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Baitball Blogger

(46,576 posts)
Tue Mar 20, 2012, 10:40 PM Mar 2012

My cardinal is training me.

When I left the curtains open they would hop on the branches on the other side of the window to get my attention, knowing I would come out to feed them. Now they peep when I walk out.

I'm feeding on a regular basis, two pairs of mourning doves, the cardinal pair, at least one pair of carolina wren, and a blue jay that sweeps in when none of them are around.

What's are you feeding in your garden?

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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My cardinal is training me. (Original Post) Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 OP
I like to think that I have the birds trained, Curmudgeoness Mar 2012 #1
I feel like such an amateur. Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #3
You got the right attitude fadedrose Mar 2012 #6
You have to start somewhere. Curmudgeoness Mar 2012 #11
The whole gang isn't here yet... fadedrose Mar 2012 #2
I don't get this kind of variety. Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #4
You need flowers and bushes fadedrose Mar 2012 #5
I'll try to put the feeder out. Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #8
Other birds aren't so much the problems - it's bees and cats ... fadedrose Mar 2012 #7
Bees? Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #9
They like the sugar water in the feeder fadedrose Mar 2012 #10

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
1. I like to think that I have the birds trained,
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 06:47 PM
Mar 2012

not the other way around.

Daily visitors for me are also Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Mourning Doves. I have Carolina Wrens who nest in a house in the garden, but they don't come to the feeder. I also get lots of House Sparrows and European Starlings, but also regulars are Downy Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse, Nuthatch, Goldfinches, House Finches (but not many in recent years), Chickadees, Grackles just got here, Chipping Sparrows, White-Throated Sparrows, Juncos will be gone soon, and one gorgeous Flicker....and of course, lots of squirrels, both Gray and Fox Squirrels.

I just love my feeders.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
11. You have to start somewhere.
Thu Mar 22, 2012, 06:40 PM
Mar 2012

Birds have been fed year round at this house for 30-40 years, so they have generations of experience.

I only feed one type of seed after trying everything out there, and it is expensive---but this is my only entertainment budget. I use shelled sunflower seed. This is because I am tired of the mess of shells to clean up all the time, I hate the types of seeds that the birds don't like and just throw all over, and I have found that all birds love these. I also have different kinds of feeders, and a large platform for the birds who like to feed in the open.

Just keep experimenting.

fadedrose

(10,044 posts)
2. The whole gang isn't here yet...
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 10:11 PM
Mar 2012

Last edited Wed Mar 21, 2012, 10:42 PM - Edit history (1)

But right now, woodpeckers are training me. They like homemade suet. Trouble is, so do the starlings, but I put shepard's hooks close to the house near the kitchen table window, and the starlings are shy. The woodpeckers seem to know this is for THEIR benefit. Have about 5, maybe 6, downy's and a couple of redbreasted peckers. A few starlings still come, but not the fifty or so we had - they're chicken.

It rains blue jays in the morning (at least a dozen) when we put out the peanuts in shells - a couple of handfuls. They might stop back during the day for sunflowers, etc., but in the morning jays are awesome.

Cardinals come at night, late in the day, or early in the morning when it's slightly dark. I think I have only one pair, and they don't show up much during most winters. This is their nesting area in spring and they're starting to come again. As soon as the babies can come to the feeder, they're pretty much gone except for the pair. The cardinal fathers are good parents - they take care of feeding the new kids while mom is still on the eggs....

Nuthatches, chickadees, loads of red-wing blackbirds.

At least one pair of robins is back and sounds off in the patio tree, telling me to throw out a dozen grapes....

Soon to come - not here yet - tree sparrows, hummers, orioles, flickers, and my neighbor's bluebirds. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll see a blue bunting - only saw one once...Oh, and I forgot the rosebreasted grosbeaks - jelly and suet eaters, and seeds..

And the cedar waxwings the most acrobatic bird I've ever seen. They eat the serviceberries and mulberries and can get into the weirdest positions to reach a berry. They and the robins just barely tolerate each other...

Baitball Blogger

(46,576 posts)
4. I don't get this kind of variety.
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 10:31 PM
Mar 2012

What I really shoot for is the hummingbird. I don't know if I'll get a nester, however, with so many of the other birds in the area.

fadedrose

(10,044 posts)
5. You need flowers and bushes
Wed Mar 21, 2012, 10:48 PM
Mar 2012

Salvia, impatients, so many types. They will nest nearby if you have the right plants.

Be sure to put out a feeder. 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup water. Cane sugar is best.

I like my feeder because it has a perches. They like to sit. Some of my neighbors said that hummingbirds don't sit - had to call them over to see.

Buy the smallest feeder you can, and keep it fresh. I prepare mine and keep it in the frige in a big jar.

A shepard's hook near your best viewing window . . . We watch ours about 8" away through the glass....

Good luck, and don't be surprised if an oriole comes too (they're not all orange and black - the females are kind of gold and brown).

The first week of May (maybe earlier with this warm weather. Put the feeder out about April 20, and keep changing the water until you see one... I'm in Michigan....

Baitball Blogger

(46,576 posts)
8. I'll try to put the feeder out.
Thu Mar 22, 2012, 01:33 AM
Mar 2012

I set it out for three weeks, but never saw one come to it. Maybe I got the formula wrong?

fadedrose

(10,044 posts)
10. They like the sugar water in the feeder
Thu Mar 22, 2012, 10:08 AM
Mar 2012

The hummers back up and fly off till it's safe to come back. They don't take any chances, so there must be a danger.

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