I buy buckets of songbird seed at the hardware store. I used to buy it at walmart, but it had a lot of the cracked corn in it. I found they weren't eating it. I live in an apartment so it's about all I can do.

Black oil sunflower seeds and commercial suet blocks. When I tried the niger, it was not well received. During last week's snow event I had a hard time keeping the feeders filled. Since I love the activity at the feeders, I am glad that I don't have bears and can watch all year long.

My birds would not eat niger seeds or suet very well, they prefer Boss. I used black oil sunflower seeds at my last house but since the hulls kill anything growing where they fall I use hulled sunflower seeds here. I quit using mixed seed after watching them scratch all the seeds out on the ground to get to the sunflower seeds. The dropped seeds just grew into weeds. The last couple of years I have used small feeders stuck to the picture window and watched them eat just 3 ft from chair. The hummers were especially fun to watch and the small woodpecker who would knock on the window for more.

We've also gone through many 50 lb bags of black oil seed this winter, plus peanuts for the bluejays. The deer also get the fallen seed under the feeders, and we throw cut-up apples out for them. Feeding wildlife is NOT cheap,

What can I put out for rabbits? So far they aren't eating what I've put out.

Caught a sale @ Ace Hardware, 20# of wild bird seed for $5. Then a sale @ HD, black oil sunflower seeds #20 $8.

We used to make our own suet cakes from bacon grease.

You all have birds in the winter? Wow! :-p

I put out a wild bird seed mix in the winter for the sparrows. I have buckshot for the magpies if they try and hone in on the sparrows domain or the dog and cat food.

But come summer, Niger seed for the finches, hummingbird food in the feeders for them, and wild bird seed mix for everything else that wants to join in. I have 9 or 10 feeders that I hang around the yard in the summer. 2 in the winter for the sparrows.

I do occasionally have a couple of Northern Flickers that like to pick the dead bugs out of my window tracks in the winter. I haven't seen them in awhile so the bugs must be all cleaned up.

I used to feed them black oiled sunflower seeds but had to stop as it attracted too many squirrels that were getting into our attic. Now we just watch the birds flying across our yard. I miss the variety of birds that would come to the feeder.

PrairieRose, I'm puzzled why you don't feed more in the winter. Winter is when the birds really rely on us to provide food, and they need the calories to stay warm and to stay alive. They have plenty of other food sources in summer.

Unless you moved to another part of the world, where the seasons are reversed . . . ? ;-)

We have a sunflower seed feeder out front that is squirrel proof and up on my balcony I have a thistle feeder and I put out suet and water. And on the back deck, we have a heated birdbath.

I use the natural suet as much as I can, but I did buy a cake of it and was surprised that the birds did like it, so I'll get some more of those for the cold months.

All of our main feeders get filled with the black oil sunflower seeds and are enjoyed by the birds and the squirrels. A wild birdseed mix is scattered on the ground for ground feeding birds.

We live in a mild climate, so I feed hummingbirds all year long.

I am in Maine, I feed mostly chickadee's, nuthatches & blue jays all winter, black oil sunflower seeds and store bought suet for the basket style hangers. I occasionally get a woodpecker or two

According to what I have read, birds need our seed more in the summer because they are feeding their young.

lisaw, I have either a hairy or downy visit my feeders. Whatever the name it is the smallest woodpecker about the size of a sparrow, maybe a little bit larger. We also have a red belly and a flicker. I was lucky enough to see theflickers go through their courting ritual from about 10 ft. I was unlucky because I did not have my camera with me.

http://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/gotpests/othercritters/images/woodpecker/pileated2-big.jpg

This is the variety we have here. Just the opposite from you...they are sometimes as big as a cat!

I buy a mix called song birds mix
it has the black oil,peanuts, dryed cherries (they smell so good)
sun flower seeds. I don't know what else but there are none of those little round seeds .

We get a lot of finches , some with red heads and breasts, some have yellow heads with black strips on the tail that look like black and white butterfly sitting on their tail ends.
The big wood pecker that is whitish with a bright red/orange mohawk.
There are a lot of little wood peckers of different sizes and color.
Red breasted gross beaks visit off and on.
Lots of Cardinals.
And lots of a little gray bird with a white belly , I'm not sure what it is. I call it a nut hatch.

patti

I feed the Black Oil Sunflower Seed year round, much more in winter than in summer. It is the "favored" food of all the native songbirds/seedeaters, and is only tolerated by the nasty English House Sparrows. They have to be really hunger to be eating it.

I offer the same BOSS in several different types of feeders to cater to different species' feeding habits. I have hanging hopper feeders, ground feeders, ported feeders, etc., but all hold BOSS. I have suet cakes in feeders for the various woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees and other insect eaters. Of course, all of them eat the BOSS, especially in the winter, too. I have one cute feeder that hangs at a slant. It holds suet/peanut pellets and only the clingers - woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees - can feed from it. I have one upside down thistle feeder that attracts the American Gold Finches and pine siskins.

I love my birds. I have various styles of feeders; I have more out in winter and fewer in summer. I buy the BOSS in 40lb. bags (that used to be 50 lb. bags) and start out with eight of them in October. By February I'm buying more. This year has seen far fewer birds at the feeders; all the same varieties, just fewer numbers. The weather has just not as bad as the past few winters. I am seeing many more turkeys though!

Here's a crossbill (red) and some pine siskins enjoying a tray feeder on the deck. I put the peanuts out to the delight of some blue jays.

That's a great picture, Caroline. I've been feeding birds in northeast PA since 1968, and it bothers me that several varieties have disappeared from the area. I haven't seen Evening Grosbeaks in many years, for instance. Haven't seen towhees, purple finches, or brown thrashers, just to name a few.

Emma, your small woodpecker is probably a downy. The hairy is larger.

Pileated woodpeckers are great, Lisa! They even make a lot of noise when they fly. Boy, they can do a lot of tree damage, though. I guess all woodpeckers can.

Yes, they have done some damage but typically they only bother with dead tree's, or one's that are hollow in the middle and on their way out anyway. My DH says it's because they are after the bugs they can hear inside the tree...truly not sure if he knows what he's talking about (chuckle)

Lisa, your husband is mostly right! Woodpeckers are often a sign of deadly borers and can even be a diagnostic clue. If woodpeckers are going to town on a tree, it's probably too late to rescue it.

I feed birds all year round with BOSS and niger seed. I also make a suet mix with fats, raw peanuts, raisins, coarse corn meal, and hulled sunflower seeds for the winter months. I keep two hummingbird feeders going from the spring into the fall.

But I don't use a lot of feeders and don't try to attract a big population of song birds. They don't need feeding here so it's something I do for my own great enjoyment.

One thing I do offer is plenty of fresh water year round. One bird bath is very close to the back yard patio, and I've been privy to some hilarious antics while sitting just a few feet away. Nothing cuter than watching a mother robin bathe all of her fledgings at the same time.

In late October we brought home 370 lbs of seed and 24 suet cakes. The seed included 150lbs of boss. Other seed included 2 varieties of mixed seed, thistle seed, a finch treat mix ,safflower, and cracked corn. The feeders have been crowded many of these nasty winter days. The supply of seed probably will not last till June when we would normally cut back to just feeding sunflower. (Daughter told me yesterday that her 300 lbs of boss will be gone today. She will get more on her way home from work.)

We keep a heated bath all winter. The squirrels come to drink (and eat) along with the birds and some birds will bathe. As we watched the feeder area while eating lunch today, a crow came to bathe. He splashed a lot of the water out, then went on his merry way. Deer help themselves to the seed in the ground feeder and to the bath water.

Alisande, for at least 40 years we have been hanging suet out. This is the first year that we have had Blue jays use it. Have seen even Juncos try to get it this year. Also seeing house sparrows and winter wrens working on It along with the usual woodpeckers, nuthatches and starlings.

I just put out the black sunflower seed and suet cakes in a holder. I know what you mean about manageable size. I was at Tractor Supply one day and couldn't find an employee to help me with the big bag. I was just going to get the smaller bag when I happened to look down an aisle and there was my oldest son. Problem solved.

The feeders early yesterday before dh went out to make everything nice for our clients. The sheltered ground feeder is back by the bath.

Gazania, I really love your setup. I didn't feed the birds this winter, partially because of the expense. But we also have a lot of squirrels and chipmunks too and they are pests. I know they have to eat too, but if I could feed only the birds, I would be happy. My heater died last fall, so I don't have water for the birds either. I miss seeing them and I hope I can get back to feeding them again sometime.

alisande,

I would gladly feed the birds all winter, if we had any stay around. About the only birds we have that stay the winter here are a few game birds, prairie chickens and pheasants, which aren't going to eat at a feeder, and sparrows. Magpies, as well, and I ain't feeding no magpies. Northern Flickers are not noted for staying around this country in the winter either, but I do have a few last year and again this winter. I have to wait until everything migrates north. When that happens, I have robins, finches, humming birds, cedar waxwings, hello head black birds, red wing black birds, chick a dees, killdeer, mourning doves....well the list goes on and on. But not much to feed in the winter except sparrows.

Here is a little better look at the feeder setup. The horizontal poles that the feeders are hung from are metal pipe. When the maple tree grew big enough the squirrels were able to jump from way out on a flimsy branch onto the poles. So off to Home Depot Dh went and found some plastic pipe that fit nicely over the metal poles. Then when the squirrel landed on it, the plastic covering would turn and dump him off to the ground. Dh has since moved the whole feeder support farther from the tree and added the suet cake holder to the top. It can be cared for by the simple removal of a pin to get it down.

We are now having rain. It is getting ugly out there.

Thanks for explaining, PrairieRose. I guess it's too cold for them? I had no idea. As my dad used to say, you learn something new every day. :-)

That's a neat setup, Gazania! Our snow just changed to sleet, and I guess rain is coming. Another mess.

Years ago I had a pet shop...I specialized in birds. Of course they were mostly tropical. It was discovered back then that sunflower seeds, although loved by the birds, was dangerous. Come to find out they are hallucinegenic to birds. Like LSD or Acid is to humans.

I've never heard that, Audrey, but if it's true, I don't think it applies to North American wild birds. My chickadees and nuthatches are all flying in straight lines. :D

50# black oil lasts two weeks here if we're lucky. I have multiple feeders. I also have suet feeders 4 woodpecker cakes lasts about 4 days. I put a mixed blend out on the ground for the ground birds. Honestly? I don't think I will feed the birds this summer. I will pick up again in the fall.

I have not heard that either and I used to read any and everything on birds and feeding them. The wild bird feed store recommended them to me.

The first results from googling.

http://answerparty.com/question/answer/are-oil-based-sunflower-seeds-harmful-to-birds

I feed Safflower seed (squirrels don't like it, but most songbirds do) and homemade suet (lard, peanut butter, wheat flour, cornmeal and oatmeal) pretty much all year round. This recipe usually won't melt unless the temps get into the 90's. Sometimes I buy the fruit/nut seed mix to give the birds a treat. I take breaks on the suet to discourage the Starlings which love to hang on my "starling-proof" suet feeder.

I have several very large hummingbird feeders which I keep full all summer long. I kept track of how much sugar I used last year... 128 lbs!

Speaking of holes in the trees, we have one Oak which is hollow inside and just this week I noticed there are about 6 large holes almost in a straight line going up from the base of the tree. I need to get a picture of it. My husband cut part of the top off last year, but I asked him to leave the trunk for the birds.

Everyone's photos are great!

Here is my set up. No squirrels or grackles eat my seed except for what falls on the ground. I had good luck with safflower seeds also. I had two feeders hanging that were about the same size and the level in the safflower was right there with Boss.