We feed well over 100# of birdseed each winter. We put a mixture of seeds and cracked corn on

[Atticus]

a platform open tray, black sunflower seeds in a hanging wire three-level basket and a clear tubular "finch feeder" filled with thistle seed.

Looking out my window as I type this, we have two pairs of cardinals, several mourning doves, dark-eyed juncos, black-capped chickadees, goldfinches, red finches. sparrows, a downy woodpecker and a tufted titmouse.

They've cleaned up the suet I put out this morning and that will provide the calories some will need to survive tonight's cold.

Feeding the wild birds and enjoying watching them is just another of the simple pleasures my parents taught me to enjoy.

[Walleye]

1. Same here, I have finch feeders and get lots of gold finches winter and summer

Also purple and house finches. I used to put out more sunflower seeds but I live on the second floor of an apartment building and the squirrels on my deck just got out of hand. I sometimes see bluebirds out by the road eating holly berries. But the hummingbirds coming in the spring is the highlight of my bird season. I know what you mean about the simple pleasures taught to you as a child. My grandfather always took the time to Point out and identify birds for me when I was walking with him. He had big Audubon style books up in his den I woul look at for hours

[AndyS]

2. Me too!

All taken through my window from the comfort of my climate controlled house.

[70sEraVet]

30. Great photos!

I had a friend who set up a camera near his feeder, and it was motion activated. The cool part was, he had a backdrop behind his feeder, and he could place pictures of various landscapes behind the feeder. So from his own backyard, in the Nashville suburbs, he could get wonderful shots of birds with all kinds of rural landscapes behind them!

[electric_blue68]

39. Very nice 👍

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. I have 2 feeders, 2 suet cages, 2 molded bird feeders on my deck. I also have a stump

by the garage where I put birdfood out. All the usual birds, but red and gray squirrels as well. Yesterday, I had a deer feeding out at the stump. Love seeing the birds come in during the day.

[LakeArenal]

4. Oh we easily spent that in WI.

We fed peanuts in the shell and sunflower hearts also. Corn and apples for the deer and turkeys.

Here in Costa Rica we feed nuts, seeds and fruit. They love grapes. Grapes are expensive.

[FloridaBlues]

5. I enjoy watching the wild birds on my feeder as well.

[Tetrachloride]

6. I used 2x bird feeders because of competition from blue jays

my cardinal record was 7-8 pairs

plain black sunflower was way more popular than the rest

[Disaffected]

43. Black Oil Sunflower seeds

seem to be about the only thing winter birds will go for here (mainly chickadees, plus the odd blue jay, flicker and red pole).

I have a feeder suspended from the top of a pole with a barrier to keep the (invasive) gray squirrels out of it.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I feed birds year round. I love sitting on the porch seeing who shows up.

I store birdseed in a couple of galvanized metal buckets with tight fitting lids. I swear the birds know the sound when I open the buckets. Many times the birds will be at the feeders before I get back to the porch.

[Chautauquas]

10. I also store the birdseed and peanuts in galvanized buckets

I clang the lids together when I'm putting food out and they start showing up right away. They are on the deck eating before I even get through the door and into my kitchen to watch them.

[Chautauquas]

8. I put food on my deck every morning before breakfast

and then I sit at my kitchen table and eat while I watch the bird show on the deck - jays, cardinals, doves, titmice, downy woodpeckers, juncos, sparrows, grosbeaks, and a red bellied woodpecker that shows up daily for a peanut or two. Last summer while sitting on the deck a titmouse flew in and landed on my head, plucking a half dozen hairs for a nest. They are a joy to watch.

[cyclonefence]

9. Me too

We had a lot of trouble with raccoons and possoms tearing down the feeders to get at the black oil sunflower seed--the only seed we put out; it attracts birds of all kinds--so last year we splurged on a bag of hot-pepper-treated sunflower seed to mix in (sparingly) with the regular. Amazingly effective. Keeps the squirrels off the feeders, too; there's plenty for them to eat on the ground from spillage. Several years ago we switched to hot pepper suet, again with great results. Birds apparently don't taste the spiciness, but mammals can't take it.

[electric_blue68]

40. Interesting!

[Botany]

11. Much much more important is to plant native plants so as to have the insects and critters that our

.... that all of our native song birds feed their young.

[IbogaProject]

17. Thank you Botny

For that important detail. I love how Robins are vegan all year except to catch worms to feed their young.

[druidity33]

19. I worry about bird flu...

my co-worker found 3 dead cardinals in his yard. Had the local extension office take them and they confirmed it. He was told to remove his feeders and given a list of perennial native plants.

[cilla4progress]

23. Yeah here in the Pac NW

we were told to take down our feeders due to bird flu.

I miss it! But we have native plants and left over garden stuff they can get to.

[Botany]

38. I took down my feeders years ago because 75% of the birds I was getting were non native ...

... invasive "trash birds." House sparrows, starlings, pigeons, purple finches, and so on. I remember
evening grosbeaks, titmice, downy woodpeckers, Cardinals, black capped chickadees, and many more
but now not so much.

Although sometimes I put out some suet with hot peppers in it to get some woodpeckers and nuthatches.

If you like our native birds plant native plants. The "bird feeding industry" is a billion dollar scam and not
good for our native birds.

[Deuxcents]

12. We have some great photographers on the DU n I enjoy em. Thanks

[marieo1]

13. Right On

One of my greatest pleasures, too. Corn for the deer and the birds that can eat it - blue jays and rabbits and birdseed for the smaller birds. I love watching all of them. Our winters would be awful long if it weren't for the pleasure of watching the wildlife!

[paleotn]

14. Same here. Between the birds, gray and red squirrels...

we go thru around 150 or more lbs. per year. I wait until the bears start the long, Winter snooze and the snow flies for the first time. Feeders went up with the 5 inches we got a week or so ago.

[Marthe48]

15. I just bought 200 lbs

120 lbs of sunflower seeds, and 80 lbs of mixed bird seed. Last year, I ran short by Jan. and had a really hard time finding either. When I saw it was available, I stocked up. Should have enough to last into Spring. I got some dried corn on the cob, but not much.

I don't think I see as many birds this year, but maybe they'll come back when they notice the feeders are filled.

[patphil]

16. I'm up in the 100lb territory also.

I have a cage style bird feeder that I can say no squirrel has gotten into in the 5 years I've had it.
Chipmonks are another story. They are small enough to get in through the mesh. I have to endure them until they stash enough food to hibernate. Then it's for the birds only.
I do put a little on the ground for the doves and cardinals.
We watch them through the kitchen window; it's bird TV.

[Evolve Dammit]

18. Nice. Do you have a recc for Black oil sunflower purchasing? It's gotten quite expensive.

[republianmushroom]

20. It hit $40 for 40# a month ago last week is was $35 for 40# in Norther Calif.

[Evolve Dammit]

25. 35 is tolerable. Thanks

[Atticus]

31. Wow! Last 40# bag I bought last month here in southern Illinois was less than $20! nt

[Atticus]

21. We usually get ours at a Rural King store. It has gotten expensive. We put out less on mild

days when the ground is clear and more on cold snowy days when food is scarce and survival is at stake for some.

[Evolve Dammit]

24. thanks

[raising2moredems]

22. I feed wildlife too..

Between sunflower seed, bird seed, safflower seed, finch food, and suet, I easily exceed 1000 lbs a year. Also put out ears of corn which only cost me pitching in a few bucks for a gift card to the farmer who lets us pick. Yeah, don't intend to feed raccoons or the occasional skunk but all the wildlife do their part for me - bugs, ticks, cicadas (gads I did not realize how much squirrels like to eat them!), mosquitos (we have bat houses also).
And I do enjoy watching - I also have water sources year round so not unusual to see deer anytime during the day. Mom and fawns are always a pleasure to see.

[Evolve Dammit]

27. You are a true supporter of wildlife!

[70sEraVet]

26. I've had trouble finding cracked corn. I can gen whole kernels no problem.

Then my wife dug into her bag of tricks (remember Felix the Cat?) and came up with an old hand-crank wheat grinder. I was able to adjust it so it would just break up the kernels, and it doesn't take any time at all to go through ten pounds.

[Evolve Dammit]

28. great idea and yes I remember Felix!

[femmedem]

29. Having a high tolerance for squirrels, I go through 70#/week!

Last edited Sun Dec 4, 2022, 07:47 AM - Edit history (1)

My urban backyard is only about eight feet deep and not much wider than my modest house, but it usually has between twenty and fifty birds. Mostly sparrows, but I often see cardinals, tufted titmice, mourning doves, juncos, chickadees, purple house finches, a Carolina wren, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers (more often in the winter), catbirds, bluejays and nuthatches.

I spend a ridiculous percentage of my salary on birdseed--more than I spend feeding myself--but it's one of my great joys. Fortunately, I haven't seen any sign of bird flu; I dread the day it makes its way to my neighborhood.

[housecat]

32. Birds are relaxing to watch. Besides the permanent residents like bluejays snd sparrows we have at

least three species of woodpeckers. Too cool watching them peck at suet cakes. So we made a deal with the squirrels -- leave the suet to the peckers and I'll give you treats like nuts and seeds on the ground. It worked. Everyone has what they want.

[panader0]

33. Same here--40 lbs every two weeks. Lots of birds here in So Az too.

Quail, dove, sparrows, grackels, and many more. The best time is in the spring when the quail bring their
babies. The male comes first, finds a spot to lookout, and then the mama leading up to 12 little babies no
bigger than the end of your thumb. So fun to watch right out of our window. They really need feeding this
time of year--and water.

[certainot]

34. i wonder why the finches, sparrows, and juncos sometimes come by at the same time. one

minute no one and then 6 to ten of 3 or 4 species. safety in numbers? interspecies flocking?

[druidity33]

35. I've noticed this too...

and in that specific grouping. Finches, sparrows and juncos. I planted an excess of sunflowers this year and it was a delight to see them all feeding off the flowers as they dried on the stalk. I've seen a bluejay join in, but the other birds mostly clear out when he comes around...

[certainot]

42. there may be some ornithological research or term related to it. i have a birder friend who might

know but he's not on email and he's nuts and too much work to call on phone

[Vinca]

36. We're going through birdseed like water so far. The primary culprits are a flock of wild turkeys

who frequent various properties on the hill pigging out. The woodpeckers have figured out a way to eject a bunch of seed out of the feeder all at once and the turkeys take advantage of it. My favorite things to feed in the winter are opossums. I've set up a "possum cafe" to keep their food out of the weather and before the winter's out they're going to need Weight Watchers judging from what they've been consuming. I think there's only 2, but they eat like there's four times that.

[Useless in FL]

37. Bird/Squirrel/Chipmunk Feeding Stations

You know, Atticus, since I moved to the North GA mountains, I have fed the birds and critters that I knew from my childhood in PA and CT.

In addition to the birds you have mentioned, the Downey and Hairy Woodpeckers visit my feeders, as do Blue Jays, Cardinals, Juncos and Mourning Doves. However, I spread some seed and peanuts along the stone wall for the squirrels and chipmunks. Today, a pileated woodpecker visited the feeders I have out on the grilling deck, maybe because of the mealworms and some choice bugs, I don't quite know. Oh, of course, the crows are plentiful and snatch many of the peanuts I place out on the rocks.

I love watching all of their activities throughout the day. I may be going broke buying seed and corn for the deer, but it makes me happy.

[electric_blue68]

41. Thanks to all of you feeding the birds, and other critters sez this apartment city gal.

I've seen blue jays, cardinals, mourning doves when I lived in Brooklyn on a very tree lined street.
Up in Inwood park (the northern most park in Manhattan) I've seen mallards, egrets. Many years back - swans.

Sparrows in a less treeish area. Pigeons. Don't see starlings like I used too.

Seen all these in our various big parks plus hawks soaring. 👍.


But the funniest thing was reading about something last year in my former neighborhood Big Park Ft Tryon - second northern most park in Manhattan.

They said there are Wild Turkeys in the very deep parts of it. I texted my sis about it. She texted back "OMG". 😄