You can always try hanging the feeders independent of the trees. A post set into the ground with hooks for the feeders or the shepherd's crooks they sell specifically for this purpose would prevent any damage hanging feeding appliances directly to a tree might incur. As to the pros and cons of feeding birds.......I agree with Dan on this one. Expanding development has restricted/removed many of the natural habitats and food sources and encouraging birds to the garden is overall a very good thing - they are the best natural insect control available! Plus, they are infinitely entertaining. Planting to encourage habitat and to supplement food sources is desirable, but nothing wrong with feeders either. They can bring the birds up close and personal :-)) If you want songbirds, try a "no-waste" mix. Even if it gets scattered on the ground, it gets eaten too fast to hang around to attract rodents. And sapsucker damage to trees is generally more cosmetic than particularly harmful. Since they have a 'preferred' tree menu, you can always avoid attracting them by not planting the trees they like. And as they tend to limit their diet to insects and tree sap, with supplementation from fruits and berries - the seed feeders are unlikely to create additional problems.

Thanks so much for the response, kimmsr. I know so little about the make up of droppings that I have no idea how safe or dangerous they may be. I do know that they eat right in to the paint on my deck, so at the very least, I want to contain the damage. It's a wood deck with slots, so hosing things down just washes the mess onto my neighbor's space. I don't think that's a good idea, especially since I don't (yet) know how dangerous the poop is. I'm still thinking the best way to go is to put a bunch of potted plants underneath and let them catch the droppings and break them down as fertilizer. Unfortunately, one of the Ceanothus bushes I planted that's right underneath isn't doing very well. I'm wondering if the acid or something else in the droppings is causing problems. I'm really in need of someone with expert knowledge of the properties of bird droppings. I'm not sure if I've come to the right place or not. I'd be grateful for any help people here can provide. Thanks again!

Hi Nancy, I bought new birdfeeders today. I was in the States for the day (I'm from Canada) and so I decided to checkout Lowes and got feeders with metal perches. Funny thing about animals - you really can't tell what's on their minds when they do what they do..so for me to make sense of this is probably futile. And you are probably right in that large birds may have caused the damage -- yet I cannot explain why the cuts occur at the point the perch enters the tube and why the rest of the perch do not have any bite marks. These are relatively new tubes. One a year old and other just recently purchased. The perches are pretty strong I can't snap them in half. If it had been squirrels, the tubes by now would have been damaged. They remain intact and for added protection I had greased the poles. Mice, raccoons or squirrels will have to do heck of a pole dance to make it up that pole. I won't throw away my older feeders. I would like to still use them if I can locate rods of similar width to replace the perches. or as you said, enlarge the holes by drilling and get branches.

This is fun! So glad you are all trying to find ways to have more wildlife in your gardens. A few thoughts. 1. Vaseline on the poles...works until the weather gets too hot, then it gets gloppy, goopy, full of buts, and finally slides right off. (At least, that was my experience. 2. Slinkies are easy to attach. First, open the top ring of the Slinky. It has a little fastener holding the last loop closed. Just push it with a screwdriver or other tool until the last loop opens up. Slide the Slinky over your pole and into the position you want. Slide a hose clamp over the pole, push the final loop of the Slinky through the hose clamp, and tighten the hose clamp against the pole. Let the Slinky hang free at the bottom. The more it wiggles, the less likely they can climb it. Mine haven't even had the nerve to TRY yet. (I'll post a close up tomorrow so you can see just how it works.) For a $2.00 investment, NO SQUIRRELS! Wooohooooo! 3. Anna, you probably don't want to lure owls (or any predatory bird) to your garden if you are trying to feed birds there. It will frighten them away. If you have a large piece of property and can locate the owl box a LONG way away from your feeding station, that would be fine. Otherwise, I'd rethink that one, if I were you. Wood duck boxes are great if you have a pond or lake nearby. Other birds that will nest in boxes include bluebirds, wrens, titmice, great crested flycatchers, woodpeckers and more. Each requires specific dimensions and hole sizes, and specific locations, heights, etc. All of that info can be found online. 4. Tannatonk, as I said in my posts, I always throw down plenty of cracked corn on the ground for the squirrels and doves. But I try to keep the squirrels out of my feeders, and usually my baffles have worked. Now the Slinky is working well, too, SO FAR. I also feed safflower in the feeders that aren't squirrel proofed, as they don't like it. And no, I have never fed a red-bellied woodpecker by hand. Titmice and some other small birds, yes, but not woodpeckers. Let us know if you succeed! Good luck! Today, I had about 8 indigo buntings at once. In addition to the four adult males I've been seeing, there were 4 first spring males (immatures), and 1 female. Hmmm...that's NINE, isn't it? The painted bunting seems to be gone, and I never saw the rose-breasted grosbeak again, but the indigos are so much fun. They fly fast back and forth between the feeders, and often feed on the ground, like a flock of bright blue sparrows. Marcia