Bird Feed

[Clammer]

I have been having a great time with the woodpeckers l

I have quite a few feeders & the weekly expense is my family food bill

I have had problems in the past with squarrals . bid I,ve got that down .by having a couple of lever shut feeders & one with that looks like a wire ball & the feeders is in the middle .
my other success has been to set a couple up where the squarrals can,t fty to them & my ace in the whole was to put axsel grease on the pole the holds them ;; that was two years ago & after each resident squarrals tried a couple of times & got greased up they now don,t even try ;;

as far as the seed
suet is mostly $1.00 with 50lbs of sunflower seed at Ocean state job lot being arounf 22/23 ll
OSJL sells 20lbs bags of that small seed / mixed for over $20 .

But the Christman Tree shop>>>while it last ;;
suet .89 18lb of the small grainy mix >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 4.99 .. stock up ><>,

Best selection of suet I,ve found is Bass Pro shops ;;

My BITA is the sparrows , those suckers set a target on a feeder & hit it from sunrise to sunset .. enoughs / enoughs ..............
the cardnals, wrens, chickadees, finches, snow birds, can,t get near them ;;
the doves just walk around the ground getting the drops ;;

Enought of this >>>>>>>>> lets design traps & ways to destroy the f #$%^&*()_)( bLOOOOOOOOFISH population

[Raven]

that's because millet is the main ingredient in those
cheap mixes....

Cardinals mainly want SAFFLOWER "the white ones"
which is absent from those mixes

so i don't /won't buy them ....plus the seed doesn't need shelling like sun-flower seed does...
so the sparrows just gobble it up

what was the price of suet at bass pro shops $1.99
each ? or similar ?

Christmas tree had them 3 squares for 2 bucks last time i looked

[Clammer]

C/T was .89 ea last week & BPS is .99 ea.

[Raven]

A red mesh onion bag full of raw beef suet found in the meat section at some markets kicks Butt! and it's cheaper usually.... and not so greasy to handle

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Clammer

My BITA is the sparrows , those suckers set a target on a feeder & hit it from sunrise to sunset .. enoughs / enoughs ..............

Ya, and the sparrows hit the sunflower seed feeders now where before they would just eat the cheaper mixes.

Then after pigging out they all gather in the bushes and fight like crazy from noon till one.

[FishermanTim]

Here's some added food for thought....
If you buy the "songbird / wild bird mixes, you are getting a variety of seeds. Som of these are weed seeds, and since birds know what they want, they will target the best seeds first. What they will do is pick away the "junk" seeds to get at the desired ones. That is why feeders filled with "mixes" need filling more often. The sparrows are renowned for spilling the junk seeds to get at the sunflower seed.

Cracked corn will be eaten by most birds, but if left on the ground, the decaying corn will act as a pre-emergent weed killer, preventing most seeds (like grass) from germinating.
Sunflower seeds - the shells can pile up around a feeder and act like a mulch, preventing desired plants from growing properly.

I feed the birds with 3 primary food types.
Sunflower seeds - My feeders are squirrel proof, so they only get the spillage.
Thistle (niger) seeds - Small songbirds LOVE these, but the larger birds and squirrels don't.
Suet feeders - Mainlly for the woodpeckers, although the squirrels will hit them for the sunflower seed in the suet.

Pigeons are pretty much a rarety in our yard, and the few that stop by never stay long.

[ProfessorM]

I stay away from the mixes they attract too many squirrels IMO. I just use sunflower seed.
Anywho if you have been feeding the birds make sure you keep them full this week as it is going to get real cold and wouldn't be fair to them to not have any food available as they probably depend on you now and would have a harder time finding new feeding areas during this snow covered cold spell.

[justplugit]

I am down to sunflower and suet, a little mix for the scratch birds, but the thistle and safflower prices are just too expensive now.

[ProfessorM]

Come out and play little birdy. Look who I just saw out here this afternoon. Looking for stupid birds eating a feeders. Kind of far away so pics. are not that good. Been here a lot lately.

[striperman36]

What is that a grouse?

[gone fishin]

Red tail hawk - hungry? Oops there goes anther dove.

[FishermanTim]

What happened to all the birds we used tohave around here?

Gee, that snow looks an awful lot like white feathers...!


I saw what had to have been a hawk, although it was smaller than the red-tailed hawks I have seen. I didn't get a good look at it, as it was chasing another bird across our yard. The reason I suspect a member of the hawk family was that it had to fly through lots of tree branches in pursuit of its quarry. The only birds that will fly kamakazi style through tree branches are birds of prey. (all others stop in the trees, seeking protection whereas birds of prey intend on flying right on through with victim in tow.)

I wouldn't mind a little visit now and then, to keep the regulars on their toes.

[Chris in Mass]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

Come out and play little birdy. Look who I just saw out here this afternoon. Looking for stupid birds eating a feeders. Kind of far away so pics. are not that good. Been here a lot lately.

Nice get!

[Clammer]

This was/ is working great ;;

I have been using this lobster pot as a bird feeder ;
I block the two entrances with kids / play balls >> just pushing them in ;;
The other nite I went to put food in it & I didn,t have any shoes on .kinda f $%^&*() cold .. so I removed the balls for access & than ran back in the house / neglecting to block the entrances ;;;

well ya see what happens . BUT I watched him for a while the M/ F#$%^&*() free dives ..he goes under the snow for a long period of time ... getting & eating the seeds that was put in there before the snaow <><><><>

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Clammer

The other nite I went to put food in it & I didn,t have any shoes

Hmm, bare feet, somehow i always pictured you wearing $300 leather slippers with like Hugh Hefner silk bathrobes.