The Wild Things

OK.  They are not plants.  But these finches are an important part of my garden.  I love watching them share the choice perches.  I love the songs they sing most of the day.  I love the colors of the red-chested house finches and especially the bright yellow and black goldfinches.  The birds and the pond are as important to my garden as any plant.

We used to feed the standard bird seed, but I've switched and exclusively buy the more expensive Nyjer, or thistle seed.  This is the seed the finches prefer.  I've found it everywhere the other bird seed is sold.  It's been treated so it doesn't sprout weeds under the feeder.  I do try to vacuum up the spent seeds every now and then, mainly for cleanliness.  I use the Leaf Hog to vacuum. 

We can go through about a bag a week, especially in the summer.  I have thought about buying a huge 50 pound bag, but then I'd have to find a place to store it.  So I buy one or two of the biggest bag I can find when I'm at Target, Walmart, or Home Depot.  The Walmart site said prices depend on location, so it may be different where you are.
Walmart:  $15.87 for 7 lbs
Home Depot $15.98 for 7 lbs


The feeders we use are similar to this one from Target.  Again, it's not cheap.  I love feeding the birds, but I do not like feeding the squirrels and rats.  We've tried a lot of different ways to keep these rodents away. 

• I thought having the feeders hanging from these tall "shepherd's crook" hangers would be enough, but the rodents can just run up the skinny poles as if they were ladders.  
• We've tried dried pepper flakes.  The theory is that the rodents' don't like the taste and the birds don't mind it.  
• We've tried a thistle "sock."   We had the plain kind and the fancy kind with a dome cover.  These didn't keep the rodents out.  The birds loved them!  We would have maybe 30 birds on the sock almost all day.  There were so many that it felt like a swarm or infestation.  We also went through a lot of bird seed!
• This style of bird feeder has springs inside.  When the heavier rodents land on the feeder, the outside falls down, closing off the holes.  When the feeder is full, 8 birds can feed at once.  There is often a bird waiting its turn on the top of the crook and more waiting in the bushes and the tree nearby.  We have 2 feeders in the back yard, so there are plenty of birds to watch.

We rarely have the squirrels empty out our feeder any more.  Occasionally a family of rats will move in.  When they get to be a problem I put a trap next to the fence by the feeder.  I surround the trap with an exercise pen to keep the dog from getting his nose or paw caught in the trap.

I just moved one feeder closer to our bedroom window.  I was afraid it would not work out there.  I was afraid it was too close.  I thought the birds would be too wary of our movements inside.  They often, but not always, fly away when we're moving around.  If we sit still, they don't seem to mind us too much, though they do seem to keep an eye on us.  I was also worried they would run into the glass.  That hasn't been a problem yet.  One of the first things I do in the morning is open the shades so I can watch the birds for a while. I love having the feeder closer to the window so I can get a close view.

I think the location of the feeder is important.  When I gave up on the thistle socks, I gave them to a friend and she never saw any birds on it.  I think she said she had it by her front sidewalk.  Perhaps there was too much traffic there.  I think she also has cats, so that might be the problem as well.  I think the birds appreciate a tree where they can fly to escape or rest.  But there may be other reasons why we can attract so many birds here.  Even before we had the feeders I would seem them in our trees and splashing in the waterfall.  We may also be in the flight path where other people feed birds.  When you first put a bird feeder out, be patient.  Try one location for at least a week or two.  If they don't use the feeder by that time, try moving it.

This site sells a different kind of feeder.  I might give their roller feeder a try!   They recommend sunflower kernals.  I don't know if their feeder would work with the tiny Nyjer seeds.  The site does offer some great  feeding tips and links.