Bird Notes  -  Winter Bird Feeding
-- from Sapsucker Woods, Number 1 Cat. No. 211

Types of Feeders
     The ideal bird feeder is sturdy enough to withstand winter weather, tight enough to keep seeds dry, large enough that you don't have to refill it constantly, and easy to assemble and keep clean.  For these reasons, plastic or metal feeders work better than wooden ones.  In general, seed-feeders fall into three categories: tray feeders, hopper feeders, and tube feeders.  Tray feeders are typically placed close to the ground and often attract ground-feeding birds such as juncos, sparrows, and towhees.  Tray Feeders also work well however, when mounted on deck railings, stumps, or posts.  Hopper feeders are very common and are often hung from trees, decks, and poles.  These feeders are especially good for larger arboreal species such as cardinals, jays, and grosbeaks.  Tube feeders are typically suspended from trees and posts.  They are excellent for finches, titmice, and chickadees.

Feeder Placement
     Place your feeder in an area free of disturbances where it is easy to see and convenient to refill.  Your feeder should be close to natural shelters (cover) such as trees or shrubs. Evergreens are ideal, providing maximum cover from winter winds and predators.  If trees and shrubs are too close, however, they can also provide good jumping-off places for squirrels that may be eying the seeds, and cats that may be eying the birds.  A distance of about 10 feet seems to be a happy compromise.  You can provide resting and escape cover for ground-dwelling birds, such as Song Sparrows, by placing large, loosely stacked brush piles near your feeders.

Feeder Maintenance
     Clean your feeders often by scrubbing them with soap and water and then dipping them into a solution of one part bleach and Rinse them well, and allow them to dry thoroughly before refilling them with birdseed.  Another important maintenance chore is to periodically rake up birdseed hulls beneath your feeders.  Decomposing hulls may harbor bacteria that could spread disease to your feeder birds and may kill your lawn or flowers.

Bird Feeding Concerns
     Poorly maintained feeders may contribute to the spread of infectious diseases among birds.  The feeders themselves can sometimes pose hazards too.  Here are some helpful hints for successful bird feeding.

• Avoid overcrowding at feeders by placing numerous feeders several feet apart.
• Keep your feeding area and feeders clean.
• Keep food and food storage containers dry and free of mold and fungus.
• Check your feeders for safety.  Sharp edges can scratch birds and make them susceptible to infection.

Five Feeders Every Yard Should Have !!
-- from Audubon, January -February 2000

Ground-Feeding Table
This screen-bottomed tray sits several inches off the ground and is useful for helping to keep grain and bird excrement from coming in contact with each other.  Some designs have covers accumulating over the seed; others are surrounded by wire mesh to keep out squirrels and large birds such as crows and grackles.  Place the feeder in an open location, at least 10 feet from the nearest shrub, to give birds a chance to flee in the event of a cat attack.  Ground feeders are especially favored by doves, juncos, sparrows, towhees, goldfinches, and cardinals.

Sunflower-Seed Tube Feeders
If you are going to put out just one bird feeder, this is the best choice.  Be sure to select a model with metal ports around the seed dispensers to protect the feeder from nibbling squirrels and house sparrows.  Hang the feeder at least five feet off the ground and position it near a window, where you can enjoy the visitors.  These feeders are especially attractive to small birds such as chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, goldfinches, siskins, purple and house finches.

Hopper Feeders
Hopper feeders provide dry storage for several pounds of mixed seed, which tumbles forward on demand.  Position hopper feeders on a pole about five feet off the ground.  Hopper feeders attract all of the species tube feeders attract, as well as such larger birds as jays, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and cardinals.  You may want to consider a pole mounted baffle to deter squirrels from climbing the pole and reaching the feeder.

Suet Feeder
Suet is readily eaten by titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers.  In addition to the regular suet-feeder visitors, wrens, creepers, and warbles occasionally pick at these mixes.  You can hang suet chunks from a tree in an onion bag or a half-inch hardware-cloth basket, or in a more durable cage feeder.  You can also make your own suet pudding and feeder.  Suet puddings are made by grinding and melting suet and adding seeds.  (There is no evidencee that suet puddings are more attractive to birds than chunks of suet.)  Pack peanut butter-corn meal blends (when you mix the peanut butter with cornmeal it not only stretches the expensive peanut butter but also makes this sticky treat easier to swallow) and suet puddings into the crevices of large pinecones or into one-inch diameter holes drilled into logs.  Hang the pinecones and the logs from poles near other feeders, from trees, or from a wire stretched between trees.  Avoid feeding suet when temperatures climb into the 80 degree range; it turns rancid and drippy and may damage feathers.

Nyjer (thistle) Feeders
Especially designed to dispense Nyjer seed, also known as thistle seed - different from the prickly garden weed - these feeders typically have tiny holes that make the seed available only to small-beaked finches such as goldfinches, redpolls, and pine siskins.  Nyjer seed dispensing bags are not generally recommended, since squirrels can easily tear holes in them and waste this expensive seed.  Hang your Nyjer seed feeder from a tree or place it on a five-foot pole near other feeders, taking care to protect it from squirrels with a special baffle.  Finch seed mixtures are economical alternatives to feeding straight Nyjer seed and work equally well in this type of feeder.

For more information on Nyjer Seed, click here.