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This shit's for the birds...

108.39.196.215
Posted on January 12, 2021 at 16:04:09
ghost of olddude55
Audiophile

Posts: 15104
Joined: July 14, 2017
 Literally.
I hung two more suet feeders, already had one up. The wife ordered a case of suet from Chewy.com and between the three feeders, I've gone through half a case since last Friday. The birds are going apeshit over this stuff.
So far, besides the usual cardinals, black-capped chickadees, and starlings, the feeders have attracted a red-bellied woodpecker (actually his head is red, the belly is kind of drab), a female northern flicker, couple of downy woodpeckers, some black juncos (they like to stay on the ground and grab little bits of suet that drop while another bird is on the feeder), and a tufted titmouse (no snickering).

The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?

 

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RE: This shit's for the birds..., posted on January 12, 2021 at 16:17:55
Todd A.
Audiophile

Posts: 951
Location: Northern Wisconsin
Joined: July 30, 2013
Contributor
  Since: December 0, 0000
 We've had many pileateds on the suet feeder. Those things are as big as a crow. I had one on the power pole out back and it sounded like a bloody jackhammer.

Flickers are kind of rare; downies, hairies, and red bellied are pretty common. And of course, juncos and chickadees on the ground.

Keeping the squirrels out is a challenge, but the latest effort has them falling to the ground in frustration fairly regularly.

 

RE: This shit's for the birds..., posted on January 12, 2021 at 16:23:39
Sondek
Audiophile

Posts: 6272
Location: Fort Worth
Joined: May 17, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 I can't even give it away to our birds. And it's not for lack of trying. They seem fixated on the sunflower seeds we put out and they just don't seem all that interested in the suet. We'll keep putting out both though.

 

RE: This shit's for the birds..., posted on January 12, 2021 at 21:54:20
Postal Grunt
Audiophile

Posts: 3078
Location: Northeastern Kansas, USA
Joined: January 18, 2001
 Out of curiosity, what did you use to thwart the squirrels? We used to see red squirrels but they've been replaced with grey squirrels and those rascals are seemingly always present. They'll sit on top of the feeder pole and stare in at me when I sit at this computer during daytime hours. Besides being athletic, their appetites are best described as ravenous.

So far, the cone type attachments to block them climbing up to the feeders and feeders with sliding perches have been suggested. Bird food treated with capsaicin wasn't suggested by a local bird shop.

 

Put a finch sock stuffed with Nyjer seed out..., posted on January 12, 2021 at 23:12:45
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 26405
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 a couple weeks ago a few feet from where the last one was years ago.

Prominent, safe position where other critters can't get to.

Nada Finches... but we see a few at the regular bird feeder 12' away with the general population.

The last Finch Sock was covered with the little bastards, but they aren't going for the thistle this time.

Weird.


"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

RE: This shit's for the birds..., posted on January 13, 2021 at 02:04:48
Todd A.
Audiophile

Posts: 951
Location: Northern Wisconsin
Joined: July 30, 2013
Contributor
  Since: December 0, 0000
 The feeder is suspended from a cable stretched between two trees, with a bell-shaped baffle above it. There's a thin branch they can travel down that will bend and deposit them on top of the baffle, but once there, when they go to the edge and try to get to the suet they fall off. It's fairly entertaining, actually.

 

RE: Put a finch sock stuffed with Nyjer seed out..., posted on January 13, 2021 at 08:01:50
neolith
Audiophile

Posts: 4528
Location: Virginia
Joined: February 21, 2002
Contributor
  Since: December 2, 2004
 I had the same rejection of the Nyjer seeds. Currently, I put out a feeder with white proso millet and another with black sunflower. The finches (house and purple) definitely prefer the black sunflower but will chow down on the millet once the sunflower has been depleted. However in the summer, the finches seem to go for the millet.
Cardinals love sunflower as well but the sparrows go for the millet. I believe goldfinches are the big consumers of nyjer.



I married the perfect woman - the downside is that everything that goes wrong is my fault.

 

you gave me an idea, posted on January 13, 2021 at 10:06:54
LtMandella
Audiophile

Posts: 1183
Location: CA
Joined: May 27, 2019
 Yep! I live in the desert, very few birds except roadrunners and a weird looking dove, both flightliess.

SO I am going to try a lizard feeder!

Should be a success here!







If art interprets our dreams, the computer executes them in the guise of programs!

 

RE: This shit's for the birds..., posted on January 13, 2021 at 12:31:03
Inmate51
Audiophile

Posts: 14177
Location: Dallas Area
Joined: July 6, 2005
 Don't even get me started on birdseed! I throw two blends on the patio every day. Damn doves don't even bother to chew - just peck, peck, peck, like they're in some hotdog eating contest. Cardinals have much better manners.


 

I may try that..., posted on January 13, 2021 at 12:50:00
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 26405
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 there's a good Bird Shop up the street I can get some advice from.

Thanks!

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

Keeping live crickets from crawling out of the feeder might be an issue., posted on January 13, 2021 at 13:36:24
ghost of olddude55
Audiophile

Posts: 15104
Joined: July 14, 2017
 there was a Woolworth's department store near here that sold horned toads as pets. I finally saved up enough to get one, and the stopped selling reptiles and amphibians.

The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?

 

Have gone through nearly an entire case of suet in less than a week., posted on January 13, 2021 at 13:38:34
ghost of olddude55
Audiophile

Posts: 15104
Joined: July 14, 2017
 The squirrels aren't getting it either. They're trying but they can't chew through the steel feeder cage.
I use tie wraps to keep the squirrels from prying the feeders open.

The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?

 

Ghost, my respect for you continues to soar..., posted on January 13, 2021 at 23:39:36
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 26405
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 How anyone can get a plastic tie wrap on just ONE damn squirrel is impressive.

PLURAL though... you're the MAN!


"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

They fight like they're loaded up with speed..., posted on January 14, 2021 at 05:30:30
ghost of olddude55
Audiophile

Posts: 15104
Joined: July 14, 2017
 I've run out of Band-Aids, Peroxide, and Neosporin (for me, not the squirrels).
Got the little bastards tie wrapped to a tree trunk. Feel free to choke on your frustration, squir-rels!

The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?

 

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