Do you feed birds in winter?

[Alistair]

I have 3 feeders out, a plug suet feeder for woodpeckers, three suet block feeders and a couple seed cakes. I also throw black sunflower seeds and shelled peanuts on the ground for the ground feeders.

I've seen three different species of woodpeckers, tufted titmouse, goldfinch, jays, cardinals, and mourning doves. Last month i had a bunch of robins eating the crabapple fruit off of the trees. I just had one bird outside that i couldn't identify. It was small grey with a pink/red on its head and throat. I have a bunch of squirrels that come out too and I put out corn blocks for them, I usually see 4 grey squirrels and one black squirrel

I could spend hours sitting watching them out the window. I can feel my blood pressure drop every minute

 

[peeonme]

We have 2 feeders and a suet block, I need to fill them.

 

[rareboy]

yup.

three feeders as well.


We call them 'Cat TV'.

 

[Alistair]

I call my feeders the Hawk Feed Station. I've seen about 3 doves get taken out by redtails.

 

[Alnitak]

One of the reasons the 1315-1317 famine caused so much suffering was unusually good weather and an abundance of grain in the preceding centuries and a resulting population boom that could not be sustained.

 

[cstlejay]

I have a feeder full of sunflower seeds and a suet block. I usually have tufted titmice, chickadees, juncos, cardinals, goldfinches, and hairy, downy, pileated, and red-breasted woodpeckers.

 

[gsdx]

I used to get dozens of birds at a time a few years ago, but since so many trees have disappeared in the neighbourhood, the birds have disappeared as well. I stopped feeding them when the only creatures I was getting were squirrels. They're very acrobatic when it comes to food.

 

[Cormac135]

No, i try my best to ignore the garden til it gets that bad i have to get someone in to save it.

 

[LeicsDom]

I have a bunch of feeders out all year round
Usually I get sparrows, tits, blackbirds, robins, woodpeckers (occasionally), jays (rarely), song thrush and squirrels

 

[tarallucci]

They serve themselves in the henhouse here

Currently we have pigeons, sparrows are always present, redbreasted robins and wagtails. This white wagtail is shitting on the mirror of the car, every day. I clean and it shits on it again. I've been told that this is because the bird sees its reflection in the window thinking it's another rival bird and wants to fight it. It's the first time I'm getting this...

I'm realizing that I like watching birds too, they're fun and colorful.

 

[frankfrank]

Absolutely not.

I would only feed wintering birds if I knew that I could be entirely CONSISTENT with it. Because I travel, and otherwise sometimes get unfathomably busy, I won't be consistent.

The status quo is that there aren't any birds "depending on me" to keep them fed.

If they start becoming dependent on my feedings (to any significant degree), then I "take it away" because I can't feed them for 3 or 22 days, that might be a very bad thing.

 

[zoltanspawn]

One of the reasons the 1315-1317 famine caused so much suffering was unusually good weather and an abundance of grain in the preceding centuries and a resulting population boom that could not be sustained.

Awww. A Valentine's post!

 

[seven2go]

Sure do but no bird feeders.
I throw bird food under some deciduous shrubs so they are protected from hawks.
There are lots of different ground feeders so it's a nice mixture especially when a squirrel or rabbit joins in.
The crows get everything edible from the house........very little goes to waste around here.

 

[Stardreamer]

yup.

three feeders as well.


We call them 'Cat TV'.

*laughs* We call our feeder a Cat TV antenna.

 

[Stardreamer]

I used to have suet, seed and a ground feeder out for the birds, rabbits and squirrels. I had to cut back to just the suet because even though I'm in the middle of town, we would get deer coming in and cleaning out the ground and seed feeders. It gets prohibitively expensive to fill feeders and have them cleaned out the same day.

 

[Maklaar13]

We feed the birds everyday, it is quite a fulfilling thing. We have a great backyard and really enjoy providing for the wild life. We are visited constantly by many species of birds, we live on property that is next to a lake and the water foul is quite diverse. Sometimes there are dozens of birds and like someone said, it is quite relaxing to watch. We also have chickens, they give us fresh eggs that we share with our neighbors. Yes, life can be so good!

 

[jbrown329]

No. Up until 15yrs ago, I had cats. Didn't want to have the cats killing numerous birds. Since then, I've been in apartments and they really frown on feeding birds (the mess). And without food, there are no squirrels.

 

[Alistair]

Sure do but no bird feeders.
I throw bird food under some deciduous shrubs so they are protected from hawks.
There are lots of different ground feeders so it's a nice mixture especially when a squirrel or rabbit joins in.
The crows get everything edible from the house........very little goes to waste around here.

I get a lot of hawks come in but the little birds usually see them and leave. I've only seen a hawk catch one mourning dove. I don't think doves are too smart, and they are pretty slow. I have had hawks take all the goldfish out of my little fountain pond. One would come in with me sitting 3 feet away. It would just look at me like what are you going to do about it?

 

[LeicsDom]

No. Up until 15yrs ago, I had cats. Didn't want to have the cats killing numerous birds.

I have a cat and, yes, he does catch birds, usually fledglings that fall from a nest
My bird feeders are up on a pole where he can't get to them easily