Birding!

[RD.]

I have several bird feeders scattered about the yard, with a dedicated feeder just for the squirrels. As you previously explained, there are plenty of ways to squirrel-proof feeders, along with nesting boxes etc. In the spring I have extra watering stations set up for the crows as well, they like to pre-soak most food before swallowing and regurgitating to their young. Having grown up along the shoreline of the Detroit River, same shoreline where I grew up, not sure how you can describe a Red Squirrel, or any squirrel for that matter, as a large rat with a furry tail. Those rats in the Windsor/Detroit area looked like fugly mutant squirrels on steroids. lol

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

We also have a lot of bird feeders in our yard, and, surprising enough, we've had very little trouble with squirrels. However, we did, at one point, have a massive rabbit sized squirrel try multiple times to come and steal the bird food. I named him Thick Boi.

 

[jjohnwm]

I have several bird feeders scattered about the yard, with a dedicated feeder just for the squirrels. As you previously explained, there are plenty of ways to squirrel-proof feeders, along with nesting boxes etc. In the spring I have extra watering stations set up for the crows as well, they like to pre-soak most food before swallowing and regurgitating to their young. Having grown up along the shoreline of the Detroit River, same shoreline where I grew up, not sure how you can describe a Red Squirrel, or any squirrel for that matter, as a large rat with a furry tail. Those rats in the Windsor/Detroit area looked like fugly mutant squirrels on steroids. lol

I literally never saw a Red Squirrel in SW Ontario when I grew up; we had tons of greys but reds were something we only saw when we went "up north" in summer to the cottage, or in fall for hunting. Even at Point Pelee, reds were unheard of, although we would very occasionally see one of those gigantic Fox Squirrels there. Similarly, I never saw any Ground Squirrels in Ontario, but they were common across the river in Detroit in places like the Detroit Zoo and elsewhere.

Honestly I don't hate squirrels...or love 'em, for that matter...they're just another animal that I enjoy seeing but I want to control any negative impact they have on my property. I like deer immensely....but that doesn't mean that I encourage them to nibble my flowers and trees in the yard.

I don't even "hate" rats...but I don't want them around and I did everything possible to kill every last one when I lived where they might be present. We don't get 'em in my current location, thank goodness.

Let's be honest: it wouldn't take a master make-up artist to carefully shave a squirrel and create a passable rat...or to use some crazy glue and a handful of barbershop sweepings to turn a rat into a squirrel. In terms of personality, there's not much to choose between the two.

 

[esoxlucius]

Cats? I thought you liked those things?

I love cats, and squirrels, and birds too.

I just wish it was straightforward to put a simple bird feeder up and enjoy the birds only. But the squirrels would muscle in on the bird food, and the local cats, my mad Savannah in particular, would muscle in on both squirrels and birds!

We have some lovely garden birds here, I wouldn't want to put them in peril. And believe it or not sparrows, both house and tree varieties, are not as common as they once were. And even the huge flocks of starlings that were once present years ago are diminishing.

Anyway, our resident species of birds have it quite easy during our mild winters, there's not as much need to help them out.....unlike your poor robin! Hope the little guy makes it through to spring.

 

[jjohnwm]

I love cats, and squirrels, and birds too.

I just wish it was straightforward to put a simple bird feeder up and enjoy the birds only. But the squirrels would muscle in on the bird food, and the local cats, my mad Savannah in particular, would muscle in on both squirrels and birds!

We have some lovely garden birds here, I wouldn't want to put them in peril. And believe it or not sparrows, both house and tree varieties, are not as common as they once were. And even the huge flocks of starlings that were once present years ago are diminishing.

Anyway, our resident species of birds have it quite easy during our mild winters, there's not as much need to help them out.....unlike your poor robin! Hope the little guy makes it through to spring.

There's certainly no denying that once you start to put out food for birds...or any other wildlife...you set machinery in motion that can run out of control and cause a mess. Out here in rural areas, the problem is at the same time both better and worse. It's better because our yards tend to be bigger, so we can "set aside" one or more areas for our feeders that don't require cleaning up beneath them as often. Most of my feeders are in a couple small patches in the yard that could be called either "wildflower gardens" or "weedy patches", depending upon your viewpoint; I've actually got low fences around them just to delineate them to make it easier to train Duke to stay out of them. Bird poop and empty seed hulls aren't even visible there.

Of course, it's also worse because the further you are from town, the bigger the varmints tend to be. Chasing bears out of your yard is a bit more exhilarating than shooing away rabbits and raccoons.

And, yep...with a major snowstorm bearing down upon us, and with the snow just now starting to fall heavily, the robin is under the feeder right now, scarfing up a mix of raisins and krill. Keeping him right-side-up until spring would be great; but right now, just getting him through the next 48 hours is my goal.

 

[tlindsey]

Tip for anyone feeding hummingbirds check area for ants because if using sugar for feeding ants will find it. Also hummingbirds are territorial over one feeder. Watched a Ruby throated hummingbird perch on branch and chase others away.

 

[esoxlucius]

There's certainly no denying that once you start to put out food for birds...or any other wildlife...you set machinery in motion that can run out of control and cause a mess.

Absolutely, it's never as easy or straightforward as you initially planned. Attracting "other" unwanted animals is one thing but something else that used to do my head in (this was at our previous house) was that when the birds were feeding a lot of the food would end up scattered about. A few weeks later we had a crop of barley or wheat or whatever it was growing around the bird feeder, lol.

I think you're probably right when you say it's far better if you can set aside an "area" where you have some element of control. It seems that to do it properly, and on a fair scale, you are looking at quite a chunk of maintenance and husbandry to prevent it getting out of control.

 

[RD.]

No question - birds are messy eaters! Outside, or inside, they tend to flick food in all directions always in search for the best looking morsel. The trick in reducing that behavior, or at least the resulting mess, is to target feed. Do not purchase the general mixed seed bags found at the big box stores, most are filled with low cost fillers (gee, where have a I heard that term used before?) Most of that filler either attracts non friendly's, such as house sparrows, or gets scattered everywhere below, resulting in unwanted spring growth. The following is a quick start on the basics.
Feeding Birds: a Quick Guide to Seed Types | All About Birds All About Birds

In our yard we keep it simple, black oil sunflower seeds for the bulk of the food, striped sunflower seed for the squirrels, and blue jays, and peanuts in the shell for same. Niger seed if/when I can find it at a reasonable price, and it seems fresh. In the winter I hang a large suet type feeder for the various woodpeckers that visit our area. All of our feeders hang over flower beds mulched with large chunks of red cedar bulk, and the shells/waste gets lost in the cracks & crevices, where the only thing that may result is a handful of sunflowers that germinate under one feeder that gets more direct sunlight. We let those grow, for more bid food come winter. I also like the look of them. I doubt that the NF tropical sticks will be germinating come spring.

In the spring we add a few specialized feeders, for the hummingbirds that migrate through this area. The ants get the spillage below, the wasps are the real enemy, but we use feeders with wasp guards to reduce their intake. The only chore with those feeders is keeping them clean, and full, but most of the hummingbirds that I see in the yard prefer our flowers, over feeders. They are specially fond of our honeysuckle & delphiniums.

 

[esoxlucius]

Wow. Different types of seeds for different birds/critters. Different types of feeders to target individual species. There's more of a science to bird feeding than one thinks.

It seems we've come a long way since the days when bits of stale bread were thrown on the lawn, lol.

I wonder how many thousands of poor birds have died over the years by people feeding bread, who thought they were doing the birds a favour during winter, but in fact were sealing their fate!

 

[jjohnwm]

No question - birds are messy eaters!...Do not purchase the general mixed seed bags found at the big box stores, most are filled with low cost fillers (gee, where have a I heard that term used before?)...

Lol, I was thinking the same thing as soon as I read that...

Your streamlined feeding plan pretty much mirrors mine. I don't actively feed squirrels, as Duke tends to be a bit enthusiastic in his reaction to them, but we also limit our feeding in large part to Black Oil Sunflower and suet/deer fat in winter. Niger is offered all year, even during the summer, because Goldfinches breed very late in the summer season and they feed their young with seeds as well as the more common diet of insects fed by most small birds.

We put lots of hummingbird feeders out in summer as well. We typically only have the one species, the Ruby-throated, and they are complete buttheads when it comes to jealously guarding and protecting "their" feeders from each other. Most of the feeders sold commercially have multiple feeding-ports, hold a litre of sugar-water and are designed for places like Arizona where there are may species of Hummers and they all more or less get along, feeding together without too much strife. In the East, we have much better luck with small feeders made from large test tubes hung upside down, corked with rubber stoppers that are drilled to contain a glass pipette that dispenses the water at the bottom. We have a dozen or so of those, spread all around the yard, so those angry little male Hummers can't commandeer them all...but they try! Great fun to watch. This past summer was our best ever for Hummers, with several broods raised in the yard, and later in the season we would have a dozen or more visible at one time, usually well spaced-out and chittering mightily at one another. They are so tame that they will happily hover and feed only a couple feet away from a person seated quietly in a deck chair. It's impossible not to be impressed by them, or to tire of them.

We also try to avoid food on the ground, for all the reasons stated by RD. , but some winters (not this one!) we have almost daily visits from flocks of Snow Buntings, Grey Partridges and/or Sharp-tailed Grouse, and those guys all want to feed on the ground. They are about the only desirable birds that will eat all the crap in the cheap "mixed seed" bags, which is a good thing because when they start to show up they eat tons of it!

I think I am winning the war on House Sparrows. I've picked off about a half-dozen and haven't seen one now for at least a few days. They always seem to show up at the most inopportune times; I really need a bathrobe in camo...

And...after somehow escaping notice all day yesterday...the Robin is back in the yard, and looking pretty good.

It seems we've come a long way since the days when bits of stale bread were thrown on the lawn, lol.

I wonder how many thousands of poor birds have died over the years by people feeding bread, who thought they were doing the birds a favour during winter, but in fact were sealing their fate!

Bread seems to really only attract one species: those god-forsaken, nest-destroying, invasive English House Sparrows!