<p>I have bird people on either side of me and have very much enjoyed watching the birds fly across my yard with an occasional stop in the tree out my kitchen window. I have finally come to the conclusion that I now want to feed the birds.</p>
<p>Last week I bought 3 inexpensive feeders (hummingbird, Nyjer/thistle, and a tube seed feeder. I had diners from day one and have been enjoying the show, but now I want more.</p>
<p>I suppose I am playing favorites, but I am most interested in the colorful finches, cardinals and Baltimore orioles. I am considering the Brome plus squirrel buster. a) to keep out squirrels and larger birds b) to provide a forward facing perch for the cardinals and c) because it holds a large amount of food and this means less treks though the snow to refill in winter. Any opinions on this feeder? </p>
<p>Is it necessary to buy the “scoop yourself” seed. There are many prepackaged options, but does this really go stale? Neighbors each have 5-8 feeders with a variety of food. Should I concentrate on the one tasty item the birds cannot resist (which is what???)</p>
<p>Best hummingbird nectar or water to sugar ratio?</p>
<p>Looking forward to hearing any tips from experienced birders.</p>
<p>My best oriole feeder is a feeder with a nail that holds a half an orange and underneath it is a glass cup that holds grape jelly. I usually only get orioles in spring so it might be too late for this year but I get cardinals and house finches also to that feeder. My other best feeder holds black sunflower and it seems to be everyone’s favorite. Plant some bushes nearby if you can as birds like to feel there is some shelter nearby and if possible something with water and you can really go crazy and put it something that makes the water move. Birds are attracted to the sound of running water.</p>
<p>I also have a suet feeder that the birds have to access from below. This keeps the grackles from taking the suet. This feeder attracts downy woodpeckers and nuthatches. Good luck and have fun!</p>
<p>We spend entirely too much time and money feeding the birds. Though we used to have hummingbird feeders, we have found the only way to attract them on a consistent basis is to have a water fountain with a “bubble” feature. We get hummingbirds in that bubble, washing their feathers every morning like clockwork.
I love hummingbirds. I am a plein aire painter and when I am out in the canyon I frequently have one or two confused hummers buzzing over my palette.</p>
<p>We have scrub jays, robins, flickers, juncos, chickadees…
Hummingbird nectar is 4 parts water to one part sugar, no food coloring.</p>
<p>We only put out food in winter as we have many plantings for them to snack on and to provide shelter. They have been checking out my blueberries everyday for ripeness for example.</p>
<p>I also have red twig dogwood, high bush cranberry, oregon grape, rose hips, snowberry ( for when they are desperate), evergreen huckelberry, kinnicinick, raspberries, strawberries, thimbleberry, salmonberry…I leave much of the fallen leaves in the back and side yards to add to the " forest duff" and to attract yummy bugs to eat. I rake the front.mostly.</p>
<p>We had so much fun watching the parrots when we were in San Francisco.
My favorite part of traveling is identifying the new ( to me) plants and wildlife.</p>
<p>EK—we have one enormous flock of parrots in our neighborhood. They circle our small town every morning. The take the very same path on a daily basis and they are the reason I can NEVER sleep past 6AM. So so loud.</p>
<p>Ooh, that bulbul is cool looking and parrots…</p>
<p>Not at our feeder (that would be weird) but we had a large squadron of white pelicans fly low overhead the other day. I think they just pass through here on their way to Minnesota. They were lovely.</p>
<p>We get so many non native exotic birds. A few years back we had a peacock and two pea hens living in our back yard for three weeks. I eventually called the local arboretum for a pickup since their screaching was driving my neighbors batty.</p>