Among Friends

[happycat]

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@depglass wrote:

I should have said AT OUR FEEDERS.  Two full of sunflower seeds, not touched since temperature plummeted.

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That is strange, I am filling my 3 feeders daily. Since it has gotten so cold, I've never had this many birds. 

[Icegoddess]

I feed mine solely black oil sunflower seeds and suet cakes and I get a good variety of birds, including the finches which totally ignored the niger seed I got specifically for them, so I don't buy that anymore. From what I have read using only Black Oil Sunflower seeds keeps the bullies out because they don't care for them.   I think I have High Energy suet out now.  We don't normally get below zero, but we are supposed to get some ice this weekend.  Seems like the birds know that as they were all over the feeders today.  They'll disappear when the weather comes in.  

I saw a couple of bluebirds the other day, so I'm hoping they'll nest again in one of my boxes.  I used to never see them in my yard because it's not open enough.  But, for some reason, last year they deemed one fo my bird houses an adequate nesting site.  And I saw the Carolina wrens flitting around on the deck, so I think they are also looking for nesting sites.  I don't think they use the feeder, preferring insects, but I'm not certain.  They try like the dickens to build in the garage so I have to keep the garage door shut at all times.  Easy to do right now since I have tropicals overwintering in there.  Come spring it won't be so easy because I need to go in and out of the garage to get tools and stuff when I'm doing yard work.  

[depglass]

We are still in a cold snap, except yesterday it got up to plus 5.  Many larger birds came back and cleaned out two feeders in one day.  Back to below zero this morning and no birds. 

We've tried assorted feeds in the past and birds in this area much prefer the black oil sunflower seeds.  All the neighbors agree.  We are next to a spring fed lake that doesn't completely freeze on the edge even in this weather so they have plenty to drink.  Yes, hawks are a problem, they love to sit on the rail of the deck where the feeders are.  They are no dummies. I shoo them away, but they are protected so that's all I do.  

[Icegoddess]

Nowhere near zero here.  More like low 30's and rain.  Expected to turn to ice any time now.  But, my Black Oil Sunflower feeders are covered with finches even in the rain.  Red finches and yellow all together flitting about.   There's one red finch that is so red I at first thought it was a female cardinal, but I thought she was a bit small, but it also seems to be the bigger one of the bunch, especially when he sits on the branch all fluffed out.  

[tupelohonee]

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@Caffeina wrote:

Seeds aren't the only thing they eat.

"In winter Black-capped Chickadees eat about half seeds, berries, and other plant matter, and half animal food (insects, spiders, suet, and sometimes fat and bits of meat from frozen carcasses). In spring, summer, and fall, insects, spiders, and other animal food make up 80-90 percent of their diet. At feeders they take mostly sunflower seeds, peanuts, suet, peanut butter, and mealworms. They peck a hole in the shell, and then chip out and eat tiny bits of seed while expanding the hole."

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/lifehistory

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Thanku for this @Caffeina !

[depglass]

I've often wondered what our feed bill would be if we put out SHELLED sunflower seeds.

[Sooner]

Yes I can vouch for the chickadees.  One was singing right outside my window this morning.  The rabbits are still here and the flocks of robins are fine, there are blue jays and wrens still in our yard.  We have had more than 10 days below zero.  WAY below.

If wild animals couldn't survive without us there wouldn't be wild animals.  They survive all over the world without bird feeders.