Archive for the ‘Thistle Bird Feeders’ Category
Pine Siskins A Plenty
I’m back again and feeling better - not great yet, but better is moving in the right direction.
Do you offer thistle food to your back yard birds? Thistle is really an incorrect term, though it is used widely when referring to nyger seed. The thistle feeders are usually tight knit mesh or tube feeders with very small holes. I feed the nyger seed all year round, and find that it is twice as popular in the winter months. Today, the two tube feeder that have the nyger seed were literally covered at every port with pine siskins. The mesh nyger feeder was covered with them too. I counted 6 at one time and it is only 9 incles long. Nyger seed is a high energy food, and it is especially loved by the finches of all varieties especially in the winter months.
Pine siskins aren’t seen too much around here in the warm months. They are indeed a winter visitor. Siskins are a small finch and are often referred to as “winter finches”. They are brown and heavily streaked with lighter tones underneath. They have 2 buff colored wingbars and some yellow at the base of their flight feathers. They prefer to hang out in coniferous areas, but will seek the small seeds like the nyger seed, and remain close to the food source all winter. The Pine Siskin has been know to hang out in their winter habitats long enough to breed.
Just Like The Birds
The holidays are so much fun. I have had the privelege and opportunity to entertain family for 2 nights in a row this year. What a great time. Yesterday, three of my grandchildren were here and today, the other 2. it seemed like they had no sooner arrived and poof!
Just like the purple finches that were scouting out the tube feeder and the thistle feeder this afternoon, when I blinked, they had flown away.
With the very cold temperatures returning this week, you want to keep the birds coming back, and they will!t
Tomorrow, after a short shift at the store, I am taking 4 of the 5 little grandchildren ice skating and then out to dinner I know at the end of the day, I will be thinking: there they go, just like the birds.
Life’s Little Pleasures
This week cannot go fast enough. I am a bit giddy because on Friday evening I am entertaining some very special guests.
Two of my grandchildren are coming on Friday night, and we are going to bake a birthday cake for Griffin’s 7th birthday party and we are going to decorate Grammy’s house for Christmas. I get so excited before they come and have such a wonderful time while they are here. Griff’s sister Halle isn’t into birdwatching - she’s 11 and it isn’t “cool” or “in” or whatever today’s work for “hip” is. Griffin on the other hand loves wathching them. And, he gets up very early so we get some alone time to do it.
In preparation for our early morning fun, there will be plenty of room in the thistle feeders and the platform feeder so that Griff can help fill them. It may be a lot to wish for, but I would be so thrilled if Griffin would get to see the bluebirds come out of the bird house too. What a joy it has been for me to have someone with which to share my enjoyment of the birds and nature.
Singing In The Meadow
If you walk straing up the hill behind our home, you will find a meadow of sorts. Actually the developer calls it open space, but it is a wide open field with wild growth and tall grasses. There’s a lovely view from up there where you can see far in all directions, especially on a clear day ( hmm, don’t you think someone should write a song about that). I sometimes walk up there to spread crumbs and worms as well as cat hair, threads or feathers that can be used as roosting and nesting materials.
We had some very stong wind blown rain last night so when I went out to fill the feeders, I found the nyger food a bit wet and decided to take the tube feeders to the top of the hill and into the meadow to dump them before takind them in to clean them and refill them. On the way up, I could hear a shrill clear whistle, and a call that sounded like rattling chatter, and then the shrill whistle again. So, I walked slowly and quietly so I could see the meadowlark that was awaiting me. What a thrill to get so close, and there were 2 of them, an adult and a younger one whose markings weren’t quite as vibrant. I spent a full 5 minutes watching them before they took off.
I couldn’t help but think on my way down the hill that there should be more singing in this world.
Life’s Little Curve Balls
I really like to come and write here every single day. Seems that life has a way of throwing us little curve balls and I did not make it here yesterday. And today, it’s Halloween, so my door bell keeps ringing. But I have a couple of tips to pass along.
The weather has been wet and yesterday, my mealworm feeder was completely flooded out. Seems the drain holes were clogged and the little guys were all floating on top of the water. It is important that the container or feeder or dish that you feed mealworms in, has an adequate drain hole, so when it rains the water runs through instead of accumulating. Mealworms are far too expensive to let them float away.
The tube feeders have been getting a major work out the last couple of days. It appears that our winter birds have started arriving in numbers and I look forward to reporting to you on that. Make sure your tube feeders, thistle feeders and suet feeders are full, so as the winter birds arrive, they plan on sticking around your back yard for the winter.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Why I Enjoy Birdwatching
The other day, I was busy with something in the yard and the next thing I knew, I had zoned out on a flurry of finches and mourning doves on and under the bird feeders. My husband caught me in my trance, and asked, “Why do you watch the birds so much?’ An hour later, I think he was sorry he asked, but I think I answered his question.
My first bird feeder was a birthday gift. I was a young mom, with not too much time, so the feeder was nicely placed on a closet shelf for a number of years. I am almost ashamed to admit that, but it’s true. Once my children were in school all day, I had a bit more time and had started gardening a lot. Then one spring, on a rainy day, I was cleaning out the closet and I found the bird feeder. It was a decorative bird feeder, colorful and shaped like a little barn, and the first thought that crossed my mind was it would make a great garden ornament. Before I knew it, I had purchased my first bag of food and added a hummingbird feeder, a couple of novelty birdhouses and a thistle feeder as well. That was 34 years ago.
For many of those years, I was only interested in watching them. I could identify very few and knew very little about them, and considering the longevity of my hobby, I am still a babe in the woods when it comes to identification and real knowledge of the different species, thier habits and likes and dislikes. So you have the background, now why do I enjoy it so much.
My yard is my special place. It’s one of my places of contemplation, peace and solitude. I love to sneak out onto the patio in the early morning hours especially in the spring and watch as the robins return, and the finches put on their summer coats and the blue birds take up residency. It brings me closer to God and nature. They are wonderful entertainment too, especially during mating season. The courtships can be quite comical as well as heart touching. It is a wonderful excuse to smile, even giggle at their antics and acrobatics. And the sounds are magnificent. What a great stress reliever too.
I won’t even pretend to recognize all the calls or even identify them all on first sight. I love their freedon, their differnet flight patterns and the quiet times and spaces they take me to. Now, this took about 20 minutes, and my explanation to my husband was at least an hour, so I warn you, there may be more to come.
Fall Fall Out
Well, the hour of migration is taking its toll. The finch bird feeder is full to the brim with nyger seed ( often referred to as thistle seed), and only requires a refill every couple of days instead of twice a day. Now that is some serious fall out, and the other bird feeders are less frequented as well.
The good news is, that by having all of the feeders full and welcoming and the suet feeders out and full, my back yard is a probable stop off point for the birds that are migrating south from farther north. In a few weeks, the yard will be filled with the snow birds and others that will be here all winter.
Big Seeds, Small Seeds, Black Seeds, White Seeds
There are scads of articles and entire books about what to put in your backyard bird feeders. I really don’t want to lose your attention, so I am just going to give you a thumbnail sketch, and then I have a very nifty table that serves as a wonderful guide to the seed preferences of the common backyard birds. I am not exactly sure how to post the table in here yet, but the info will get here - I promise.
I choose to feed the birds 12 months a year. In the spring and summer, most birds don’t need the seed I offer in the bird feeders. They have access to all kinds of natural food, insects and seeds. I feed them anyway and somehow those bird feeders have to be refilled at least once a day, and often more.
Birdseed is the mainstay of any winter bird feeding program. Not only are seeds nutricious and widely accepted by most wintering birds, they are also easily stored, affordable and convenient to use.
For many years, no one knew which commonly offered seeds birds preferred. Sunflower seeds are very popular and ounce for ounce, they contain as much protein as ground beef. There are 3 kinds of sunflower seeds for birds: black oil, black striped and grey striped. The small black oil generally attract the largest number of birds. The one drawback to sunflower seeds is that the shells are inedible and quickly pile up beneath the bird feeder.
The majority of birds that usually eat small seeds prefer white moso millet. These same birds also eat cracked corn and milo, but generally choose the white millet when it is available. Peanut hearts, which are often used in seed mixes are similar to sunflower seeds in nutritional value. The disadvantage to peanut hearts is that they are attractive to starlings and they are pretty expensive. Niger seed (sometimes referred to as thistle seed) is a tiny black seed high in protien and calories that Goldfinches and several other species prize. Niger seed can get pretty pricy at times, and it requires a thistle bird feeder to accomodate the tiny seeds.
There are also hundreds of commercial bird seed mixtures. Beware that many of them are full of additives that are of no interest to any birds. These would be wheat, oats, flaxseed, to name a few. They stretch out the more expensive seeds and literraly get tossed aside. Some ground eating birds may do some of the cleanup. When you buy a commercial seed, consider getting a premium mis that has less fill, and mixing it with addional sunflowers seeds.
Tomorrow I will see what I can do about posting the table of seeds that are attractive to common backyard birds.