Community Chat

[TaxyLady]

Haven't seen my nuthatches for a couple of days.  So I just smeared peanut butter on the tree.  Tap Tap Tap waiting.  I bet a raccoon will eat it tonight. 

[songbird]

Crows, blackbirds, Ravens, etc are part of the Corvidae family and they are by far...the smartest of all birds.  Crows are known for using tools.  Picking up a stick and digging a hole for worms.  So trying various ways to prevent them from going to a particular place is rather futile.

[Spurt]

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@Brinklii wrote:

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@Keeper of the koi wrote:

@Yardlie, I live in ny so its mighty cold and i have to feed the birds!I mix one small bag of nuts and seeds with a 20lb bag of regular food, figure everybody will get a little something...might very well be a racoon, we get bears!Maryanne

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@Keeper of the koi ... Happy to hear you are so generous and feel like I do about animals! We get deer occasionally around here too...mainly in the summer if we are having a dry summer. They come into town looking for tender greens. I know we have bears that are seen occasionally in town, but I've never seen one of those in our yard. When people come up to our back door, they have to pass the patio. Everyone says that it is like a scene from "The Birds" as all the birds just swarm out.

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@Keeper of the koi@Yardlie

 My neighborhood is near a vacant wooded lot and a green belt with walking trails.....so even though I live in the city I get to see lots of critters....during the hot summer season....a beautiful buck and deer family frequently come to our neighborhood to drink from the sprinkler systems.....we also have racoons, oppossums, and more toward the green belt....skunks....and its funny seeing all the wildlife in the suburbs.....

[Marp]

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@Spurt wrote:

My sister feeds the birds and squirrels and hangs feeders outside her dinning room window......but it has started drawing field mice from the undeveloped land around her area......  She just hates to stop feeding the squirrels who have become alomost tame.....and the birds as well....her indoor cat can sit on the window sill and that doesnt even scare the mice.....so she said she is going to have to stop the feeding too....

I have a crepe myrtle tree and occasionally hang a bird bell or bird cake.....I absolutely love the cardinals and primarily put the food out for them....

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@Spurt, before your sister gives up have her try putting some used cat litter around the area of the bird feeder refreshing it every week or so.

She could also try planting aromatic herbs like oregano or sage or plants like daffodils, marigolds or lavender around the area of the feeder.

[Spurt]

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@Marp wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

My sister feeds the birds and squirrels and hangs feeders outside her dinning room window......but it has started drawing field mice from the undeveloped land around her area......  She just hates to stop feeding the squirrels who have become alomost tame.....and the birds as well....her indoor cat can sit on the window sill and that doesnt even scare the mice.....so she said she is going to have to stop the feeding too....

I have a crepe myrtle tree and occasionally hang a bird bell or bird cake.....I absolutely love the cardinals and primarily put the food out for them....

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@Spurt, before your sister gives up have her try putting some used cat litter around the area of the bird feeder refreshing it every week or so.

She could also try planting aromatic herbs like oregano or sage or plants like daffodils, marigolds or lavender around the area of the feeder.

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@Marp

Thanks Marp for the suggestions I will certainly pass them on to my sis....

[JustJazzmom]

Grackles look black but have a purplish shine to their feathers. The real blackbirds have already migrated to warmer states. 

Starlings are grayish black and are another 'pest' bird at feeders.

It's hard to keep certain birds away from feeders. I just go with the flow. 

Stop putting seeds out for at least a week. That sometimes works.

Plastic owls need to be moved around the yard so the birds do not get used to seeing them. 

Try feeders with a grid cage around them that prevents larger birds from getting at the seeds. Look at Droll Yankee Sunflower Domed Cage and Squirrel Proof Feeder which can either be hung or pole mounted with an adapter as an example of the right kind of feeder to use. 

[fortune]

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@Marp wrote:

I've found most of the "nuisence" birds at feeders are easily discouraged after being chased off several times.  When I see them gathering I open the door and tell my dog to go to work. 

He spots the birds and races toward them and they fly off.  I may have to do this two or three times in a short period but that is usually enough.  A few weeks later they may return and try again and I just tell Teddy to go to work and we repeat the process.

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@Marp

Maybe you can hire out Teddy!!!!!

[Marp]

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@fortune wrote:

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@Marp wrote:

I've found most of the "nuisence" birds at feeders are easily discouraged after being chased off several times.  When I see them gathering I open the door and tell my dog to go to work. 

He spots the birds and races toward them and they fly off.  I may have to do this two or three times in a short period but that is usually enough.  A few weeks later they may return and try again and I just tell Teddy to go to work and we repeat the process.

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@Marp

Maybe you can hire out Teddy!!!!!

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@fortune, heck yes, he takes his "job" very seriously.  There are even some days when he is adoptable lol.

[sunshine45]

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@Spurt wrote:

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@SeaMaiden wrote:

I stopped feeding the birds when I started having rats come around. But, when I did feed the birds, I let nature take its course... squirrls, birds of all kinds whatever.  

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@SeaMaiden

My sister feeds the birds and squirrels and hangs feeders outside her dinning room window......but it has started drawing field mice from the undeveloped land around her area......  She just hates to stop feeding the squirrels who have become alomost tame.....and the birds as well....her indoor cat can sit on the window sill and that doesnt even scare the mice.....so she said she is going to have to stop the feeding too....

I have a crepe myrtle tree and occasionally hang a bird bell or bird cake.....I absolutely love the cardinals and primarily put the food out for them....

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@Spurt

i love putting out bird cakes and/or a bird bell, along with seed and suet and all of my dry bread and crackers. my problem is is that the bird bell or cake only lasts about a day, maybe two, before the squirrels take the entire thing away. i am trying to figure out a way to secure it where they wont be able to steal the entire thing.

[sunshine45]

we love the mourning doves.......they just stay underneath the bird feeder on the ground so i dont find them to be "pigs" at all. LOL. they just hang around with the other birds.