The Zen Birdfeeder

Earning My Birds Back

As you could probably tell by the infrequency of posts in June, I was really busy all last month.  Besides a 1-day trip to Saranac Lake NY for the Adirondack Birding Celebration, I was also gone 4 days mid-month in Illinois, back home, then gone for 8 days in Indiana.  When we returned from Indy, every feeder in the yard was empty and the bird activity was slow.  I had to EARN my birds back.

I filled the hummingbird feeders and added one more, and the hummingbirds came back very quickly. 3-4 have been very competitive at the feeders and adding more feeders can help break that up a little.
 
 

Purple Finches returned when the safflower was put back in the tube feeder.  Isn't he beautiful?  If only the darn chipmunks didn't eat the stuff too...ggggrrrr.
  

It didn't take long for the Blue Jays and Mourning Doves - adults and young - to return when I refilled the hopper feeders. And there was still a smidgen of niger left in the finch feeders to take care of the goldfinches during my absence.

Luring the woodpeckers back took a little while longer.  The suet logs were picked clean and the seed cylinder was long gone.  The hairies had fledged their young before I left, but the downy young were still in the nest. While I was gone, the downies fledged and they now share time on the suet log feeders.
 
 

It took a couple days for the 3 male and 2 female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks to return.  They have since fledged their young.
 

Things seem almost back to normal.  And I promise to return to more "normal" bird posting activity (if work doesn't get in the way!)  It's so nice to get back behind the camera!!!

Red is Not Mandatory

Here are a couple recent pictures of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds on feeders that are NOT red, and of course, not filled with red nectar either.

 

Hummingbirds visit purple flowers; why wouldn't they visit a purple hummingbird feeder?  Or how about an orange feeder?

You don't need red nectar to attract hummingbirds either.  In fact, it is recommended that you not use red nectar since the effect of the red dye on hummingbirds is unknown.  And if you don't need it, why risk it?

The Spring of the Sparrow

The calendar indicates that summer has arrived, even though the temperatures are very moderate. So before the heat of summer is upon us, I thought it would be a good time to look back on spring. For me, it was the spring of the sparrow.

Migrating sparrows graced my yard from late March through the end of May including a sparrow new to my yard, my "regular" nesting sparrows, and good-sized groups of migrating sparrows.

The Song Sparrow was the first sparrow species through the yard on March 28th, while the snow and cold temperatures were still around.  They do nest in New York, though these were passing through - they were last seen in my yard April 17th.
 

Fox Sparrows were next, arriving April 9.  This was just a few days later than in 2007.  They were busy ground foragers, especially in the underbrush on the wooded side of the house.  They were here in good numbers (up to seven at one time) through April 20th.  This is the biggest group of Fox Sparrows that I've had at any one time.
 

White-throated Sparrows appeared April 12, a full eleven days earlier than in 2007.  They were around in good numbers (up to nine at a time - again, more than I've ever seen in my yard before) and steadily until May 11th. They have one of the most recognizable birdsongs, though the translation is open for debate.  Do you say "Oh Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody" or "Oh, Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada"?  Me?  With Canada our neighbor to the north, I prefer Sweet Canada.  Besides, I love their national anthem.  But I digress....
 

Chipping Sparrows returned April 15, a week earlier than in 2007. Chippers did not always nest in my yard, but they and their young are now welcomed as regular summer residents.  Though seen here enjoying a seed cylinder, I spread lots of WBU Deluxe Blend (with white millet) on the ground for the chippers, juncos, and all my visiting sparrows.
 

I always watch very closely in early April hoping to see BOTH an American Tree Sparrow and a Chipping Sparrow in my yard at the same time.  But these two sparrows seem to time their arrivals and departures so you never see them both at the same time! The last American Tree Sparrow I saw was in the snow on April 3.
 

In early May, two Savannah Sparrows visited.  This was a new yard bird for me (#82) and they visited for one lucky day only.  Not the best image below; had it in digital zoom range.
 

White-crowned Sparrows passed through on May 7, feeding under the feeders and using the birdbath for a one-day visit only.  White-crowns don't nest in New York; 2 out of every 3 of them nest in the boreal forest. It's easy to at-a-glance pass a white-crowned off as a white-throated.  But a little more attention to the details pays off with this handsome bird. White-crowned Sparrows were new to my yard in 2004 and now visit every migration.  Makes me wonder if I just wasn't paying close enough attention before.
 

After it seemed that sparrow migration was all wrapped up, I had a couple stragglers pass through on May 21.  A White-throated Sparrow and a White-crowned Sparrow stopped by for a one day visit on their way to their breeding grounds.

So all that's left are the Chipping Sparrows, busy nesting in the area.  Before you know it, summer will be wrapping up and the next wave of sparrows will pass through, but this time with many youngsters among them.  I'm looking forward to it!

Courtship Time for Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks returned this year on May 4, a full week earlier than 2007. A female returned first; a number of males appeared the following day.  (Click on images to enlarge.  Images 1, 2, and 6 were digiscoped.)
 

There have been numerous rose-breasteds at the feeders since then. When observing the males, note the red pattern on their breast - the shape and pattern of red varies from bird to bird. With good powers of observation, you can use this to identify individual birds.

For about the first week following their return, there wasn't a lot of singing going on. That changed this week. Both male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have started singing like crazy.

Their song has been called "a robin with singing lessons".  Stokes Nature Guides to Bird Behavior describes it as "a robin in a hurry". The other day, one was repetitively singing "Blame it on the bossa nova." I haven't heard that song in years!

Now is the perfect time to listen for their sing-songy, rising and falling, up and down song. You can also hear their characteristic metallic-sounding "chink" call.

Grosbeak courtship and nest-building activities are now in progress here in upstate New York. I'm looking forward to seeing young grosbeaks, like this fledgling that landed on the deck and visited our birdbath a couple summers ago.

 

Fortunately, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are frequent feeder visitors. They prefer tray feeders or hopper feeders with generous perching areas.  Fill feeders with a quality seed blend like WBU Supreme, which has black oil sunflower, safflower, sunflower chips, and striped sunflower.

They also enjoy seed cylinders; this one is the WBU Supreme seed cylinder (same stuff as in the loose seed blend). Here a pair share a meal on a cool seed cylinder feeder.

Enjoy your Rose-breasted Grosbeaks this season!
 

Song of the Baltimore Oriole

A male Baltimore Oriole visited our yard again today.  I heard him before I saw him, as he was loudly singing his low-flutelike song in the plum tree right off the deck. I was able to capture a recording of his rich, beautiful song. (Click twice on the small forward arrow)

Both male and female orioles sing. Songs are "given between males in territory formation and between males and females during courtship". (Stokes Nature Guide to Bird Behavior) 

Orioles are most often seen in treetops, poking through trees like this birch for caterpillers and other insects like beetles and wasps. This digiscoped image was taken during his last visit a couple days ago.

Orioles can be attracted to an oriole feeder filled with nectar (1 part sugar to 6 parts water), fruit (orange halves), and even grape jelly (in small amounts so they and other birds don't immerse themselves in it).

The oriole is an infrequent visitor in my yard, so I especially relish its brilliant orange and black coloration and its beautiful song.  Read more about Baltimore Orioles on rightbird, Wild Birds Unlimited's Online Field Guide.

Black-capped Peanut Lover

Shelled peanuts are a favorite food of Black-capped Chickadees.  They are high-fat and high energy and will also attract nuthatches, titmice, jays, and woodpeckers.

We all know how chickadees behave at feeders: grab a seed and go.  But with mesh peanut feeders, chickadees will cling to the mesh, pecking at the nut until it can be pulled out.  This gives you more time to see birds at your feeders!

After pulling out the peanut, chickadees will go to a perch, place the nut between their feet, and enjoy their tasty treat.
   

If you don't feed peanuts to your birds, a peanut feeder would be a great new addition to your bird feeding station.

Fox Sparrows Migrating Through

Since April 9th, I've been enjoying the presence of 6-7 Fox Sparrows daily as they migrate to their summer breeding grounds.

This is one of my favorite sparrows, along with the white-throated and the chipping.  The Fox Sparrow's cinnamon and grey coloration makes them unmistakable.  They hang around on the ground with others in the sparrow family (Song Sparrows, white-throateds, juncos), but the fox again stands out with their bigger size.

They're at home on the forest floor, amongst the pine needles and leaves.  They forage like a towhee with a scoot-back-scratching move that is very effective at moving leaves and other organic material in their search for seeds, berries, and insects.  You'll often see other birds check out the area a Fox Sparrow has cleared to pick up any leftovers.

When migrating sparrows are passing through, I do a daily broadcast of Wild Birds Unlimited Select Groundfeeding Seed Blend, which is very high in white millet.  I use this blend only on the ground or in seed trays and only while migrating sparrows and/or juncos are abundant.  I would recommend against putting high-millet blends in your tube feeders.

 

Fox Sparrows don't nest in New York state; an estimated 58% of the species breeds in the boreal forest of Canada.*  We'll see them for a few weeks in spring and then again in late October as they head to their winter homes in the southern US.  If you're lucky enough to see the Fox Sparrow during the winter, let me know using the comment section.  Make sure to tell us where you're located.

Read more about the Fox Sparrow at Wild Birds Unlimited's rightbird Online Field Guide.

* Source:  Boreal Songbird Initiative.  Visit the Boreal Bird Blog and sign their Save Our Boreal Birds Petition.

Feeders in a Woodland Setting

Many folks in upstate New York and other areas are blessed with an abundance of trees on their property.  Having trees near the house can provide shade to help keep our homes cooler during the summer.  Trees add value to the home and they provide shelter and a place to raise young for various wildlife.  But trees can also present a challenge when feeding the birds.  While our favorite birds benefit from the trees, so do squirrels, who nest in them, feed from them, play on them, and jump from them.  Jump, as in, jump onto our feeders.

Grey squirrels can jump 8-10 feet horizontally from trees (or wires, deck rails, rooftops, etc.) onto our feeders.  And they can jump 4-5 feet straight up.  One solution is to baffle your feeder pole and place the whole setup 8-10 feet from trees and other jumping-off points. 

But this is not always possible if the yard or area where you want to place the feeder is small.  That's the case on the west side of my house.  Large pine trees grow within 8 feet of the house, with tree limbs spanning right up to the house and roof.  It is a great setting in which to feed the birds, but any setup would need to be squirrel resistent.

When you can't deter squirrels by placing feeders out of their reach, you have two other solutions: (1) offer food squirrels don't care for, and/or (2) put the food in squirrel proof feeders.  My "Woodland Setup" combines those two approaches.

First, I offer food they don't care for: Safflower. Safflower is what we consider a problem-solving seed.  While many birds enjoy it (at my woodland setup, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, purple finches, and grosbeaks), squirrels (grey and red) don't care for it.  This doesn't mean squirrels NEVER eat safflower.  They will try it (especially young ones who are trying out everything new in their world) but they will not eat mass quantities of it and dominate your feeders.  Unfortunately, Eastern Chipmunks will eat safflower (I haven't found much that chipmunks don't eat).

My woodland setup has safflower in a WBU Quick Clean Tube Feeder with Weather Guard.  The safflower is not appealing to the red and grey squirrels, while the weather guard - while NOT a squirrel baffle - IS large enough to keep the chipmunks off the feeder during the summer (it's nice to get a chipmunk reprieve during the winter when they hibernate!)

Second, I offer a high quality seed blend in a squirrel-proof feeder.  Specifically, I use WBU Choice Blend in an Eliminator feeder.  WBU Choice Blend is full of high energy seed - black oil sunflower, sunflower chips, safflower, striped sunflower, and peanuts.  The peanuts especially appeal to the chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice.

The Squirrel-Proof Eliminator birdfeeder is a weight activated feeder that closes under the weight of a squirrel or chipmunk.  It is adjustable even to the point that you could close access to larger birds such as pigeons or grackles.  I leave the perching ring off so only the smaller birds can feed from it.
 

Trying...trying...

 

...but he just couldn't hold on.

It doesn't hurt to dream!

My setup is topped off with a squirrel-proof Absolute feeder filled with safflower.  The larger perch makes the feeder more attractive to medium-sized birds like grosbeaks.  The feeder is adjustable so I put it on the most sensitive setting to keep chipmunks from eating from it.

This setup with a combination of squirrel-proof feeders and food squirrels don't crave has worked extremely well for me.  I successfully feed a wide variety of birds with the squirrels enjoying what's under the feeders, all offered up amongst the trees around my house.  Choose the right feeders and the right food and you CAN have it all!

Peanuts! Get your Peanuts!

We had a young customer in the store today who purchased a new WBU Peanut Pantry and a bag of peanuts in the shell, hoping to attract Blue Jays.  He was very excited about his new feeder so I decided to do a post just about his new feeder.

The Peanut Pantry is a way to offer peanuts in the shell to your birds.  Jays will be the primary customer, though I've seen a Tufted Titmouse take a peanut and have watched a Downy Woodpecker try to shell a peanut while it was in the feeder.

Peanuts are high in fat and protein, providing a good energy source to the birds especially in the winter.  Never feed birds salted peanuts.

The jays can empty this feeder in no time.  When they're really active, I've seen them empty it in less than 30 minutes!  I use this feeder as a special treat for the jays, putting it out in place of another feeder on my Advanced Pole System for the day.

NOTE: This is a good time to pull a feeder that needs cleaning from your birdfeeding station.  Rotating feeders is an easy way to get in the habit of regularly cleaning your feeders. 

The jays are fun to watch when they use this feeder.  They'll take a whole peanut, kick it back into their crop, and take another nut before flying off.  A benefit of the jay's caching behavior is that you won't find a lot of peanut shells under your feeder.

Wild Birds Unlimited stores also sell a peanut wreath for offering peanuts in the shell to the birds. 

Peanut feeding is a fairly recent trend in the US. If you're looking for something new to feed your birds, you may want to consider peanuts in the shell.  In a future post, I'll share photos and information on feeding shelled peanuts to the birds.

In the meantime, like this little Red-breasted Nuthatch, remember to DREAM BIG!!

Evening Grosbeaks are Becoming "Regulars" at my Feeders

As the winter progresses, temperatures decline, and snow deepens, the Evening Grosbeaks are becoming more regular and in ever-increasing numbers.

Back on October 28, I reported a yardlist high count of 7 grosbeaks.  That high count has steadily grown, with 10 seen November 19 and December 10, 22 seen on December 14, and 27 seen today, December 17.

The grosbeak flock returns numerous times throughout each day, perching as a group in the maple tree, then descending from there to the tray feeder, hopper feeder, and to feed on the ground.




   

They have to compete somewhat with the jays, who have also been very busy at the feeders.

To encourage Evening Grosbeaks to visit your feeders, make sure you offer seed on an open tray or platform feeder or in a roomy hopper feeder.  A quality blend of black oil, striped sunflower, sunflower chips, and safflower seed like WBU Supreme Blend will appeal to these special visitors!

As I prepare this post, the Evening Grosbeak call is being amplified inside my home, and I am trying to capture some digiscoped images of them through the windows.  If they turn out, I'll post them soon - stay tuned.