl.

Maybe he'll get lucky and show up when one of my garage "Live (but not for long)" traps is full...

We have an owl box but he doesn't use it...the other birds use it as a nesting place. :) It's OK though...everyone is welcome in this yard.

I've got a custom, hand-made cedar box I made for the sparrow hawks who were roosting up under the eves. But so far they've turned their beaks up at it. (damned ingrates...). I did get some swallows in it one year.

HOWever... anybody BUT starlings are welcome here. They show up with all their relatives and occupy all the housing and drive all the long-time residents out, so around here, it's "Fly or Die" for them.

Besides... the hawks have learned that when they hear the shotgun, it's dinnertime, and they all show up looking for a wounded starling to snack on. One of them's taken to roosting in the tree out front...

[barker]

We have a hummingbird feeder outside the kitchen window so I can watch them. Last summer one little bird started flying over to the window to look at me before he flew off. Very funny being watched by a bird.

[TroutStalker]

We have four hummingbird feeders that are put out along the back windows, and have had a number of pairs of hummers coming around. We noticed the same thing. Every so often one will hover right in front of the window and look in at us, often at a low level right in front of Max.

[Ouachita]

My son got a bird-feeder for the yard but all I ever see is squirrels hanging off the thing upside down and a big pile of sunflower seed shells on the ground below.

I mounted our feeder on a metal pole about 6' in height then smeared a coating of Vaseline on the bottom half of the pole. It was a lot of fun to watch the squirrels 1st few attempts at scaling that slick pole. They quickly learned the folly of that and are now content to feed on the ground below.

[alfa6]

Good Morning y'all, I bet Max just loooves them thar hummin birds, eh TS.

Two threads for you all to check out if WWII is an interest, the FReeper Foxhole at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/vetscor/813629/posts


and a post on Bill Mauldin at
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/813785/posts

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

alfa6 ;>}

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

The immediate registration of bird feeders MUST be implemented! Licensed bird feeding MUST occur. There are probably people who are carrying concealed bird seed. They MUST be stopped. Bird feeding safety classes can be implemented and should be implemented before the end of winter 2003.

[TroutStalker]

Good morning alfa.

Good morning alfa.

I'll check them out.

Have a Happy New Year!

[TroutStalker]

And definitely no throwing rice at weddings.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

GASP! The very thought of the wastage is enough to make me swoon. Millions of the poor, minorities, women, gays could all be fed with the amount of rice thrown at weddings. OH the shame! Start a movement.

[alfa6]

That will teach me not to scroll down and double check my work.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

...hawks treat feeders as fast-food outlets, snatching birds from perches or the ground below.

Cool!!! The bird feeders serve a dual purpose. Not only do they feed the little seed eating birds they feed the meat eaters such as hawks too. This is great!

impose their will upon nature.

What a stupid statement. Nature has a choice whether to come eat out of bird feeders or not. Nothing is being forced on the birds or other animals.

Nature will do just fine whether I like to watch birds at feeders or not. This is just a bunch of screaming wackos just like the so-called "global warming" nuts. The big scare in the 1970's was that we were heading into an ice age.

[barker]

Thanks alfa. I'm already on the FReeper Foxhole ping list. Interesting stuff. I sent a friend all the info from there on the Navajo Code Talkers.

[cubreporter]

Good for you. Keep up the good work. Helping the birds and critters survive in this mean ole world is something good we can do. :)

[joesnuffy]

Got five or six feeders and a couple of bird baths...blue jays cardinals pilated woodpeckers downy woodpeckers hairy woodpeckers redheaded woodpeckers nuthatches chicadees
gold and purple finches indigo buntings evening grossbeaks pine grossbeaks rose breasted grossbeaks plenty of grackles crows starlings ..which I shoot...
Lately we have been getting a large barred owl..sits over the feeders taking deer mice and rabbits..
We also get squirrels feral cats coyotes white tailed deer and wild turkeys..plus the occasional skunk, fisher, racoon, great horned owl, wolf, bear, bob cat , canadian lynx, and many others...the bird feeders are a happening place...

[joesnuffy]

Makes them too easy prey for the local cats

[AnAmericanMother]

It's called a "Yankee Flipper" and it's made by the Droll Yankee bird feeder folks.

They have a video: Yankee Flipper

Scroll down to click on the video. It is a RIOT. I can't help laughing out loud as the squirrels go flying off into space.

[TroutStalker]

That's great. Thanks for the laughs.

[groanup]

Many thanks for the link. That was a riot.