Backyard Birding

[Nextmanup]

On 8/7/2023 at 6:23 PM, T&C said:

Sandhill cranes... I had 4 of them in my yard the other day. Didn't even notice them but when I went around my car I turned and they were 8' away.

 

Looking at photos of Sanhill cranes online, that wasn't it.

 

More like this:  (Egret)

 

[Saxum]

The bird feeder we are currently using can hold about a gallon of seeds 

It has trays on bottom as well as multiple level of standing poles.

 

The sparrows and chickadees were standing in the trays digging in my bird feeder for sunflower seeds dumping other seeds on ground.

Some of the ground feeders would eat some but a lot was wasted.

 

We moved it to the ground raised on some flat stones so the ground feeders can access it.

 

It has now become very popular with morning doves and we had 11 the other day as well as a couple of them next door trying to go thru wire fence.

My wife has recycled some of the COVID plexiglass screens which used to be at work to prevent mud from sliding into our driveway from next door and sometimes the birds get caught between the plexiglass and the wire fence.

Now the problem is the morning doves are emptying out the sunflower seeds so they can get to cracked corn and other food they like.

 

 

[SoTier]

On 9/8/2023 at 12:38 PM, Limeaid said:

The bird feeder we are currently using can hold about a gallon of seeds 

It has trays on bottom as well as multiple level of standing poles.

 

The sparrows and chickadees were standing in the trays digging in my bird feeder for sunflower seeds dumping other seeds on ground.

Some of the ground feeders would eat some but a lot was wasted.

 

We moved it to the ground raised on some flat stones so the ground feeders can access it.

 

It has now become very popular with morning doves and we had 11 the other day as well as a couple of them next door trying to go thru wire fence.

My wife has recycled some of the COVID plexiglass screens which used to be at work to prevent mud from sliding into our driveway from next door and sometimes the birds get caught between the plexiglass and the wire fence.

Now the problem is the morning doves are emptying out the sunflower seeds so they can get to cracked corn and other food they like.

 

 

 

That's why I don't feed seed mixes.  There's too much waste because birds will only eat what they like and toss the rest -- as you've discovered.  Many seed mixes, especially cheaper mixes, have filler seeds like red millet which most birds don't like (doves and juncos love white millet, however).  I feed primarily black oil sunflower seed in two tube feeders (one for clinging birds like woodpeckers and finches) and a perch feeder, but I also feed cracked corn on the ground for pigeons and mourning doves and peanuts for the bluejays and cardinals.  I also provide suet cakes.  This winter I will put out white millet in a low covered platform feeder for the dark-eyed juncos that visit my yard.

[T&C]

2 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

That's why I don't feed seed mixes.  There's too much waste because birds will only eat what they like and toss the rest -- as you've discovered.  Many seed mixes, especially cheaper mixes, have filler seeds like red millet which most birds don't like (doves and juncos love white millet, however).  I feed primarily black oil sunflower seed in two tube feeders (one for clinging birds like woodpeckers and finches) and a perch feeder, but I also feed cracked corn on the ground for pigeons and mourning doves and peanuts for the bluejays and cardinals.  I also provide suet cakes.  This winter I will put out white millet in a low covered platform feeder for the dark-eyed juncos that visit my yard.

Are you talking about Milo?

 

"What is the difference between red millet and milo?

Millet Is Good; Milo is Bad – Backyard Birds | The Bird Food .

The names are similar. Both are little round seeds that get kicked to the ground. Millet gets eaten (unless your mix is too heavy in millet), but milo is a filler – birds don't like it. Be careful about using most commercial mixes from the grocery store or big box stores."

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, T&C said:

Are you talking about Milo?

 

"What is the difference between red millet and milo?

Millet Is Good; Milo is Bad – Backyard Birds | The Bird Food .

The names are similar. Both are little round seeds that get kicked to the ground. Millet gets eaten (unless your mix is too heavy in millet), but milo is a filler – birds don't like it. Be careful about using most commercial mixes from the grocery store or big box stores."

 

Milo seed is eaten but by more western birds in US.

 

Quote

Birds That Eat Milo

 

While milo seed is not the most popular type of seed for a wide variety of backyard birds, there are birds that will readily accept this grain as part of their diet, including:

• Game birds, such as wild turkeys, Gambel's quail, California quail, and ring-necked pheasants
• Large doves, including Eurasian collared doves, white-winged doves, and rock pigeons
• Large western jays, including western scrub-jays and Steller's jays
• Ground-feeding birds such as common grackles, brown-headed cowbirds, and European starlings
• Southwestern ground birds, including plain chachalacas

 

I have seen morning doves eat it although not first choice.

We also have some European starlings in Northern VA.

Current mix has no milo.

https://www.thespruce.com/about-milo-seed-385628#:~:text=Milo seed is a type,two varieties%3A white and red.

 

[SoTier]

9 hours ago, T&C said:

Are you talking about Milo?

 

"What is the difference between red millet and milo?

Millet Is Good; Milo is Bad – Backyard Birds | The Bird Food .

The names are similar. Both are little round seeds that get kicked to the ground. Millet gets eaten (unless your mix is too heavy in millet), but milo is a filler – birds don't like it. Be careful about using most commercial mixes from the grocery store or big box stores."

 

Yes, I meant milo.

[Bad Things]

The first of the Godwits have arrived on the South Island, after their 12,000+km flight from Alaska.

 

I love how our local Cathedral rings out the bells every year, when the birds are first spotted.

It's truly amazing that they can do this.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/132993498/long-distance-travellers-welcomed-back-to-nelson

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, Bad Things said:

The first of the Godwits have arrived on the South Island, after their 12,000+km flight from Alaska.

 

I love how our local Cathedral rings out the bells every year, when the birds are first spotted.

It's truly amazing that they can do this.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/132993498/long-distance-travellers-welcomed-back-to-nelson

Impressive.  Non-stop!

 

"...A female bar-tailed godwit made a flight of 29,000 km (18,000 mi), flying 11,680 kilometres (7,260 mi) of it without stopping. ..."

"...In 2020 a male bar-tailed godwit flew about 12,200 kilometres (7,600 mi) non-stop in its migration from Alaska to New Zealand, previously a record for avian non-stop flight.  In October 2022, a 5 month old, male bar-tailed godwit was tracked from Alaska to Tasmania, a trip that took 11 days, and recorded a non-stop flight of 8,400 miles (13,500 km). ..."

[Saxum]

On 5/12/2020 at 1:00 PM, 4_kidd_4 said:

We have several pair of m/f cardinals that visit. Awesome to watch the male forage and feed his lady.

 

Blue jays, black capped chickadees, goldfinch, downie woodpecker, grackles, finches, robins, mourning dove, all regulars in our yard.

Since we put out suet cakes we have had a bigger variety of birds with multiple types of woodpeckers feeding on one and multiple types of nuthatch, chickadees and sparrows which use both.  We bought a new feeder and gave up on it because piles of bird food on ground but I switched to putting it on ground on a very large round metal serving platter which had several flat paving stones under it.  Since then we have had up to 3 pairs of morning doves (one pair was regular and nested under our gazebo) and a pair of cardinals who eat off platter or ground sometimes.  The cardinals are very shy and let the smaller birds (which are a lot of them) chase them away so they generally eat after smaller birds feed.  Recently a 2nd pair of cardinals are the original male of the pair is very aggressive toward both of the new birds.  I have never seen cardinals fighting - is the usual behavioir?

[ExiledInIllinois]

Cardinals very territorial.  I had to put tape on the windows because they kept fighting with their reflections.  Crazy noise, pecking... 

[SoTier]

The small flock of pigeons that infest my yard has been reduced by one.  Some time this morning a hawk or falcon snagged an unlucky one, leaving a large bunch of gray and white feathers scattered around the far end of my backyard.   Cooper's hawks and peregrine falcons are the most likely culprits since I live in a somewhat suburban area of my city, but as this is migration season, it could have been several other raptors less common to this area.

[Augie]

Not in my backyard, but I took this on a trip back visiting Hilton Head. Our old Vet was retired and his retirement gig was taking people out on boating excursions to take photos of the wildlife. A mutual friend gave us that trip as a gift. He’s got extra cameras for you to use, and he cleans up the photos before sending to you. 

[Saxum]

Went to Walmart to refresh my suet for they sell bulk packs at discount and bought a 40# bag of sunflower seeds for I know chickadees and nuthatches store seeds in preparation for winter.  I have a large bird feeder with two compartments and have been using it for safflower seeds in one half for birds which do not feed on suet.

 

After I filled second half with sunflower seeds it was ignored at first but as soon as a bird was brave enough to try they were constantly feeding.  Unfortunately they are messy eaters and sunflower seeds were scattered and not eaten.  When sunflower seeds were gone (half gallon of seeds) they repeatedly dug out and scattered the safflower seeds scattering them on ground uneaten.  

 

This leaves quite a bit of seeds for night creatures which we are already feeding poison bait.  I cleaned up the ground but no way I can get them all and put out the seeds I cleaned out this morning.  

 

The birds are acting like wolves gorging themselves but their actions are causing me to feed them less.  I do not have time to cleanup everyday.  I do not want them to go hungry in winter but they may leave me no choice and this will hurt the other birds.

[Saxum]

We have a very large tree which we have no idea what is on Telegraph Road which is main road we are on corner of.

It is not a very beautiful tree and one I never knew which kind.

This year it is filled with tiny fruit and today it was filled with robins, a few cardinals and black birds at top.

It is a crabapple tree which I never knew before.

 

 

 

Photo of robin is not mine. It is what I used to identify tree.