First off, it's my understanding that you're NOT supposed to feed the birds in summer. For their sake--they need to be finding their own food, it's good for them, not to be 'spoiled'. And for your sake--many birds eat insects, which helps keep the pests out of your area, and keep down the spread of insect-born disease. You ARE supposed to start feeding them in the early fall, so they learn where your feeders are, and then feed them through the winter. That's when they need the easy-to-access food.

So please, reconsider. If you can't feed through the winter, yes, it would be very cruel to get them used to a convenient food source, then stop providing it when they need it the most and are least prepared to find their own food.

As to being protected? I haven't found that to be a problem. I have some feeders in a bushy pussy willow--obviously protected. One hanging from a red maple--sort of semi-protected. And one large one (an electric squirrel-proof one) hanging from a post in the back yard--totally out in the open. The birds love and use them all, with no problem. Only think I noticed with the unprotected one on the post, is that after dark, sometimes there's a screech owl sitting nearby, waiting for mice to come and eat the dropped seed underneath. I guess the out-in-the-open status makes it easier for him to see the mice? And to be honest, I hope he catches any who might wander by--LOL!

Why don't you go to your local bird food store, have a chat with the owner--they're usually very knowlegeable.

Oh, and be sure to buy good quality birdseed, NOT the supermarket, home center stuff. The better the birdseed, the more interesting varieties of birds you'll get. Again, a knowlegeable clerk can help you buy the variety that's right for your area, your feeders, and for the birds you would like to attract. AND the cheap stuff isn't treated to prevent it from growing--next summer you'll have a mess of weeds under your feeder if you don't get good seed.

I have my feeders out in the open but fairly close to a wooded area. I got some shepherd hooks form walmart to hang them on. We feed the birds a bit during spring summer and fall, but feed really heavily in winter when natural food is sparse. I tried to hang feeders closer to the house, but the birds would have none of it, so I moved them out into the yard.

I think you really will enjoy watching them at the feeder.

Helen

I'm not an expert, by any means ... but I'd really suggest not feeding them if you don't mean to do it year-around. When you put food out for birds, you attract additional birds that might normally go somewhere else. So if your yard can sustain ... say, 50 of them naturally ... you could easily end up with 75 or 100 birds by using feeders. (these are just random numbers picked out of my head to use as an example. In reality I have no clue how many birds visit our feeders except in the winter I can tell you we have 23 pairs of cardinals because they line up on our deck railing and take turns eating)

In the spring, summer and fall, there are natural elements in nature that they eat, and I look at the feeders as a kind of "supplement" to that. It's great fun to watch the mating dances in the spring, and then the parents feeding their babies in the summer and early fall. Those babies are a hoot!

But in the winter, natural food is scarce and they truly need all the help they can get, especially if you've trained them to come to feeders during the other seasons. It's cruel to encourage that 100 birds when your natural environment can only sustain 50 of them.

Oh, I thought bird feeders attracted more birds, who would eat more insects too. This is why I'm glad I asked.

I just have to come up with a system then, that I know I can keep up in the winter time. Maybe in the winter I can put a pole in the garden closer to the house where it's easier to get at. I want to make sure this is properly planned out before I make a decision.

Oh, one more thing. Does everyone who has a bird feeder also have a bird bath or water dish?

Right now I'm looking out at a robin and a male cardinal on my triple-tube feeder, a female cardinal on the ground, a chickadee on the edge of the birdbath, and a few goldfinches on my thistle feeder. I love watching them. My cats show no interest! (my cats are inside cats - no chance in them getting the birds).

I feed year round. I know the advice about not feeding in the summer and I do feel a bit guilty about it. If I couldn't feed in the winter I wouldn't feed at all, because as has been said, the winter is when they need it. I wouldn't attract birds to my house when natural food is available to them and then stop feeding them when it's not. I think your idea of somehow finding a place that is easier to get to in the winter is a good one.

I'd suggest that you buy a simple bird book with lots of pictures because you're going to wonder what they all are.

Have fun!

Suzieque

If you're concerned about getting to them in the winter, you'll probably benefit from a good sized one. I have two Stop-a-Squirrel feeders and they hold 11 lbs. each. I can almost always find a day before it runs out where the weather is decent enough to get out there and pour more in.

Just including this link for info. I'd hope you could get it for less than this, if you're interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: picture of feeder

Susan, I sent you an email. Let me know if you get it!

What I have learned about feeding birds in the last 40 years. Probably more info than you wanted.

One thing you need to know is we feed birds for our pleasure. You can skip days or take vacations and not worry about the birds going hungry. Wild things never depend on one source for food. Don't feed them bread in the winter because they will fill up on that and they need the oil from seeds to keep them warm. I never had success feeding store bought suet, but did have with home made.

Put the feeder where you can view if from your easy chair or the desk where you work on the PC. I have one in the berm visible from my easy chair. As far as protection goes I have 2 knock out roses they can get in if necessary. The #1 seed most bird like are black oil sunflower seeds...BOSS (abbreviation). If you put out a mix of seeds they will rake out the other seeds to get to the sunflower seeds. Check out your local feed stores for 50 lb bags of BOSS, I find the best prices there. If you find nuisance birds to be a problem use tube feeders without the tray attachment below. Pick one with short perches so the grackles can't hang on, my husband sawed mine off a little. I buy two so I can put up a clean filled feeder and take my time in cleaning the other one. Use good feeders, metal and plastic or the squirrels with tear them up to get at the seeds. I quit using wooden posts early on because of squirrels. At feed stores like TSM or something like that, you can find metal post that comes in sections. The pole I bought has a spiral section that screws into the ground, then sections you can buy to make it high enough to keep animals from jumping up to it. The top piece has hooks, mine has 3. Don't put a boulder or bird bath close or squirrels can jump to the feeder. You can buy a baffle that fits on the pole to keep off squirrels.

When I moved to this house I quit using BOSS because the hulls will kill anything growing under it. I didn't believe that the first time a heard it but it will. It "kills" the soil. I use safflower seeds and still have a good array of birds, but not like I used to have with BOSS. I also buy some shelled BOSS, but it's very expensive and only put out a little at a time because it molds easy.

I forgot to add, there are a lot of myths floating around about feeding birds. You can feed the birds all year long. As a matter of fact they need seeds more in the summer because they are feeding young. Birds even Purple Martins who eat insects can never eat enough to make a significant difference in the insects around your home. I called a conservationist with questions like that and about feeding birds, took Birds and Blooms for years and read and posted in the Garden Web birding forum. Purple finches will keep away the sparrows, but they leave the feeders in the fall because they prefer the seeds in the fields. Then the sparrows may move in until the finches come back.

Wow, lots of great information. Thanks, ladies!

Caroline, I got your email... just about to respond...

Susan, I just responded to your email again and thought of a couple more things.

I think the metal tube feeders keep the seed much drier than the wooden hopper ones. You don't ever want to offer wet, mildewed, or moldy seed. My wooden hopper feeder got so wet and swollen I had to retire it. Moldy seed can cause disease and death to the feeder birds.

You do need to remove and empty your feeders about once a month for a good cleaning. I keep large squirrel baffles over mine. They slow down the squirrels, LOL, and they do a wonderful job of keeping all the bird droppings off of the feeder.

I have a Stokes metal tube feeder. I think it holds 7 lbs. of BOSS. I'll post some photos later today.

If you want mosquito control; it's true, barn swallows and tree swallows eat far more mosquitoes than purple martins even think of, but purple martins eat only flying insects...all sorts of flying insects, including a few mosquitoes. But the blood suckers are not the PMs meat-and-potatoes! LOL Boy the songs and the beauty they provide though!

Another sure-fire way to attract birds, with the least mess and bother, is good fresh water! A simple bird bath; (I use an 18" plant saucer), on a stand or on the ground is a bird magnet. And a squirrel magnet. And a rabbit magnet. And a turkey magnet.

I have this silly, cheap, plastic planter tray sitting on a large paver under a tree. I empty, rinse, and fill it daily (three minutes, tops) and it a constant source of activity, amusement, and joy.

I was sitting about 10" away from it last night, drinking tea and watching the Purple Martins come zooming in. A little pine warbler was sitting on a rock in the bird bath, (some birds want very shallow water) bathing and drinking and twittering at me. She sat on the edge of the tray, preening and stretching. She was not the least bit concerned about me being close enough to touch her.

I've had chickadees drink from the tray and then sit on the arm of my chair, looking at me, wondering if they're getting their special peanut treat soon.

That was a Pine Siskin being all friendly at my birdbath, not a pine warbler! LOL I keep calling them by the other's name.

More thoughts ... different birds are attracted to different types of feeders. Doves, for example, prefer flat feeders or the ground. So if you want to attract specific birds, do a little research on the environment they like best. I used to have a variety of feeders all around the yard, but it got too difficult in the winter with snow & ice, to visit them all every few days. So now I'm down to just two large flat feeders attached to the porch railing. We still get a large variety of birds and I don't have to trapse all over the yard. (However ... I also have volunteer sunflowers that grow under and around my back porch because of this)

Yes, you'll want to have a bird bath also, so they have a reliable water source. Change the water frequently to prevent adding to your mosquito population! The best gift I ever received was a heated birdbath from my brother one Christmas. He'd stayed with us for five months during a job-change, while his wife and daughter were back home finishing the school year, and knew how I enjoyed sitting at the table and just watching the birds. So this baby attaches to the porch railing and can be plugged in during the winter to ensure water.

I'm sending you several feeder photos to the email. They're "attaching" right now.

One of the books I was trying to think of is Attracking Birds to Your Backyard, edited by Roth, published by Rodale.

The first feeder is made up of the sections of pipe I posted about in my orig reply. I have safflower in one of the tubes and the shelled BOSS in the second tube. I put safflower seeds in the flat feeder because grackles and starlings don't like it. I have a lot of doves because of that feeder and they also eat on the ground to get dropped seed. I usually hang it on the hanger in the second photo except during hummer season. You turn the knob on the deck post and you can swing the feeder to you, fill it then put it back and tighten the knob again. If you have a Wild Bird Seed store in your city you can get a lot of useful info about feeding birds.

The doves hang around on my deck and window well in the window because it's warm there. And you need a birding book. Enjoy your new hobby, you and your hubby will enjoy it as you learn the bird ID's and their calls. I was lucky enough to see a pair of flickers doing their courting thing. Hopping around on the ground, showing their colors and me without my camera. (:(

We enjoy watching our birds year round. We were able to watch a family of wrens occupy a small birdhouse we hung right up next to our window. They didn't know we were there and we got to see mama feeding the chicks. It was great. We have several small feeders hanging from our window awnings. Close enough to see the birds up close and they can't see us (we have window film). In the winter we make suet with Crisco, peanut butter, some mixed seeds, grains like oatmeal and corn meal to firm it up. Mix all together and refrigerate as you use a little at a time. we took a section of wood log, drilled 1 1/2" holes part way into the log at various places. We pack the suet in the holes and hang the log by a hook in the top of the log. The birds cling to the sides of the bark to get the suet. As the bark comes off, we just make a new log, sometimes we put a little dowel for them to sit on.
This is the best recipe we have found that ALL birds love. The Crisco and peanut butter provide the protein they need to withstand the elements. We also sprinkle cracked corn on the ground for the doves, wild turkeys, ducks etc that visit. We keep a bowl of water nearby and they use it for drinking, bathing and dunking their bread scraps that we occasionally sprinkle around.
Feeding our birds has been the biggest joy we have found. We are on a fixed income and can't afford Safflower and sunflower seeds so we get the mixed bird see that doesn't have a lot of the small red millet like seeds (not sure what they are called but the birds doesn't like the red seeds, they like the little light gold seeds. Chickadees and sparrows like the little seeds, Jays and Cardinals like the sunflower seeds. There is enough mixture that they all get fed.
Try it, you will love watching them.

It is not true that they will "rely" on your feeders for their food. I have gold finches that come and nibble at my thistle socks, and then promptly go over to the neighbors yard and nibble on the flowering dandelions!

I feed a pair of Anna's humming birds all year long. And right now I have a pair of Rufous too. The Anna's will eat bugs too, so I researched on the net. I only feed thistle in the late spring and summer. Because of rats(rats patrol the bird garden) and starlings(clean out a suet cake holder in half a day with nestlings). In the fall and winter I put the mixed seed back up, suet and woodpecker bars.

I started reading this thread just out of curiosity, and to see if I might learn something new.

Susan, please don't misunderstand, but your post made bird feeding sound like rocket science! ;-)

I kept reading and saw Stargazzer's comments and that is my philosophy exactly: One thing you need to know is we feed birds for our pleasure.

I feed the birds for my pleasure. I hang two feeders, one a large heavy wire cylinder type and the other is a
Finch feeder. I buy BOSS for the wire type and Niger (thistle) for the other one. The large one hangs from a tree which is mulched all around, so not killing any grass. If you have Goldfinches in your area be sure you get a feeder that is for Goldfinches. It usually has a yellow top, and the package will show the GFs hanging upside down to feed. (The perch is above the hole.) Again, that is for my pleasure, but also keeps other birds from devouring the expensive Niger. House finches, etc. can't do that little acrobatic stunt. I don't put out any bread or scraps of any kind; that would only attract more grackles and other "bottom feeders.")

I don't feed in the Winter, because of my wobbly knees and legs, which could cause a fall in the snow and ice.

I attract several kinds of birds including those pesky grackles, which I despise the way most folks despise
squirrels. This year I am seeing Red Wing Blackbirds, which I haven't seen before. Very amusing though to see a grackle trying to hang on to the side of the big feeder, with wings flapping.

Because I'm in a newly developed area, we don't have squirrels because the trees aren't big enough to attract them I guess. Doesn't stop the birds though.

Don't take bird feeding too seriously! Just enjoy! Hang some feeders and see what you get. Fine tune as you go,

Sue

LOL!! Sue, I promise I'll relax :)

Stargazzer, those are great pics! And your yard looks fantastic!

I'm happy to have gotten a lot of guidance here. I'm looking forward to doing this.

Thanks guys for replying to me personally. LOL

I love birds, trees and plants with a passion. I would like to travel to other parts of the US and stay for a month in each place....the mountains, desert, lakes with my flora and fauna book in my hand. I just wish I had found this passion when I was younger and had a better memory and good knees. Thanks for the comment about my yard. I live in a Patio development and they allowed me the berm. It will allow me to play in the dirt each spring, then sit back and enjoy the view from my easy chair.

Great input here!

I'd like to add that when starting with the hummingbird feeders - start with just one and only fill it with a couple inches of sugar water. Otherwise you will just be wasting it, keep any extra in the fridge.. it will last a long time. You'll have to dump and refill those feeders every few days (depending on the temperature).

I quit feeding seed a couple years ago to simplify my life. :-) I now just make my own suet (similar to the recipe posted above) and put it in a upside down feeder that is supposed to foil the Grackles (but it does not). The suet cake is gone by early afternoon and I refill it daily. It does attract a lot of different birds (woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, etc.) including ones that don't normally hang upside down to feed such as Cardinals. If you have a deck, I'd consider one of these feeders on a shephard's hook. It makes much less mess than a seed feeder and if you make your own suet it is fairly inexpensive. I put suet out daily year round. The recipe I use will not melt unless temps get up into the 100's.