Backyard Birds - feeders

Well I had to start with something to talk about my new obsession - BIRDS!
I feel like such an old woman! But it's so much fun to watch birds and also to try and see what kind of birds you can get to visit you. All the birds are migrating right now, so a ton of birds are here (or there) for the summer to mate and have babies. So I'll start by talking about the feeders I have in my yard (again - my husband thinks I have too many) Anything is good - in moderation right? Well I completely ignore that term in most cases.

This is a Thistle sock... It has in it Nyjer seed which is a seed that Goldfinches love, and other finches as well. We don't have American Goldfinches here in New Mexico but we have the "lesser goldfinch" and a lot of other ones too. Currently I have about 5 pairs of Cassin's Finches visiting my feeders regularly (all day long!) And they now have babies and the babies are the ones who first discovered these thistle socks. I'll be posting actual bird photos sometime soon, although my pictures aren't great because I don't have a good enough zoom (yet) to get quality bird photos. The reason I have two of these socks, one black and one white was an experiment of sorts. I had the black one up (photo below). I made it myself with some mesh I had left over from something I had bought. I just folded over a little of the top to make a drawstring area and sewed it there and at the bottom, and down the sides and turned it inside out, threaded a string through the top and filled it with seed. It hung out there for a couple weeks, with no visit from any bird. Then I thought maybe the birds didn't like black, but I learned that it shouldn't matter from a local bird store here. But I bought the hideous white one (the bird doesn't appeal to me) anyhow and filled it with fresh nyjer seed from the bird store, while the other one was full of Walmart seed. Just to see if it would get any visits at that point. And after about a week, the baby birds came and they regularly feed off the white one now. The white one normally has about 4 birds on it and the black always has the ONE straggler. So I'm thinking they like the fresh bird store feed better than the other. I think one bird is just hungry and can't fit on there with the rest so it just uses the black one as a backup.

HUMMINGBIRDS!

Hummingbirds are truly amazing birds. I have so much fun seeing them at my feeders. I have pictures from when we lived in Mississippi where I had like 6 visiting my feeder at once. They are so cool! Did you know that hummingbirds can fly backwards AND upside down?? So neat. Right now I have a couple black chinned hummingbirds coming to this red feeder every day. No visitors have come to the green feeder. Ok I take it back, they have occasionally but not regularly. I actually have an oriole feeder, shown below and the hummingbirds love it, and were using it instead of theirs so I moved it to the front yard and put this red one in it's place. Now he visits the red one. And probably sneaks a lick or two out of the other one in front occasionally too. But he can do whatever he wants, cuz he's a hummingbird. Speaking of him doing whatever he wants, I was lucky enough to see the male hummingbird do his mating trick for the female. She perched inmy tree and sat and watched as he very fastly flew way up straight in the air and then did a huge U in the air back up the other side. He did this about five times before they both flew away. I wish I knew if he got her to be his mate. hehe.
 BEAUTIFUL Birds!

This saucer style feeder is supposed to reduce the spill factor in windy conditions. I really like the look of my other one better though. But I think this one does the job of attracting the attention of the birds. Hummingbirds also love the sound of running water. All birds do! But hummingbirds especially love a mister! They will run through it and get all soaked and then perch on a branch and primp. I don't have a real mister as of yet, so I sometimes turn my hose on to the mist notch and hang it from a hook and the birds will fly through it for a little cool off.

This is a suet feeder. Suet is made from raw beef fat. The fat can melt or go rancid if it's not rendered. Suet is the best food to attract woodpeckers. You can render it yourself and serve it as is, or make "suet cakes" using seed and other ingredients. Or you can just buy suet cakes from your local bird feeding store. Suet comes in a block at any feed store in many different varieties. Suet with peanut butter is especially attractive to Woodpeckers, goldfinches, juncos, cardinals, thrashers, jays, kinglets, bluebirds, and wrens. I would give you a recipe to make suet at home but I haven't tried it myself yet, but will definitely be working on that.

This is a temporary bird bath. It's a little silly but the birds really use it. Ok not really any cool birds, so far only the doves have used it. I have a fountain type thing but the motor on it stopped working so I'm in the process of getting that fixed. And birds need water. So a simple bird bath 1 to 1 1/2 inches is perfect. I put sticks around mine to provide perching spots for the birds. It also makes it seem a little more natural. But I have a bird bath plan in mind that I'm going to be trying sometime soon as well as getting my fountain working. Birds were drinking from my fountain constantly while it was working. If birds will drink from your water source but not bathe, it usually means that it's too deep. It can also mean it's not in an area where the birds feel safe. And running water is always better than still water for attracting more birds to your yard. Or BOTH is even better. Even a small drip would be great. I read somewhere online that you can use an old pail and hang it above your bird bath with a small hole in it, so that it will drip drip drip into the bath. ? I shall try this out.

 This is a homemade oriole feeder. It's made to hold fruit halves, particularly oranges. Orioles love oranges and they also love grape jelly. I made this feeder to hold a small glass cup of Grape Jelly and a prong for orange halves on each side. I used cedar fence posts (the skinnier ones) for the bottom and roof, then used cedar 1 x 2's for the sides. I then used a large 2 inch hole saw to saw a place for the glass cup to rest, and then drilled holes where I wanted my "prongs" for the oranges to go. I read that the oranges should be placed meat side up for the birds, but I did mine sideways before reading that. Does it matter? I'm not sure. I haven't had a visit yet. I DID have a visit one day from a Scotts Oriole and he only stayed about 1/10th of a minute. It took my breath away to see the bright yellow and black color he was. So pretty! I beg him to come back and eat from my awesome homemade feeder! I've tied orange ribbon onto them as well to attract them even more. Birds don't smell, so they go by site. They can see seeds, see colors, see plants and that's what draws them in. Other birds that enjoy fruit include Gray catbirds, and Western Tanagers in the west, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Mockingbirds, Brown Thrashers, Orchard Orioles, Baltimore Orioles, Scarlet Tanagers, Gray Catbirds, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the east. When it comes to bird feeding, I sort of wish I lived in the east. But I'll enjoy the west.

Orioles are also nectar loving birds as I mentioned earlier my hummingbird was visiting my oriole feeder which is the photo here. Orioles however, need a place to perch while feeding unlike hummingbirds that can hover. Hummingbirds are the F-22 of the bird world. This perch is what differs the oriole feeder from the hummingbird feeder as well as the size of the hole to get the nectar. Hummingbirds have long beaks and a tongue that is 1 1/2 times the beak I believe. So amazing. Orioles need a place for their beaks to fit, so this feeder has larger holes and a nice perch. Hummingbirds actually don't mind perching either. My feeder above in the hummingbird section that is the saucer style also has a place for hummingbirds to stand and rest but I've yet to see one do it.
Ok that's just the beginning of the bird info I have for you. I know I'm leaving lots of basics out, but I promise I will get to them. This was just some random information. I apologize if I jumped around a lot. Thanks for reading!!

Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this post, or have any questions or input!