I bought one of the first type (shown above) this weekend as a second feeder only because a bully male showed up last week and was completely monopolizing my Artline glass crystal lantern feeder. The hummers found the red one within 5 minutes of me hanging it up. I chose that one, which happened to be the cheapest one at Walmart, because it had no perches (as opposed to the continuous loop kind on all the others they had, which are known to trap hummers), and because the base comes apart for cleaning. Also, the flowers are at a good angle for the hummers to feed. My Artline crystal lantern, with its T-shaped individual perches, is the best feeder I've ever seen and everyone who sees it asks me where I got it (it was a gift so I don't know!). It's easy to clean (base comes apart too) and the bottle is thick clear glass. I love it.

April 3 is the end (of counting, anyway - the feeders stay up for me). sooey: I always have low numbers of chickadees and titmice; It's rare for me to see three at a time. They're in the woods here, so I don't know if I have 50 birds coming single-file or whether most of them don't bother with the feeders. They almost always swoop in to grab a bite and then eat it in a nearby tree. Sometimes I can tell if there's two by the direction they come in (one from the left, one from the right, one from the left, one from the right....) It's interesting also that all three of us have roughly equal numbers of Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches. During the big siskin invasion the goldfinch numbers went way down, as if they had left the premises. Now that there are fewer siskins the goldfinches have come back. The first few times I got equal numbers I worried that I was miscounting the birds and I obsessed over counting with field glasses and photographing them, but I finally decided the numbers were correct. Maybe this is some sort of a natural balance of what each species will tolerate nearby? and/or the capacity of the sock feeders? There are mixed flocks at the socks, but usually the goldfinches come first and then the siskins later. On another note, I'm wondering about the capitalization of bird names issue. I have no problem with capitalizing American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins as definitive names, but I would prefer to just say goldfinches and siskins as generic terms. Besides, it's a pain to capitalize and type out the full name when there's no confusion as to what I'm talking about. What do you guys think? Claire (who is known as claire on GW where there's only one of me with this particular name. If there were other GWclaires, it would be different....)

The numerous mockingbirds around here are driving me nuts. They "claim" the bluebird feeders, even if they can not fit through the openings, and will not allow the blues to eat. I didn't want to stop placing suet and mealworms out. We have had a very wet spring and a total of 10 hungry baby blues. Maybe there is adequate food without the mealworms and suet, I just didn't want to have to worry about it. The only thing that has worked for me is to actually guard the feeders and keep the mockingbirds away. Sometimes I wait somewhere near the feeder (usually about 10-15 feet away) and sometimes I use a slingshot from inside my office window. The blues learned very quickly that my "antics" were not directed at them. They land in a branch overhead, wait for me to run off the mockingbirds, and then go into the feeder without hesitation. This is our routine early morning and early evening. If I'm lucky, on occasion, we get a mid-day feeding/guarding time. Good luck with finding a solution that works for you.

Linda, I've missed seeing you around. I just asked about you over at the other forum. Meal worms are very easy to raise. You need some wheat bran which you can get at health food stores or the cereal aisle in bigger supermarkets...or the feed store, if they will split a bag for you. They sell it by 50 lb. and you don't need that much. I use a plastic bucket with a lid...you could use smaller. Punch holes in the lid. Put in the meal worms and some slices of apple or peel or potato. You have to let some of them turn to beetles to reproduce, but it doesn't take long. Periodically, you need to replace the bran with fresh because it will get p*ssy smelling. I raise them for my fish, and all the wild things love them. I was trying to feed them to the armadillos I raised but too small and took too many....had to go to night crawlers for them. The new creature here is a feral pig. She is some kind of "special pig", I think. The local hog hunter went to prison and I am sure he released her. She was red with horizontal white stripes...about the size of a cat when she first showed up. Now the size of a medium sized dog and all red. She is very skittish and only comes at night with the coons. I put out special treats for her. I hope she stays because I don't want anyone killing her. I buy hen scratch for the doves, pigeons, crows and black birds...and scatter it all down my driveway, which is long and helps keep them out of the yard a little. The crows are here every morning tho, and clean up any food left over from the night before. A woman who works in the kitchen of a home for problem children brings all of her scraps to me and my friend who rehabs with me. We get tons of stuff...that we split. I had 14 pecan pies here and the raccoons had a party with them one night. Get a lot of beef, scrambled eggs, vegetables, chicken, fruit, melon, etc., which gives the possums a little more variety and bread which I give the horses for treats. It enables me to have a little extra money to buy the scratch, niger and sunflower seed.