There must be flocks of starving birds in El Paso.
I thought it would be nice to actually fill the bird feeder that has been sitting on my patio for the past year. Andy bought a big bag of cheap bird seed and did it for me.
I imagined looking out the window and seeing a beautiful cardinal or some bluebirds, nibbling on the seeds and flittering about while I enjoy my cup of coffee.
Instead, we were attacked by flocks of pigeons and other smaller birds. None of them pretty. None of them singing. And all of them apparently starving.
They were everywhere. They left droppings and feathers on our patio. Our house looked like it was being swarmed.
I made Andy move the bird feeder away from the patio. He took one of the pieces from our old metal bed frame and made it into a post for the feeder. He’s so handy like that. I, of course, would think that we had to go spend money on one of those fancy metal bird feeder holders. But he made it work!
So, they continued to swarm the feeder until every last seed was gone. And then they all disappeared into the sky, without even singing a song of thank you to me.
So, my question is – is there a special kind of bird seed I should buy that these larger birds won’t eat? Should I just sit and look at my empty bird feeder for another year or two?
I think my neighbors will kill me if I fill the feeder with the same stuff again, since the birds were starting to swarm their house. too.
Easy, blends with millet seed (the pale beige-colored little spherical seeds) seems to attract the crazies. I would get flocks of (equally ungrateful) European Starlings when I used anything with millet.
Try “black oil sunflower seeds” and see what you get. Those are cardinals’ favorite seeds. You probably won’t get bluebirds unless you get some bugs or worms.
Thanks for the advice! I will go out and buy some of the black seeds and see if that works.
Here in Surprise, AZ it seems whatever you try you get doves and PIGEONS. We can always tell who.
is feeding birds as the pigeons roost on their roof. At the moment we have a really dumb dove incubating.
six eggs laid by a brown headed catbird in a dead plant on my patio! I doubt they will hatch, tho, as they.
were in the open for several days before the dove took over. Also there are several young male Gambel’s quail.
squawking to attract a mate. The squawk happens every 5 to 6 seconds – sure wouldn’t attract me! It’s
been going on for at least six weeks – and driving me nuts. They even begin this rite before daybreak!