Prolific Ponders: For The Birds

I've recently discovered how fun and fulfilling it can be to feed birds. I've almost always had a little feeder but it was usually out of sight, out of mind. We put a feeder up in front of my kitchen window and without a few minutes, I had Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice picking seeds from the feeder. It didn't take me long to notice the Cardinals would eat the seed off the ground but not approach the feeder - it was too small for them and when they would try to land on it, it would swing noisily into the window.

A female Cardinal enjoys some seed on the deck railing.

A few days later, we also noticed a big problem. The big value bag of seed that I got at Lowe's contained a lot of red, round seeds that the birds didn't seem to like! I had red seeds all over the deck and nothing would touch them. While in Springfield, Mo. visiting family, we went to Wild Birds Unlimited where I asked the store if this was normal, thinking that maybe when the season changed the migratory birds might like it and perhaps I should just find another mix and save this bag. I left the store with a $9.99 (much smaller) bag of seed that contained none of these little seeds and a new knowledge that this red seeds are actually filler and none of my song birds would ever eat them! We were a little skeptical, thinking perhaps this was a tactic to get me to buy the more expensive store's seed but the lady seems so educated that I couldn't help but give it a try. I'm glad we did!

Male Cardinal and Suet bell.

The first day I put the new seed out, I was shocked because in the past week I was filling the feeder every single day (with a lot of red seeds on the ground!). The next day I checked the feeder and it still had over three-fourths the seed but I had just as many birds. It took four days for them to empty the feeder compared to having to fill it daily with the cheaper mix. When we calculated this information, we determined we were actually spending less money by buying the quality food with no waste.

In researching more seed mixes, I also picked up some specialty seed mixes at TSC (noting the ingredients more carefully) with blends for Cardinals as sometimes we have 6 to 8 at a time circling the feeders. We've since added a large cabin-type feeder on a natural wood pole, another large feeder with wire netting that feeds both the larger birds that can nest on the pan and the clinging smaller birds, another small feeder off the deck, a thistle feeder and five suet feeders. I'm in bird heaven!

So far, I'm seeing Cardinals, Blue Jays, Downey and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, and Song Sparrows, Dark-Eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, and Tufted Titmice on a regular basis. Most recently, I've also seen some White-Breasted Nuthatches. I'm loving my little feathered friends and look forward to watching them every day!