Attracting Birds: Feeders

Setting Up Your Feeder

Whether you live in a city or in the country, in a house or an apartment, your feeder will attract birds. All you have to decide is whether to hang it from a tree branch or from your balcony, attach it to your windowpane, or screw it onto a post, windowsill, or platform.

If your window doesn't have a wide ledge, build a platform beneath it to encourage lots of birds to visit. Scatter seeds on the platform-and you've made a feeding shelf.

Attract ground-feeding birds by scattering food on the ground. If you don't want seeds sprouting in your lawn, spread a piece of plywood or use cracked grains.

If cats or squirrels are going after the birds or their food, attach a large, square piece of wood on top of a post. Screw the feeder onto the center of the platform. Remember that some pests are great jumpers. Place the feeder where it can't be reached from a fence, branch, or roof.

Whenever you refill your feeder, make sure the seed tray is clean. If leftover seeds are water soaked or soiled by bird droppings, throw them away. Wash the tray in warm, soapy water; then rinse thoroughly. Wipe and dry the tray, and add a fresh supply of food.

• Is the ground around the feeder clear of shrubs?
• Can you see the feeder clearly from your window?
• Is your feeder reasonably sheltered from wind and rain?
• Will your feeder be easy to reach when there is lots of snow on the ground?

   

Suet is sold in supermarkets either in a solid chunk or ground up. Put a chunk of suet in a plastic mesh bag-the kind in which onions are sold. Tie the bag so that the suet stays in place. Then hang it from a branch, tie it securely to the trunk of a tree, or find a log about 12 inches long and 4 inches thick. Ask an adult to drill some deep holes the size of a quarter into it. Let the suet soften at room temperature, then press it into the holes. Hang the log near your bird watching window, or make a "mini-log" by pressing suet into a pine cone.

Softened suet can be made into super snacks, bird style. Mix together equal amounts of suet, all-natural peanut butter, and mixed seeds. Then add enough cornmeal or whole wheat flour (or both) to absorb the grease of the peanut butter. Press the mixture into small plastic containers and refrigerate until solid. Unmold the treats and hang them in mesh bags.

More birds will come to your yard if you have a birdbath. A clean plastic dishpan with low sides and gravel in the bottom makes a good one. The bath should slope so the water is very shallow and one end and no deeper then the length of your longest finger at the other. Place it in the open away from shrubs, but close to the branches of a tree for protection from predators. Birds also like a nearby perch to preen on after they bathe. To build a birdbath, dig a hole about the size of a garbage can lid. Slope the bottom, line the hole with heavy plastic, and add a layer of sand or gravel. Place a flat rock in the deep end, and slowly pour water on it as you fill the bath so you don't disturb the sand. Birds are attracted to the sound of water dripping. Hang a plastic container with a very tiny hole in the bottom about 2 feet above the bath, and fill the container with water. Ideally, 1 or 2 drops of water should fall each second.

Source: Dawe, Neil and Karen, The Bird Book, New York: Workman Publishing, 1998.

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