<p>Have been doing simple bird feeder in the back yard for several years. But have not really put in any thouhts in it - most of the seeds went to squirrels instead of birds. </p>
<p>With the “new” toy I got myself, I want to set up some really good feeders to attract song birds.</p>
<p>Just purchased a BROME SQUIRREL Proof feeder ($$) and is looking at different seeds now. Is having some hard time deciding on the seed. Did go to a local natural specialisty store. The sales lady suggested seeds with peanuts etc that is very expensive - i.e. $30 for a 20 lb bag. On the other hand, cheap seed from big chain store does not get any birds to visit. I would like to think the birds could tell by just looking at the contents of the feeders. </p>
<p>Would love to get some tips from those who have experiences with bird feeders.</p>
<p>I do frequent our local specialty store and purchase good birdseed. It does make a difference when it comes to attracting more colorful birds. I had one of those squirrel proof feeders …the kind the sends the little buggers flying. I think it went thru batteries quickly . My house isn’t set up that well for feeders where I can actually watch them , but I have been known to buy corn for the pheasants that are " let go " in the local wildlife refuge and somehow manage to find their way to our neighborhood. Haven’t seen any this year though</p>
<p>I have one of their feeders (and several others). I fill it with sunflower hearts/chips. The hearts create less mess and I don’t have to fill the feeder as often. I get a lot of chickadees, finches (gold and purple), nuthatches and an occasional tufted titmouse on that feeder. I buy the seed in 50# bags; I think it runs about a dollar a pound.</p>
<p>I buy the large bag at Costco which contains sunflower seeds and smaller seeds. I just toss it out back as a supplement for their winter feeding. We draw your basic Boston-area birds, mostly sparrows and snowbirds with some chickadees and of course the jays and cardinals. I mostly do it because I love the mourning doves. In bad winter stretches, I’ve had as many as 60 feeding on the ice off my deck, some of them looking pretty starved. The larger birds eat the sunflower seeds and they also helped keep the squirrels alive when the acorn crop disappeared last year (down to 4lbs per tree on average).</p>
<p>Try black sunflower seeds (not striped), thistle seed ( special feeder required), and suet studded with seeds (woodpeckers love suet). Tractor supply or tour local feed store or garden supply store carries these products. You don’t need expensive brands/mixes.</p>
<p>wow, thanks for the responese. I did some goggling too. It seems the black oil sunflower seeds is a very popular feed for many different birds. </p>
<p>Lowes has a 35 lb product for around $30. While the reviews are mixed, I think I will give it a try. What happens to all the sunflower shells?</p>
<p>One more question. What is the frequency of cleaning the feeder? Do you dump all the left over out and rinse it ever week or so?</p>
<p>I have three feeders and I tend to use the regular bird seed I get at the local store, or the stuff at Agway. Given how much the birds eat, and how much we go through, the ‘premium feed’ would make it pretty expensive and the birds seem to eat it. I may not get many exotic birds (though I seem to get the gamut, including a beautiful downy woodpecker), but we get a lot of small birds (we call them little gray birds, not particularly good at id’ing them) and such, plus our resident Cardinal, and seeing them out there on a snowy day eating does my heart good. I make sure both to have it in the feeders and I also try to spread it on the ground as well. In terms of the squirrels, I have one feeder that is squirrel proof (the type where is a squirrel tried to hang on it, the perch collapses causing them to fall off, whereas birds won’t). </p>
<p>I clean the feeders out roughly once a month and it seems to work okay, the way my feeders are set up the droppings don’t contaminate the feeder area and the seed doesn’t sit around long enough to get moldy or go bad. </p>
<p>If you want information on bird feeders, fact and fallacy, check out the american audobon website, they have comprehensive information. The other thing for attracting birds is having a good habitat for them, having shrubs and bushes where they can perch and hide (for example, when a bum of a hawk decides to take up residence and tried to eat our birds, we had a huge goshawk hanging out on our garden arch, talk about nerve <em>lol</em>) and also if you can a source for water as well. I also put out suet, though I need to get a new holder, the squirrels ran off with the other one…right now I am not talking to the squirrels, they are in a war with me with trying to get into my attic, thankfully I have a humane trap to get them if they get in, now i need to figure out a way to seal where they are getting in so they can’t gnaw their way in again…(if you ever need to attract squirrels, they are suckers for peanut butter)</p>
<p>^^ I am also very concerned about squirrels growing populations if there is a constant food source. </p>
<p>When we had a feeder out 24/7, we had up to 10 of them running around. And the deers also came to have dinner at night. So I only hang the feeder out during the day time hours.</p>
<p>One of my colleagues had to put several traps in his yard because of the over population of squirrels. They invaded his house and made two big holes. Putting out high quality feed out in the yard does have negative results.</p>
<p>We never wash out the feeders. I wouldn’t want to introduce moisture.</p>
<p>You need a .22 or an airgun to take care of squirrels effectively. Red squirrels will ruin your house if they get in, and grey squirrels are just rats with fluffy tails. And, red squirrels will find a way into your eaves!</p>
<p>Pick up the Audobon guide to birds. It has photos and descriptions of birds. We’ve had one for years and pencil in dates and locations where we’ve sighted birds.</p>
<p>musicprnt-the little grey birds are probably dark-eyed juncos. Do they have white breasts and mostly feed on the ground under the feeders?</p>
<p>The last bird feeder we had was cast iron and I went out one day and found it bent to the ground. The next day, I was taking a walk and a bear was in our driveway. I decided to stop encouraging/feeding bears because in residential ares they will probably be shot. You maybe don’t have bears by you, but I didn’t know we had them so close either.</p>
<p>We’ve always had two feeders, one squirrel proof bird feeder, and a squirrel feeder. I am surprised to hear the squirrels are such pests as long as they aren’t bothering the bird feeder… we’ve been feeding them for years and never had an issue. My mother names them and is quite attached. To be honest we have more problems with the birds, thankfully they’re pretty.</p>
<p>Black oil sunflower seeds are all that we put out for the birds. Right now we have mostly nuthatches, easily recognizable because they walk headfirst down our wire mesh feeder, and chickadees. Yesterday, I saw a female cardinal at our platform feeder. We also have mourning doves and juncos scavenging what falls on the ground. When my husband goes out to fill the feeders, he always puts a few seeds in his outstretched hand for the boldest of the chickadees to take. Niger thistle seed is supposedly preferred by finches, but we used to have a thistle seed feeder that was ignored while the goldfinches gorged on black oil sunflower seeds. Our favored brand of seed is Havegard Farms. However, I checked their website and I see that their products are only marketed in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. </p>
<p>Yes, the sunflower seed shells make a mess that you’ll have to clean up come spring. You may also find some sunflower seedlings have taken root in odd places.</p>
<p>Don’t think we could do that w/o going to jail. </p>
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<p>One problem I have with birds is their singing in the very early morning. In the days when the weather is nice we will shut the A/C and open the windows. Some birds are really loud.</p>
<p>We have two suet feeders only. Bird seed attracts the squirrels, the bears & also wild turkeys. The birds seem to like the suet with cherries or peanuts.</p>
<p>Got me a 35 lb bag of Black oil sunflower seeds from Lowes the other day. We will get one cheap seed from Meijer this weekend and blend them myself.</p>