# stupid birds



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Advertize!!!


----------



## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

do you have the proper food for the type of birds in the area?


----------



## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

They'll find it eventually.

I put a few of them on my back deck for the winter. Plus, I leave piles of seeds on a small table, the deck flooring and on top of the railings. 

So far we've seen Blue Jays, Cardinals (not every day), Red Headed Wood Peckers, Chickadees and Mourning Doves. We started out with 6 of the Doves almost every day. Then a couple weeks ago, there were 14 and last week I counted 21 of them. 

Their favorite 2 kinds of food are split peanuts and black sunflower seeds. I also put out some mixed birdseed, which they eat, but it seems to attract the smaller birds and they don't seem to eat a lot of it out of the feeders.

I hung up a mesh bag with thistle in it, back in early December and they've hardly eaten any of it.

If you hang up one of those little cages with suet in it, you'll get Woodpeckers stopping by.


----------



## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Fix'n it said:


> 1 1/2 week ago, i put a new bird feeder in my backyard. these darned birds have yet to find it. my neighbor across the street has one in her side yard, i can see it from my house. that thing gets all kinds of activity.


so.....you 'think' birds can smell the seed?

Take a piece of cardboard....lay it on the ground under the bird feeder...sprinkle some seeds on it....


----------



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

I put out a birdfeeder a couple of years ago. It took about a week and a half for the birds to find it. Black oil sunflower seeds they seem to like the best. I got a bunch of cardinals now that are on it all day --- they are going to get fat! A couple of blue jays visit also, plus some assorted sparrows and doves.


----------



## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

gma2rjc said:


> So far we've seen Blue Jays, Cardinals (not every day), Red Headed Wood Peckers, Chickadees and Mourning Doves. We started out with 6 of the Doves almost every day. Then a couple weeks ago, there were 14 and last week I counted 21 of them.
> 
> .


reminds me of a story from a friend that lives on a pond. We have Canadian geese that commute through our area (yes, I know it isn't actually commuting). One year he had one walking about his yard. "Cool" he thought. He even fed the guy. Then the next year it seems word got out there was a great place to crash (figuratively) for awhile and there were more. Well, not too bad but concerning. The next year it seems there was a full on onset of every damn Canadian goose deciding it was a great place to hang out. Crapping all over the place. It's like being on a slip slide as you walk in his yard.


Now he is investigating methods to discourage them since plain out killing the bastards is not allowed. :laughing:


----------



## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Fix'n it, do you have a small table or something you could put next to the new bird feeder that you could lay bird food on? I think if you put something like that out there, it will attract them very quickly. Especially if you put out the split peanuts and black sunflower seeds.

The downside of that is you'll be feeding the squirrels. Although, they're kind of fun to watch too. But it would get expensive feeding them.


----------



## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

If the birds don't find it the squirrels will.


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

oh'mike said:


> Advertize!!!


boy, there's one in every crowd :jester:



nap said:


> do you have the proper food for the type of birds in the area?


i bought the basic wild bird food from walmart.




gma2rjc said:


> They'll find it eventually.
> .


i didn't think it would take this long. after all, food is scarce during the winter. one has to look around for it.



ddawg16 said:


> so.....you 'think' birds can smell the seed?
> 
> Take a piece of cardboard....lay it on the ground under the bird feeder...sprinkle some seeds on it....


couse not. but it is easily seen. and i know they know what a feeder looks like. 






gma2rjc said:


> Fix'n it, do you have a small table or something you could put next to the new bird feeder that you could lay bird food on? I think if you put something like that out there, it will attract them very quickly. Especially if you put out the split peanuts and black sunflower seeds.
> 
> The downside of that is you'll be feeding the squirrels. Although, they're kind of fun to watch too. But it would get expensive feeding them.





Gymschu said:


> If the birds don't find it the squirrels will.


yeah, i can put seed all over the place. but i don't want the squirrels eating it. i feed the squirrels other stuff. and i know the squirrels know that the feeder is there. but i have it on a shepherds hook that is 6' up. and i know they have not gotten to it. there isn't 1 seed on the ground. the feeder is clear, so the seed is easily seen. 

i think the birds are used to not finding food over here. so they don't even bother to look.


----------



## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

play like Hansell and Gretal. Starting at your neighbors overly active feeder, sprinkle a trail of food leading over to your feeder. Sure the squirrels will get some of it but you only need to do this long enough to convince them your feeder is the better chow house.


I know the "standard" food was not popular at my house. The birds would pick out the sunflower seeds and leave the rest so I gave up and bought just sunflower seeds.


----------



## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

nap said:


> reminds me of a story from a friend that lives on a pond. We have Canadian geese that commute through our area (yes, I know it isn't actually commuting). One year he had one walking about his yard. "Cool" he thought. He even fed the guy. Then the next year it seems word got out there was a great place to crash (figuratively) for awhile and there were more. Well, not too bad but concerning. The next year it seems there was a full on onset of every damn Canadian goose deciding it was a great place to hang out. Crapping all over the place. It's like being on a slip slide as you walk in his yard.
> 
> 
> Now he is investigating methods to discourage them since plain out killing the bastards is not allowed. :laughing:


I have heard if you string clear fishing line about 6 inches off the ground the geese won't or can't cross it, how true that is I don't know.


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

nap said:


> play like Hansell and Gretal. Starting at your neighbors overly active feeder, sprinkle a trail of food leading over to your feeder. Sure the squirrels will get some of it but you only need to do this long enough to convince them your feeder is the better chow house.
> 
> 
> .


i had actually thought about something like that. put the feeder in the front yard. after theey find it, move it to the side yard. then move it to the back.


we had a few geese where i used to live. they crapped all over the place.
what a pita.


----------



## Davejss (May 14, 2012)

Use black oil sunflower seeds. That stuff is like crack to birds.


----------



## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

nap said:


> reminds me of a story from a friend that lives on a pond. We have Canadian geese that commute through our area (yes, I know it isn't actually commuting). One year he had one walking about his yard. "Cool" he thought. He even fed the guy. Then the next year it seems word got out there was a great place to crash (figuratively) for awhile and there were more. Well, not too bad but concerning. The next year it seems there was a full on onset of every damn Canadian goose deciding it was a great place to hang out. Crapping all over the place. It's like being on a slip slide as you walk in his yard.
> 
> 
> Now he is investigating methods to discourage them since plain out killing the bastards is not allowed. :laughing:


playing my mother here , it is Canada geese, not Canadian:whistling2:


----------



## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

the best food is sunflower seeds. Peanuts will attract squirrels. If you develop a squirrel problem. You can get baffles at a hardware store which keep them from climbing the post. Or, use safflower seeds which squirrels won't eat.

Do you have any trees nearby? Birds like a safe place to perch. I planted a lot of understory trees in my yard. They love open branchy shrubs.

I have Carolina wrens, chickadees, nuthatch, tufted titmouse, a flock of about 12 cardinals, jays, ground doves, white winged doves and mourning doves, blue gray gnatcatcher, great crested flycatcher, American gold finches, bobwhite, Downey woodpecker which only likes the suet and a red bellied woodpecker which likes the seed. Mockingbirds only like mealworm and come to the door every morning for a handout. My favorite is a hummingbird which likes some flowers tubular planted for them.

Plus I have nectar and host plants for butterflies and have zebra longwing, Swallowtail, sulfur, monarch and gulf fritillary floating around my yard all summer.

Give it time, especially with spring and new babies eventually looking for their own territory.

Enjoy!

Plus a bird bath nearby is nice as the birds get thirsty eating all that seed.


----------



## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

chrisn said:


> playing my mother here , it is Canada geese, not Canadian:whistling2:


Well I will be, I learned something new today, thanks.


----------



## 47_47 (Sep 11, 2007)

Give them more time. They are coming off a hard winter and won't want to leave a sure thing at your neighbors.


----------



## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

We have always called them Canadian Geese too.


----------



## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

In Ohio everyone calls them Canadian geese too.

Interesting!

Just looked at my Audobon book........it's 'Canada geese'.


----------



## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Startingover said:


> In Ohio everyone calls them Canadian geese too.
> 
> Interesting!
> 
> Just looked at my Audobon book........it's 'Canada geese'.


moms are good for some things


----------



## Davejss (May 14, 2012)

Did you ever notice that when they fly in the famouse vee formation that one side of the vee is always longer? You want to know why?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Because there are more geese on that side :-/


----------



## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

chrisn said:


> playing my mother here , it is Canada geese, not Canadian:whistling2:


I guess they are Canada geese but I live in Michigan and they come from north of me so that makes them Canadian geese no matter what breed of geese they are:whistling2:


----------



## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

People are Canadians.........and bacon is Canadian bacon so why are geese merely Canada geese?


----------



## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

http://languagehat.com/canadian-geese/


----------



## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Comments in above link were pretty funny. I will now try to train myself to refer to 'those' geese as Canada geese.


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

lil update

i had placed the pole in a hole i drilled into the frozen earth. recent thaws had the thing sag to the ground. i found an aluminum pipe i had and pounded that suka down into the ground, in a lil different place. this ain't sag'n down. so, back to the waiting game.


----------



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

The birds will find it eventually, but the seed you are using could maybe have an effect. If your neighbor is providing black oil sunflower seeds and you have the cheap stuff with filler, the birds are going to go for the sunflower seeds for sure. I bought the cheap stuff once and the birds chucked the little seeds onto the ground to get at the few sunflower seeds. In February, with the record cold, birds were all over my feeder every day, all day --- probably they were eating a lot because they were burning a lot of calories to keep their temperatures up. Been hitting 40's and 50's this week, and the action has noticeably slowed down.


----------



## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

It's been up around 50º here too and I've noticed that there are fewer birds visiting each day. It used to be that they ate all of the peanuts first. This evening I noticed that most of the nuts are still there but the sunflower seeds are all gone.


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

idk just how well birds can see/find their food. but i know that they have not even tried my feeder = there is no signs what so ever of anything touching the feeder.


----------



## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Here is a red bellied woodpecker that found my feeder yesterday!


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

so, i bought some black oil sunflower seeds. put some on the feeder and some on the ground. something ate some of the ground seeds, probably squirrel's.

perhaps its the type of feeder i have ?


----------



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Yeah, squirrels really like those seeds too. If they can get to the feeder, they will.

Birds will find it soon enough.


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

update

i have seen 1 bird on the ground under it, eating.
my wife said she seen lots of birds, one time, all over the feeder. and another time, some birds on it.


:clap::clap::clap:


----------



## talukdar (Mar 29, 2015)

You have put A bird feeder in your house, but no one come. This may be happen for not properly research about the birds around your house. You need to know about their test, and things what they want to eat. Best of luck.


----------



## Walt78 (Apr 7, 2015)

Love the red bellied woodpecker above, beautiful creature. I'm considering building a bird house, never given it a try before but I'm sure it'll be straight forward enough


----------

