Wild Bird Thread!

[oldchickenlady]

Maybe someone knows the answer to my question...I started feeding birds again this winter when it got really, really cold (hadn't done iit in several years). I had 2 poles with 4 hooks. On one pole I had a thistle seed feeder and a suet cage. On the other pole I had 2 regular bird feeders-one with regular song bird mix and the other with a mixture of songbird mix and safflower seeds. I had birds like crazy all winter...red birds, chickadees, house finches, woodpeckers, some I never knew what they were, then finally even began to see goldfinches! I was tickled and loved to watch them when I drank my coffee in the morning. Then it warmed up and most all the birds are gone! I still see doves once in a while and occasionally a redbird. That's it! My feeders still have seed and everything! I quit putting the suet out when the birds stopped coming but I just dont get it...Any ideas? I miss my bird mornings. Then just a while ago, I was in a patients' room at the local nursing home where she had a bird feeder outside her window. It had the black sunflower seeds in it. Birds were all over it! House Finches mostly but also Redbirds and a Goldfinch! I am so freaking jealous!

 

[Chicken0Boy]

Try different seed, and maybe they have migrated but i dont think that is it! Idk sorry.

 

[4 luv of eggs]

I just found this thread. I love wild birds too. I love listening to wood thrushs. That beautiful flutelike song. We have a house wren here that sings his little heart out. We have quite a few barn swallows and tree swallows. When my husband mows the lawn they are dive bombing him the whole time. He says they are attacking him but I think he's stirring up bugs and they are feasting. I love their light little twittering in the evenings.

We moved here three years ago and it is farmland and woods here so we have quite a variety of birds. There is a large pond across the street so we have canadian geese here year round.
We have chickadees, hairy and downy woodpeckers, juncos, cowbirds, redwing blackbirds, cardinals, bluebirds, brown and wood thrush, flickers, house wrens, goldfinches, house and purple finches, indigo buntings, chipping sparrows, titmouses, red tail and red shoulder hawks, harriers, ruby throated hummingbirds...and all the usual varieties like mourning doves, robins, catbirds, mockingbirds...the list keeps growing.

Oh and BTW, titmouse..."tit" is from a Scandinavian word that means small and "mouse" is derived from an Old English word mase that means bird. So it literally means small bird.

 

[Kansaseq]

Quote:
There are several possibilities as to why your birds have left. Some are migratory, and have summer and winter ranges, so they may have left for the summer. Others may just be taking advantage of available natural resources that weren't around this past winter. Another possibility; could you have a predator hanging around that could be scaring them?
Years ago, before chickens, when I fed the wild birds religiously, summer visitation at my feeders was always less than in winter. Regardless, your birds will probably be back. Just give them time.
And I LOVE the sound of wood thrushes. Used to live in NJ in the woods,and we had tons of them. This spring has been really wet here in Ks, so we've had lots of them this spring so far, which is such a gift. I think it's one of the most beautiful songs of any bird (rivaled only by the hermit thrush).

 

[suebee]

Wow! I came across this thread because it interested me only to find that I've posted here but forgot to subscribe!

Anyway, to answer your questions about free-ranging and hawks....the smaller birds and my silkies are alerted by the blue jays and crows.
The main thing is to have plenty of cover. My favorite is the variegated privet. It grows fast and wide but doesn't get too big...about 20 feet tall. I have one right in front of the chicken pen. Also my silkies hang out under my deck and front porch mostly during the day.
The 8 week old chicks hang out under the privet.

I get all sorts of wild birds, including indigo buntings. We also have blue bird houses so plenty of new babies. Finches and Pheobees nest on our front porch.

Wanted to add, blue jays often mimic hawks, especially when taking a bath at our fountain. Scared the poop outta me when I first heard this!

We have woods surrounding our property but it opens up around our house and backyard. Here's a couple pics of our backyard.

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

We love feeding the birds in the fall/winter. We put the seed feeders away in the spring/summer when the birds quit coming as often. We have fruit trees in our yard, so we still get quite a show in the summer. We also have a hummingbird feeder. We still throw out a cupful of seed on the ground every other day or so because the doves, pheasant, and quail still visit everyday.

We put out black oil sunflower seeds in a separate feeder in the winter. We have black capped chickadees and mountain chickadees. When the feeder was empty, they would tap on the plastic when we were outside. They learned that when we weren't outside, they could fly to the dining room window, cling to the wood siding and tap on the window casing! Once we filled the feeder they stopped. As soon as the feeder was empty again......tap, tap, tap! They did this ALL winter!!

We have seen downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, flickers, red winged blackbirds, blackbirds, cowbirds, white crowned sparrows, english sparrows, house finches, purple finches, cedar waxwings, lazuli buntings, goldfinches, lesser goldfinches, red crossbills, pygmy nuthatches, red breasted nuthatches, magpies, western bluebirds, starlings, western tanager, black headed grosbeaks, spotted towhees, juncos, and bullock's oriole. One of the most interesting birds we have around right now is a hammond's flycatcher. It is fascinating to watch him swoop and dive after insects!

Hey you! I see you in there!! Our feeder is empty!!

Well, you have forced me to tap......tap......tap!!

Ring necked pheasant. A frequent visitor. He calls and you can hear him clap his wings together!

One other visitor who really like bird seed!

Sorry most of the pics are fuzzy. Most were taken by my kids!

 

[Chicken0Boy]

I am so glad to see my old thread get awaken! When I went outside I saw an Eastern Bluebird start to build a nest in one of our nesting boxes!

 

[suebee]

For the love of chickens....yeah, forgot to add, rabbits love the seed too, but our Golden Retrievers don't seem to get along with them.

Great pics!!!

 

[suebee]

I've got some kind of bird that starts screeching right at dawn and into the night. In my backyard pics above, our woods go back about 200 feet before it meets a field. Does anyone know what kind of bird?

 

[chicken boy sam]

No idea.... At our house we get sparrows, blue jays, titmice, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, northern flickers, chickadees, finches and... my FAVORITE.... MOURNING DOVES!!!!! We used to have like 10-15 a day, but then the new hawks came who are building nests and eating them or scaring them of.... except for 1... which then recently, like a week ago found a mate, and then more came. The 2 original ones I named Henry and Henrietta! I'm watching Henrietta scurry around the ground for some feed right now from my window.