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Dawn Chorus: Solving the Backyard Bird-feeding Puzzle [1]
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Date: 2024-09-15
Each morning, as I walk the paths of our Seattle garden, I listen as our Dawn Chorus tunes up. Song Sparrows anchor the melody, followed by Spotted Towhees’ meow and Black-capped Chickadees banging out “dee-dee-dees.” A Northern Flicker’s cry slices the airwaves like a cymbal. Recently, migrating birds joined the composition: Black-headed Grosbeaks added their chink call; a Swainson’s Thrush, its whistle; and two Rufous Hummingbirds jetted around, calling their high-pitched chip-chip-chip-chip zhee.
This Bird Radio is the foundation for my day, but seeing the music-makers magnifies my pleasure. For that, feeders are a must. But, for reasons I’ll soon explain, we went years without them, and not seeing birds up close each day pained me. In case this may be you, if you’ve given up or are dissatisfied with your setup, I have good news. Finally, after much experimentation, I found a combination of foods that works for our situation, and set feeders out to help parent birds. Gaining a center seat to watch our avian performers was such a pleasure that I kept the feeders filled through the summer, to see who would come.
Brother and sister Red-breasted Nuthatches, May 30th. The parents brought all three chicks to the feeder, including a second male. The chicks debuted on May 21st, and we got to watch them learn to walk upside-down while they honked and made high-pitched harp-string calls. That was worth the cost of all the suet cakes right there.
What’s the big deal about bird feeders, you might ask. You buy one, add food and set it out, right? Well, things may be easy for you, but Seattle is high on the list of U.S. cities with rats. Eastern Gray Squirrels prowl yards in abundance. And the American Crow population has exploded into the thousands we see each day (along the way obliterating the smaller and less aggressive native Northwestern Crow). All are undesirable to us, and all are attracted by seed and spillage.
We learned this the hard way. We began long ago with a bird-feeder pole system. We (meaning Mr. WordsandBirds) carefully positioned the pole more than eight feet from any jumping point to deter squirrels. Adding a baffle foiled their attempts to climb the pole, so I thought we were home free. At first we used a standard seed mix, but corn and millet attracted House Sparrows then in the neighborhood, as well as Starlings. We switched to black-oil sunflower seeds in a Droll Yankee tube feeder, but Steller’s Jays made huge withdrawals. Crows came too, causing a mess that drew Norway Rats. The Droll Yankee came down.
Dad feeds one of his sons a bit of suet cake in a discreet location — a rhody outside our window — giving us a great close-up view (May 29th).
I missed seeing birds at home, though, so I got a thistle feeder for the American Goldfinches (our state bird) and Pine Siskins I heard passing over our house. The sight of the bright-yellow feeder surely would call them down from the sky. But they visited infrequently, if at all. Thistle seed is expensive and, we learned, spoils quickly in damp weather, despite being covered. So that was a bust.
When the Squirrel Buster debuted, with its perches that could be calibrated to close seed ports anytime a heavy bird landed, it seemed the perfect solution. With it, we could exclude crows, Starlings and even voracious Steller’s Jays. I bought the large-capacity Squirrel Buster Plus and filled it to its full 5-pound capacity. Soon we were happily watching Black-capped Chickadees energetically enjoying their new bounty. They worked tirelessly, grabbing seeds, flying off to cache them, and coming right back to repeat the process. They turned out to be picky little tossers, though. Despite my efforts to clean up the mess regularly, their continual rejects fed the rats and squirrels we wished to discourage. All too soon, crows (and, to be honest, their clever corvid relatives, Steller’s Jays) learned how to body-slam the Squirrel
Chicks follow parents, so here Dad feeds that son right above the cages containing three cakes.
Buster, sending 5 pounds of seed raining down like prizes from a piñata at a child’s birthday party. Squirrels moved in to finish off what fell before I could scrape it up, and rats followed. Mr. WordsandBirds grew weary of trapping rats in our shed or on the grounds, and suggested that all seed feeders come down. Reluctantly, I agreed. Exit Squirrel Buster.
Fortunately, the rat population in our neighborhood crashed last year. (At least one neighbor had engaged a pest-control company.) Suddenly, we were looking good for feeders, but I certainly wasn’t going to offer seeds again.
Instead, I began with pure suet. That kept the Bushtits happy, but I wanted more birds. I experimented with multiple cakes and, finally, discovered Mr. Bird Bugs Nuts & Fruit Cake, a combination cleverly bound with gelatin. All good ingredients and no mess, and birds liked them. Liked them? Birds devoured them. But whew, they’re expensive, and they disappeared so quickly that I began to feel like a nut for buying them. Yet they were my first success, and I wasn’t willing to abandon what worked. Instead, I looked for a cake to supplement them.
I tried various suet cakes that wouldn’t cause a mess. No corn in the mix was a must, because corn attracts birds I don’t wish to feed. Pure suet was too heavy, and melted. No-melt suet contained corn or other undesirable ingredients. Hi Energy Bugz Suet, found at our formerly named Audubon Nature Shop, contained flour, which grew moldy in the rain (again, despite being covered) and, I concluded, probably isn’t the greatest food for birds. By last May, SuperSuet, a blend of pure suet and roasted mixed nuts, had won the popularity contest. I added one cake to the double-cake cage, back-to-back with a Mr. Bird Bugs Nuts & Fruit Cake. I put another in a separate, single-cake feeder that hangs from another arm of the pole system.
Song Sparrows come daily to those feeders. So do Chestnut-backed and Black-capped Chickadees, and Bushtits put it on their rounds several times a day. Other regular visitors are Red-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers (male, female and juveniles of both sexes) and, recently, Northern Flickers, who’ve figured out how to use them. Spotted Towhees try to enter the cage but are a bit too large. Steller’s Jays try occasionally, but are often confounded. If they ever linger too long, they’ll learn how to finish off both
Woodette, a favorite Steller’s Jay who is Woody’s mate (both are excellent mimids), with a peanut piece we’d just given her.
cakes in a day, which would leave a big mess on the ground (squirrels, crows, rats…). Fortunately, they’re easily lured away with offers of peanuts we hand them at the door.
The biggest joy was in late spring and early summer, as we watched parent birds do grab-and-goes to sustain their energy and also supplement food for their chicks. We’d never had such regular close views of Red-breasted Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers. For a few weeks, even a Hairy Woodpecker came daily. We’d heard one a few times last year, but had never before seen one in our neighborhood.
Around that time, I bought a big box of dried soldier flies and began scattering ¼ cup on the stone terrace each morning. (Thanks, BrownsBay, for the recommendation.) They’re a big hit with the full-time resident Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees and Steller’s Jays, who clean them up promptly. We’ve taken to calling the flies “crisps” (the British term for potato chips). Around the breakfast hour, “crisps” sounds preferable to “dead flies.”
This immature male Hairy Woodpecker, right, is the first we’d ever seen in our neighborhood, let alone outside our window. A male Downy Woodpecker eats from the cage at the left (June 27th).
What are the drawbacks to keeping feeders going through summer? The first I can think of is to ask, does feeding diminish birds’ capacity to forage for wild food? I’ve read studies of Black-capped Chickadees that say no, and my observations of them and other regular visitors concur. Song Sparrows are the biggest users of the crisps and feeder food, and lately I’ve watched them jumping on flowering plants to shake down seeds. After Bushtits visit, they fly to our apple tree, or fennel plants, or even the row of strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo) to look for insects.
No room at the inn. Bushtits make the rounds several times a day. I count 10 on the feeder at right, six in the one at left, one leaving (bottom right) and five waiting for their table to be ready. That’s a total of 22. I call Bushtits “my people” because I admire their sense of camaraderie, and how well they get along. Jump in!
This male Northern Flicker says, “All mine.” This simple block cage isn’t set up to help large woodpeckers, but no matter — they’ve adapted (July 28th).
The girls say, “What he can do, we can do.” And they did. Mother, right, with her daughter, left.
It had been years since we’d seen Chestnut-backed Chickadees regularly, but this year we watched them feed their family daily. The bird on the right has suet on its bill (June 3rd).
A Black-capped Chickadee prepares to drink rain water from a metal ant mote, above, while an immature male Anna’s Hummingbird drinks sugar water from the feeder below. OceanDiver recommended these to prevent ants from invading the feeders for sugar. Black-caps and Chestnut-backed Chickadees soon took them over as their personal drinking basins — aka “sippy cups.”
Water isn’t just for drinking. This Chestnut-backed Chickadee jumps in for a bath (Aug. 14th).
“This too is mine.” This Chestnut-backed Chickadee explores further opportunities.
Although these feeders aren’t set up for woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers have managed well. Here, a mature male, aka “Dad,” shinnies down the feeder pole so he can jump into the cage for the prize.
This female Downy is more cautious; she uses the small feeder, which she can remain outside of. Here, she examines her surroundings as she shares a meal with a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.
Downy dad, left, and juvenile, back right.
“I don’t stop eating if someone doesn’t serve me, do you?” A Song Sparrow forages for salvia seeds.
Room for one more. Bushtits seem to enjoy each other’s company (June 22nd).
I’d just removed the double-cake cage that usually hangs from the left to add a suet block, but the Bushtits found no reason to wait. How many can you count?
The second downside of having feeders up is potential predation by hawks. We worry about this, feeders or no, but so far we — and our avian friends — have been lucky.
The third downside of full-time feeding is cost. We’ve fed jays peanuts by hand for decades. On average, they go through a 6-pound bag a year, which goes for $6.69 at Costco. Hummingbirds consume 20 pounds
An Anna’s Hummingbird zeroes in on a runner-bean flower.
of pure-cane sugar per year, costing about $17. This year, our year-round resident Anna’s Hummingbirds and a migrating Rufous pollinated our pole and runner bean plants, which yielded 7 pounds of beans for blanching and freezing, not counting what we ate. Organic beans that aren’t as good or as fresh as these cost about $5 a pound. So at $35, hummingbirds have earned more than two years of sugar water — just from their work this season. Given those low costs, we feel we can be generous with the other birds, whose crisps, SuperSuet and Mr. Bird Bug Nut & Fruit Cakes cost about $1 a day. If we had a pet, we’d spend that much or more.
Think of a choral performance at which you sit down and hear voices in song, but see no one. As the singers enter the hall at last, weaving the threads of the composition together, your auditory and visual senses are heightened, making your involvement complete.
That’s what our garden offers us now. It’s a richness for which we’d gladly pay $1 a day — or more.
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