Thursday, May 04, 2006

New bird feeding strategy

I guess this happens to all backyard birders, but my one, general bird feeder has become over run by bully birds and many of the interesting ones that used to come by, don't.

I miss the Cardinals and Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.

Ever since the Monk Parakeets of the IM Fields at 51st and Guadalupe found my feeder a few years back, the little birds won't come by even though they are still in the neighborhood.










Now the feeder attracts the 'keets and White-Winged Doves, intrepid House Sparrows and Great Tailed Grackles.

Occasionally, I see a Blue Jay, Cardinal or Brown Headed Cowbird, but generally, the aggressive birds keep them away.

So, I will now separate the black oil sunflowers from the millet and milo and have separate feeders for peanuts too. Plus, I'm employing different feeders that are suited to different birds. Tube feeders with small perches and feeding holes for smaller birds, a suet feeder for woodpeckers, a peanut feeder for titmice and chickadees, a table feeder for fruit eaters. We'll see how it works. (stock photos)

1 comment:

Andrew said...

Let us know how it goes. I pretty much abandoned my backyard feeder because it was a grackle haven, plus there was a particularly aggressive squirrel who was actually chewing his way through the thick plastic domed lid.