Message Boards

About a week ago I asked what other foods Sparrows eat because I was running out of my usual birdseed so fast. There were twice as many Sparrows as before. Well, I think I discovered what they don't like ~ Sunflower Seeds! I just filled the platform feeder with the small Sunflower seeds. The Sparrows keep hopping on, but don't really stay to eat. There were a lot of Sunflower seeds left over from yesterday when I went out to refill the feeder. The feeder is always empty, not this time. Now I feel bad, I thought all birds loved Sunflower seeds. I was hoping to attract Cardinals back to my feeder again.
P.S. The Reason I filled the feeder with only Sunflower seeds was because the supermarket where I usually buy the 20 lb. bag of bird seeds I just noticed, raised the price of the bag from $11.99 to $17.99!! I was furious, such a huge increase at once, so I refused to buy that bag, although that's the one I like.
The store had a sale on Sunflower seeds (1/2 off) so I bought that instead. Sparrows aren't happy, so I will have to buy another bag.....
Yes, I do like the Sparrows after all!!!!!

Don't worry...the birds who DO like Sunflower seeds will soon find your feeder.
I used to only buy black oil sunflower seeds, and it was an amazing number of birds who liked them. Chickadees, Nuthatches, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and Jays for example.

The squirrels were an issue till I got a good resistant metal feeder.

OMG Conrad, you are right!!!!! I just looked out my kitchen window and there's a female Cardinal at my feeder!!! There used to be sooooo many Sparrows, the Cardinals stopped coming to the feeder. Not to worry I have two 'hopper' birdfeeders I have to put up one. I took them down to clean them. I only bought the platform feeder for larger birds like Cardinals that don't like the hopper feeders.
So for now on, I will only fill the platform feeder with Sunflower seeds. The skwirls are fierce competition for them unfortunately. Even when I sprinkled crushed red pepper flakes on the birdseed, the skwirls still came. I'll think of something! Good advice, thanks!

Wavy! You are so cute! I love my sparrows too! There are many different types & fun to be able to tell them apart. Fun to hear you really enjoying your birdfeeding & ya can't feed them enough at this time of year. My cardinals have been coming every evening around 4 PM!

Wavy, if you can figure out a way to keep squirrels from your feeders, you'll become a millionaire!!!

This is similar to the type of bird feeder we had. It was post mounted and helped to deter the squirrels pretty well.

http://www.farmandfleet.com/pr...d-g0AKg#.UR-xpWf_rwM

It did have a wooden perch bar, that they chewed through, so I replaced it with a thin copper pipe. You can set it for different weights of birds. I used cardinals as my largest target bird, the bigger ones would close the metal door on the seed.

We have finally deterred them from this feeder. They were squeezing in at the top where the opening was just a hair bigger. I cut wire 1/4 inch hardware cloth and shaped it around the top. They've pretty much resigned themselves to leaving it alone. Now, a couple of the others????? They pig out.

Wavy, I'm glad Conrad clued you in on the advantages of sunflower seeds. Congrats on your female cardinal. The others will come. I agree with you on the high cost of the sunflower seeds......really hurts the budget if you enjoy feeding the birds.

Girls, your cardinal and squirrel pictures are simply adorable. Love the squirrel inside the feeder.

ve

I hope to plant some sunflowers this spring/summer. Haven't planted them last year, but I really like them and never have any 'volunteers' like some people do....
FFG - that is a priceless photo! How did the skwirl get in there? Was that supposed to be a 'skwirl-proof feeder'? I have not figured a way to keep them away. They are sooooo smart! (& I've tried everything!)

Guess NYC sparrows have different tastes than NJ ones.. I feed only black oil sunflower seeds and have bunches of them at my feeder.

I found something that made my bug eaters awfully happy this winter.... meal worms!!... Lowe's sells them... you should see the wrens and all the other protein loves go after them!!.... a little pile on the feeding table is gone quickly.... one in the wire basket goes just as fast.... I crunch 'em up so they go further, cuz they are a little costly....but knowing the critters are well fed makes it worth it to me.... especially at nesting time...

Yeah, Wavy, that was supposed to be a squirrel proof feeder. Right, at least until I fixed it. Ticked me off, too. Should have driven the 30 miles to take it back but I got lazy and just fixed it myself. Paid big bucks for that thing, too.