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Local News

Time To Think About The Bird Feeder
By Douglas H. Domedion

A tube type bird feeder

A tube type bird feeder.

Deer season with the muzzle loader will be ending in a few days (Dec. 16) and with that I would like to bring up a non-hunting subject - feeding wild birds.

Many folks like to feed birds around their homes during the winter and some of us do so during the summer too. The birds don’t really need us helping them out to survive the winter, but during some very harsh storms and deep snow conditions the birds could use a handout.

Most of us do the feeding because we love to see the variety and beauty of the birds that show up; it’s for our own entertainment and enjoyment.

So if you are new to this bird feeding what do you put out and what kind of feeder setup should you strive for? I always promote black-oil sunflower seeds because to me they give you the most bang for you buck. They are the favorite seeds of many of the birds we like to see such as cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, goldfinches, nuthatches, tit mouses, mourning doves and juncos. Who doesn’t get excited when a bright red male cardinal sets off the snow around the feeder? And don’t forget the female cardinal because even though she looks plain “brownish,” a close look will reveal the slight reddish and detail in her feathers.

Back to the sunflower seeds. If you buy them in a 25- or 50-pound bag from a feed store they are a pretty good deal, even with the higher prices today. In grocery stores those smaller bags get expensive and many contain “fillers” that many birds are not interested in. There are also offerings of “wild bird food mixes” that often contain a high percent of “fillers” too that attract undesirable birds like house sparrows and starlings. Thus, many of these “fillers” are thrown from the feeder while the birds are trying to get to the better stuff and eventually they get wet and moldy which is not good for the birds. Plus it attracts mice and rats.

There are many types of feeders, but the two most popular are the tube-type finch feeders and the platform type. The platform type may have a roof and even sides on it to protect the seeds from the weather, but they are harder to put up and easier for larger birds like doves and blue jays to dominate. Tube feeders keep the larger birds off balance making it harder for them to control things and yet allows more birds to feed at a time. These are the ones I like and they are easier to hang up.

If you have squirrels you have to deal with them or they will eat all your seeds before the birds get them and make a mess in the process They will also chew the feeder up trying to get those last few seeds out. So you must present the feeder to the birds in a way the squirrels can not get to them. That means no hanging from tree limbs or near anything they can spring from to get to the feeder. The best bet is to use a metal Shepherds hook and fasten it to another metal stake to get the feeder high enough that a squirrel or cat can not leap up to it from the ground. I get mine plenty high and use a wooden pole with a hook fastened to the end to lift the feeder up to the Shepherds hook. The final thing is a metal cone to put around the stake just below the feeder so a squirrel cannot climb the pole.

Empty sunflower seed shells on the ground below the feeder can get to be a problem so I periodically use a scoop shovel to scrape up the shells and get rid of them. The good seeds that get kicked out by accident from the feeder are usually cleaned up by the ground feeding birds or squirrels.

Feeders will get dirty from bird feces and seed debris that never seems to get out. Therefore, it is a good idea to periodically take the feeder down and give it a good cleaning with a mild solution of chloride and then rinse thoroughly. It would be a good idea to wear rubber gloves and a face mask when doing this as there are some diseases that we can get from the birds.

Keep your feeder clean, filled and protected from predators and they will give you hours of enjoyment.

Tune in next week for some more ideas around the bird feeder.

Contact information for comments or unusual wildlife sightings is 585-798-4022 or woodduck2020@yahoo.com 

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