Our feeders and birdbaths
This past Saturday during feeder and birdbath maintenance, we made some changes which you can see on the BirdCam.
First, the log feeder is gone. We do not provide suet during the spring and summer months. In the warmer months, birds have insects and fruit on which to forage throughout our yard and gardens so we do not think suet is necessary. We also have days of very hot weather – most particularly in July and August. Day after day of temperatures well over 90 and into the 100’s with high humidity is not unusual for us and in those circumstances, suet can become very soft – even melt a bit. It can get on a bird’s feathers which would be harmful and I think there is a good chance that it would harbor bacteria harmful to the birds. Beginning sometime in October or early November – depending on temperatures – we will put the suet feeders back out. Chickadees and nuthatches like suet but our woodpeckers absolutely love it. We will keep those suet feeders filled from late fall until early spring.
Second, we have altered the positions of the 3 hanging feeders. This year, from late January through March, we had more American Goldfinches than we have ever had. And those of you who tuned into the BirdCam were able to watch the males molt into their yellow breeding plumage. Sadly, these goldfinches have dispersed and now there only a few who are coming – and sporadically. This is normal for us. Our neighborhood is very good winter habitat for them, but not the best nesting habitat. Although goldfinches like to nest near water and we are on a small lake, we do not have an abundance of the summer-blooming native perennials they relish for themselves and to feed their young. I do have these perennials throughout our gardens here at our house, but no one else in our neighborhood does, so there are not enough to attract a lot of goldfinches. They like foraging in large unmowed grasslands and meadows or in large areas of gardens that have their favorite flowers – we are surrounded by woodlands, no flower gardens except ours, and corn and soybean fields.
We will keep the thistle (nijer) seed feeder filled for the spring and summer, but we moved it back from the bird cam and moved the feeder holding the safflower seed to the front. For the last 12 years, we have had a nesting pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks here in our trees and for the last 3 years, there have been 2 pairs. We have not seen any grosbeaks this year, but we are still hopeful they will arrive. When they do, they love this feeder. The male and female cardinals also like safflower seed and will use this feeder. We also almost always have a few Indigo Buntings who most often come very early in the morning and just as the sun goes down and this safflower feeder is where they most often are.
Third. The platform feeder. We had been using a mixture of safflower and black oil sunflower seed. We added white millet when we started the BirdCam as Juncos like white millet, and we wanted them to eat up on the platform instead of on the ground underneath so you could get a good look at them. White millet is also a favorite of all the black birds: European Starlings, all the grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds. Over the last few weeks, there have been more and more cowbirds and Red-winged Black birds on the platform feeder and they are keeping the smaller birds like the Tufted Titmice from using it. We do not begrudge black birds their food, but not at the expense of the smaller birds. So now the platform only offers safflower and black oil sunflower seeds, and we hope that encourages the black birds to get off the platform and to forage underneath the feeders where Cleon does scatter white millet. When the Juncos return next fall, we will add white millet to the platform feeder once again.
Fourth. The small bird bath. This is an experiment. There is a theory that chickadees, titmice and nuthatches do not use regular-sized birdbaths to take baths because they are too deep and these birds are too small. The small birdbath to the left of the regular-sized birdbath has been filled with rocks to make the water shallower. (There is another possible hindrance for these smaller birds in that it may be too close to the larger birdbath, but we do not have much choice in its placement in order for it to be within the BirdCam range.) This theory of shallower water for these smaller birds extends to recommending table-sized fountains on patios and decks to attract them. We are trying to create a shallow water birdbath similar to these sorts of fountains. We only have one pair of Black-capped Chickadees right now, but we do have several pairs of Tufted Titmice and White-breasted Nuthatches. We also think goldfinches and House Finches might use this shallower birdbath. To make it shallower, there is a layer of rocks in the birdbath – you should be able to see this on your screen. If after several weeks, none of these smaller birds is using it, we may add pea gravel to make the bottom smoother. And we are keeping in mind, these rocks will have to be regularly cleaned in order to prevent bacteria and also for mosquito control.
So as you can see, we have 2 experiments going. The first is not offering white millet in the platform feeder, but scattering it on the ground underneath to deter the black birds and allow more access on the platform to the smaller, less aggressive birds. And second, will the smaller birds use the much shallower small bird bath to take a bath?
If you have any suggestions for us or would like to comment, please use the Public Forum.