Ken I keep feeders up year around for the birds. They eat seed and suet, but when they nest in my yard they feed their young bugs, which means they cull my property from top to bottom. Its a cheap way to keep the insect population down. If there's enough food, some birds will have two broods a season. Our birds seem very sociable, they don't fly away when we're in the yard, and when I garden, they wait patiently for me to finish with a bed, then they'll fly in and check out the ground for any unearthed insects. Donna

The bird in her photo is definitely a European Starling, and Starlings commonly travel in large, noisy flocks, however it is very easy to confuse European Starlings with Grackles because both species exhibit the same noisy flocking habits and aggressive natures. To make identification even more difficult European Starlings & Grackles often flock together and in some instances they even nest in large group settings. Both European Starlings and Common Grackles are problematic to people because they will often exploit small openings the siding, soffits and fascia of our structures to nest in attics or wall cavities. When I was kid I lived on a dairy farm and our old farmhouse had redwood plank siding. One season so many grackles and starlings got into the siding that our entire house was infested with bird lice. To clear the mess we had to strip the siding off the house, clean all the straw, twigs and other nesting materials out of the wall cavities and the entire house had to be fumigated to kill the lice. I have often seen flocks of Starlings and Grackles land on a freshly planted field and the flock would cover an entire acre or more. STARLINKA- I am flattered that you would like my photo for wallpaper. Feel free to use any photo I post for that purpose. The only thing I ask is that people do not use my photos for commercial purposes. I post them free and I would expect others to share them for the same price, In fact, if you or any of the others would like a specific species for wallpaper please feel free to send me an email and i will see if I have something you might like. Thank you,

black oil sunflower seeds probably attract more birds than any other feed. you can use a tube feeder or a mesh wire feeder or even a hopper feeder. Suet is a great treat in winter but some birds eat it year around. you can use a suet cage and buy suet cakes or make your own suet mix. there are lots of old posts on here making suet. if you like doves and juncos and other ground feeders the seed mixes with cracked corn ot millet do good but they also attract blackbirds and starlings and cowbirds which lots of people don't want around. the summer song birds such as tanagers and orioles and grosbeaks like fruit or berrys or drink from necter feeders. or plants with berrys or blooms and blossoms. the woodpeckers i get here love nuts and suet and cracked corn and millet. robins and bluebirds like mealworms or grubs or earthworms the tits and chickadees and nuthatches like suet or hulled sunflowers or boss or nuts.

I built the device. It worked marvelously on the starlings, however also excluded the cardinals and larger woodpeckers. So I pulled it off and decided to try something else. The starlings would empty about a quart of expensive feed in the time between sunrise and when We got up. They liked to feed early. So I wrap the thing in foil in the evening and remove it in the morning. It's a tad high maintenance but the Starlings miss breakfast and have moved on to more fruitful opportunities when I uncover it and the regular flighted denizens of my yard and woods come for brunch and make a day of snacking