The best way to enjoy your bird-feeding experience is to make sure you have chosen the best location for your feeders. First you should decide what type of birds you want to attract. You want to make sure you are placing your feeders in a place that provides maximum comfort and safety for your birds. They should be away from where pet's and children play. You will also want to make sure that the placement of your feeders help birds avoid cats and other threats, most of all squirrels. Read on for further recommendations about how to avoid squirrels eating from and scaring away your birds.
General Recommendations
There are many companies that sell squirrel deterrents. However, I have found that they do not always fit the poles I use to hang my bird-feeders on. You can make your own by using 2 liter bottles. Just slit them open place around your pole and tape closed with duct tape. This works wonderfully. You may think that just keeping your bird-feeders away from trees will help, but the squirrels will climb up any feeder. When placing your bird-feeders, you also want to make sure that you are not placing them close to anything that a squirrel could climb on and then jump over to and then onto your bird-feeder. It is also helpful to have a bird-bath close to your bird-feeder, but not so close that the birds throw seeds into the bath, as this will then require more work on your part to keep the bird-bath clean.
Ground feeders:
Sparrows
Juncos
Towhees
Mid-height and shrub feeders include:
Finches
Cardinals
Some examples of tree feeders:
Chickadees
Titmice
Woodpeckers
Landscaping
To help attract birds to your feeders, use a diversity of plant species and heights. This will help attract more birds (and even butterflies) to your yard. Think about letting a part of your yard go natural to help provide more cover and additional food for birds. Always use plants native to your area. Using birdhouses can also help attract birds to your yard and feeders. Plus if placed correctly, you also get the added bonus of watching the birds build nests in your birdhouses and the babies coming out of the nest and eating at your bird feeders.
Hummingbird feeders
These feeders need to be in a shady spots that will not be too disturbed by the wind, which will cause unnecessary spillage of the food.
Windows
Windows have been notorious for causing the death of millions of birds each year. This is because they can see their reflection in the windows and it can startle them, as well as male birds may see themselves and think they are seeing a rival bird, thus attempting to attract it. I have found that finches like to attach to the screens on our windows and look into our house, especially if their feeders are empty, as if to tell us that they need filled.
Other predators including cats
Make sure to be on the lookout for these predators and if noted, you should discourage them to hanging out around your bird feeders. Do not feed stray cats as this may encourage them to linger on your property.
Last but not least, create an enjoyable place for yourself to be able to relax and watch these most wonderful creatures as they can be very entertaining.
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