Feeding Wild Birds

[ValerieJ]

Wow! A wild bird feeding thread! How fun is that? I feed mine a few times a day. ATM, I have mostly doves and blue jays, and the pesky pigeons who eat me out of house and home when they come. Of course I have to feed the squirrels too, or they will eat all the bird food. We used to get so many different birds, but these days just the ones mentioned, crows, and the occasional red winged black bird. We do have wood peckers, but don't feed those, unless you count the fir trees in the yard where they find plenty apparently.

Oh, we do get the small birds too. Chickadees and wrens mostly. The occasional brown cow bird.

Overhead we have the bald eagles, hawks, osprey and owls. I try not to feed those. Until last year we had a golden eagle, but haven't seen that one in a long time. She used to thin out the squirrels.

 

[ValerieJ]

Oh yeah, and we have a ton of robins. They are usually going for worms but the day before it's time to pick cherries they all disappear and I hear that is the robins.

 

[R2elk]

Oh yeah, and we have a ton of robins. They are usually going for worms but the day before it's time to pick cherries they all disappear and I hear that is the robins.

The day before my chokecherries are ripe enough to pick the birds clean them out. The main culprits are the robins but they get plenty of help from everyone else including the Kingbirds.

Right now they are working over the currants.

 

[fuzzi]

I saw a bird out in the backyard, in amongst the area overgrown with pokeweed, and it looked different. I got out my big camera, focused, and discovered a Kingbird! In 17 years here I have only seen one or two, they're not common. I also saw both a male and a female Ruby-throated hummingbirds!

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

It’s that time of year again…saw my male hummingbird taking up sentry duty on top of the hummingbird feeder, scowling at the surroundings.

 

[R2elk]

It’s that time of year again…saw my male hummingbird taking up sentry duty on top of the hummingbird feeder, scowling at the surroundings.

I have never seen a hummingbird here before August 1 or after August 31.

 

[ValerieJ]

Our fuchsias are not as prolific as they normally are. I started with all new ones this year. Consequently, we are just getting the occasional humming bird now and then.

 

[fuzzi]

Our fuchsias are not as prolific as they normally are. I started with all new ones this year. Consequently, we are just getting the occasional humming bird now and then.

Mine love tithonia, Mexican sunflowers, so I plant them every year.

 

[ValerieJ]

Mine love tithonia, Mexican sunflowers, so I plant them every year.

View attachment 3902050

That is a beautiful flower!!!

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

Our fuchsias are not as prolific as they normally are. I started with all new ones this year. Consequently, we are just getting the occasional humming bird now and then.

In addition to my hummingbird feeder I have a number of bee-friendly herbs in the vicinity the birds have been happy to feed from: dill, basil, catnip, and I think they’ve visited the oregano too. Also the hot peppers, but I think that’s more because they’re right there next to everything else rather than being attracted to them specifically.