bruce@teletron.UUCP (Bruce McIntosh) (12/09/87)
I've put a bird feeder on my balcony recently and to my continuing
disappointment none of the ungrateful little beggars has come to
sample what I would consider, if I were a bird ( and I'm not ), an
irresistible selection of goodies.
The balcony is on the top floor of a three story building and faces
south ( no small consideration when you nearly trip over the arctic
circle on the way out to the car in the morning ). The feeder is
placed in the corner of the balcony with open space on two sides and is
attached to the railing. It is hanging on the inside of the railing and
I've considered hanging it on the outside to see if it might attract
more attention ( at the very least I'm sure the land lady will notice
it ). The feeder itself is made from a red coffee can screwed into the
middle of a 1 ft. x 2 ft. piece of plywood with a low border to keep the
seeds from blowing off too easily. The can has a few holes around the
bottom to allow seeds to flow out.
It has been an uncommonly mild winter so far and I think the birds
aren't having any trouble locating food. Any ideas out there on how I
might make my feeder a little more appealing?
alberta!teletron!bruce chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) (12/14/87)
In article <157@teletron.UUCP>, bruce@teletron.UUCP (Bruce McIntosh) writes: > > I've put a bird feeder on my balcony recently and to my continuing > disappointment none of the ungrateful little beggars has come to > might make my feeder a little more appealing? When asked about this subject in general, someone sent me a letter in which he mentioned that there should be something (typically a tree or bush) from which the birds can sit and observe the feeder. They want to check it out before they come down and to have some place to fly back to. I missed this from your description.
shamus@bcsaic.UUCP (Steven McBride) (12/16/87)
In article <1866@leadsv.UUCP> chris@leadsv.UUCP (Chris Salander) writes: >In article <157@teletron.UUCP>, bruce@teletron.UUCP (Bruce McIntosh) writes: >> I've put a bird feeder on my balcony recently and to my continuing >> disappointment none of the ungrateful little beggars has come to ... >> ... might make my feeder a little more appealing? > When asked about this subject in general, someone sent me a letter >in which he mentioned that there should be something (typically a tree or >bush) from which the birds can sit and observe the feeder. They want to >check it out before they come down and to have some place to fly back to. We have a feeder attached to the house and two others hung in a tree (opposite sides of the house). The feeders in the tree have to be filled every couple of days (especially during the winter). The other one about once every 6 months. Even when the feeders in the tree are empty the other one is rarely used. Also some birds (e.g., Junkos) don't eat from the feeder, but just forage on the ground for seeds knocked out of the feeder by other birds. -- Opinions expressed are strictly my own: Shamus Mc Bride uucp: uw-beaver!uw-june!bcsaic!shamus (206) 865-3401 internet: shamus@boeing.com
jimf@ihlpf.ATT.COM (JF) (01/14/88)
Finally we got something besides sparrows and blue jays at the bird feeder. I put out some suet and voila - downy woodpeckers show up every day. My wife says she has seen a red headed too, but I haven't seen it yet.
rising@utzoo.uucp (Jim Rising) (01/27/88)
Depends a bit on what you want to attract, Sarah. In the country, a thistle
feeder would be fun. You'd get goldfinches, siskins, and maybe redpolls, and
it could take the wind, and squirrels can't get at them. House Sparrows have
managed to figure mine out--but I'm unlucky.
Also, hanging feeders, with a large inverted plastic bowl are effective
against squirrels, and you can load them with any kind of seed you wish.
Lastly, you can mount a feeder on a pole (stable in wind), and put a squirrel
guard on the pole.
Good luck.
--Jim Rising
--
Name: Jim Rising
Mail: Dept. Zoology, Univ. Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1
UUCP: {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!rising