We love our birds and over the last 35 years we have figured out what feeders and feed to buy to bring in the birds. Our favorite feeder is made by Perky-Pet and holds sunflower seeds.
PerkyPet.com
Over our many years of bird feeder buying we now only buy feeders that are metal (like the feeder above) or feeders that have replacement parts like the long Lexan cylinder finch feeders. Any feeders with plastic parts do not hold up against the squirrels , raccoons, or the weather.
This feeder is not only sturdy but also has a great design. If you watch the birds a lot like we do, you will notice that the little birds are sometimes chased off the feeder by bigger birds or they can fall prey to a predator like a hawk or a house cat while they are eating. This design allows the little birds to perch inside the feeder where they are protected, while they pull the sunflower seed through the wire mesh.
The design also allows for any feed, that is wet from the rain or snow, to dry out. This eliminates wasted feed and also protects the birds from eating spoiled feed. If you wash out your feeders several times a year, then you know how nasty spoiled feed smells. This feeder doesn't have the problem of spoiled feed because even the bottom of the feeder is wire mesh. Fresh air surrounds the feed at all times which dries out any feed that might get wet from rain or snow.
The hanging wire on our 8 year old feeder broke. We are pretty sure it was thanks to a huge raccoon that has been seen swinging from the feeder. It was an easy and inexpensive fix. Picture hanging wire can be purchased at the hardware/craft store/home improvement store and who doesn't need or maybe already have the wire.
Another feature of this feeder is that the lid requires you to push a button on the side of the decorative knob on the top before you can lift the lid up to fill. This helps to keep the lid on so that squirrels and raccoon can't dump out your feed onto the ground. When depressed, the knob can be moved up the wire so the lid can slide to the side to fill the feeder. When disassembling make sure you don't lose the cylinder shaped button.
We cut off a 24 inch piece of wire and put a cable crimp on one of the ends. The crimp has 2 holes and you feed the wire through one side and then back up through the other hole. Now comes the crimping part. Using your electrical pliers you place the crimp into the jaws of the pliers making sure you place the crimp all the way to the back of the electrical pliers jaws and then squeeze real hard. The pliers have little bumps on the jaws that compress the crimp and holds the wire in place.
Now thread the lid onto the wire, then the decorative knob. You will need to depress the button so that the hole is visible so the wire can go through the decorative knob. Now you have the feeder back together except for the hanging loop.
We threaded the wire through one side of the crimp and back through the other side just like before except we left a six inch loop or hanging. This time we crimped the wire crimp using the bench vise. We could have used the pliers but we wanted to know if the vise would squeeze the crimp closed if someone didn't have electrical pliers but did have a bench vise.
When using a vise open the jaws just enough for the crimp to sit between the jaws. Slowly close the jaws and watch your fingers. It won't take long to squeeze the crimp onto the wire. Open the jaws and test to make sure the wire doesn't move.
Now fill the feeder with sunflower seeds and rehang. Sunflower seeds offer a lot of needed energy for the birds during the winter when there is not a lot of natural food sources for them to eat. Birds during the winter spends all their time just trying to stay warm so let's give them a hand during the winter and come spring you can reap the reward of hearing their bird song.
Recap
Buy feeders that are metal like the Perky-Pet Fly Thru feeder. Also, buy feeders that allow air flow to dry out any feed that may get wet. Metal feeders are sturdy and can be fixed with a little elbow grease. A broken feeder is of no use to the birds or you. Buy feeders that are used specifically for the birds or feed that you are using. Use thistle feeders for thistle seed or sunflower seed feeders for sunflower seeds. Be consistent with filling your feeders. Don't go long periods without filling your feeder because the birds will go where the food is and if it isn't in your feeder, in your yard, neither will they. Don't quit feeding in the winter. Many of your wild song birds stay year round so they need a little help during the winter. Winter feeding is the most important time to feed the birds.
I wasn't planning on planting anything around the bird feeder until I mowed the lawn and realized that I would have to mow around the feeder. If I make the area around trees and obstacles grass free (larger radius) it speeds up my mowing time. It currently takes me 5 hours to mow the front and back yards on the riding mower and R takes about 1 1/2 hours to push mow areas I cannot get to with the rider. So all that to say I planted stuff around my bird feeder.
The black walnut trees in my yard pose a problem to other plantings due to the toxicity in the roots, leaves, hulls, and stems.
So if I was going to plant around the bird feeder I would need to go with plants I already knew would grow when planted close to a black walnut tree. Plus, they have to be plants that I love. I've lost too many plants to try something new.
This time of year is the perfect time to buy plants because they are on sale. So I decided to go to my local nursery to look around and if something caught my eye then I would buy it or them. OK I'll admit it...I was going hosta hunting.
Hostas were 50% off so now was the time to buy an expensive hosta. So I started at the beginning of the hosta area, they are arranged A through Z. Right away I found a hosta called Abiqua Drinking Gourd. I already have one that I planted last year so it isn't mature yet.
This particular hosta has almost round leaves that curl up to form a cup (collect rain water). The leaves also have a waxy coating that if planted in full shade will keep the leaves blue (my other one is planted in full shade). This plant will get partial sun in the early morning and until noon or 1PM. So this hosta will display as green.
I looked over all the pots they offered and found one that could be divided into three plants making my per plant price $3.34.
Original price $19.99
50% off -$10.00
New plant price $10.00
Divided by 3
$3.34
I washed off as much potting soil as possible and took my time cutting through the root ball. Cut a little and then gently pull the roots apart keeping as many attached as possible. I was able to divide the plant into 3 very nice plants.
Missouri Botanical Garden
No self respecting hostaholic would ever buy just 1 hosta. I bought two more. They are outside and it is pouring rain so I will need to *update this tomorrow. But I do remember something about Blueberry and the other is a large yellow hosta. I should be able to divide those hostas into multiple plants, too. *Blueberry Muffin and City Lights
I didn't want just hostas so I also purchased a red cone flower called Sombrero and a lower growing sedum called Pure Joy. It is like Autumn Joy except it will only grow to 10 inches tall and has bubblegum pink flowers.
Why cone flower and sedum? The bees love them both and they will give me colorful blooms in late summer and into fall. They are also drought resistant and the dried seed heads, of the cone flowers, are favorites of the finches in the winter.
On to the reveal. I gave the post a final 2 coats of Behr Ultra White in semi gloss. This is the paint that I use on my shutters, doors, and house trim. I edged a circle around the post using my flat nose shovel and then removed the sod and about 4 inches of soil. I replaced the removed soil with 2 bags of good top soil that have been sitting in my garden shed for 2 years.
I planted the three drinking gourd hostas on the back side of the post. Depending on how big they grow I can either remove the middle one which leaves one on each side or just leave the middle one and remove the two outside hostas.
The sedum plant was planted in the front on the right side and the cone flower on the left side. This left an open spot in the front for a solar spot light. The solar light will highlight the bird feeder and can be seen as people drive by on the driveway at night. Plus, our property is very very dark at night so any little pops of light helps.
I also added a wooden black cat that was at one time a door stop but I cut the door stop part off and I will screw it to the post after I buy a five inch screw tomorrow at the hardware store.
Now comes the good part. It took both of us to lift the bird feeder high enough to slide the pole on the bottom of the bird feeder into the hole that R drilled into the end of the post. We could have cut costs by buying a 4X4 post, but the scale of the post and that of the feeder, just would not look right. Plus, 4X4 posts can twist as they dry out and that would look very bad.
AND then it started pouring rain so my photos are NOT Pinterest worthy at all. But here is a before and after photo.
'Before' and as found at the curb.
'After' but before planting.
Cost breakdown
Original feeder Free @ Curb
Paint for feeder and post- Already had
Package of L brackets- $2.99
Strap Hinges- Already had
Black satin spray paint- Already had
2 feet of hardware cloth- $5.00
Screws for straps- 24 X $ .07=$1.68
Metal bracket with short length of pole- Free @ Curb
8ft 6X6 Post- $31.99
Trim boards on post- Our scrap pile
Plants Cone flower- $10.00
Sedum- $8.50
Hosta- $10.00
Black Cat- Already had
Solar spot light- Already had
Total cost for feeder, post, and plantings $70.16
We love our birds and some birds prefer platform feeders. Also, we are hoping to attract crows to the feeder. We have 6 crows that scavenge for dropped fruit in the afternoon. Crows are a favorite for both of us. It is a bit unusual because some people do not like them at all. But they are highly intelligent birds and I hear that they can be trained.
From a design standpoint the feeder was already designed and constructed. I disassembled the feeder and reassembled using glue and screws and eliminated the plywood bottom and replaced with hardware cloth. I painted the feeder using the same paint that the house is painted with and added design elements that mimicked those on the house, in the hope that the feeder would look original to the house and not something purchased at the store in 2018. The plants also repeat the existing plantings in the landscape.
And there you have it. The bird feeder is probably a little 'extra' as they say but we love these kind of projects.
The actual feeder is complete except for paint touch up and painting the screw heads black. The feeder is sturdier thanks to L braces and reassembling with screws rather than nails. I also tried to build the feeder using design elements from our house.
I modified the spade strap hinges that I used on the garden shed shutters. I wanted them to look like outside corner straps. These particular hinges were a mistake purchase off of eBay. I wanted strap hinges for my kitchen cabinets and in my enthusiastic searching I found a huge box of brand new spade strap hinges for 10 bucks. When they arrived I realized that they were offset hinges that are used on cabinet doors that sit on top of the cabinet rails and stiles and not inset like my cabinet doors. The listing failed to mention 'offset' but there were plenty of photos so it was my fault. It has worked out for me because I was able to use them on the garden shed shutters and now as a decorative element on the platform bird feeder.
I used 8 hinges to make the four outside corner straps. On four of the hinges I used a cut off wheel on a pneumatic grinder to cut off the strap which gave me a flat strap. On the other four hinges I used the same grinder and cut off wheel to cut the strap where I would be left with a flat strap with a small amount (1/8th inch) of the part that made these hinges offset hinges.
Each corner would use 1 of each type of strap. But before I could add them to the feeder I put a barrel bit in the grinder and smoothed the area where the strap was cut off. Then I spray painted them satin black.
Once the paint was dry I attached the strap with the little offset part first. I then attached the flat strap with it slightly overlapping the first strap. This means that you will never see any wood or paint showing at the corner. If I had used just two absolutely flat straps it would have been very hard to install them without seeing wood or paint. From afar it looks like one continuous outside corner strap. Photos will probably be a lot easier to understand than my explanation. Seriously, just look at the photos.
I also added black painted L braces to attach the roof to the corner posts. This area was quite wobbly in the original design so rather than paint them grey to match the feeder I decided to spray them satin black like the outside corner straps.
R dug the hole and set the 6X6 post. Tomorrow I will prime and paint the post white. We are also going to add a 1X6 trim board at the top and bottom to dress up the post.
Here is a little reminder of what I started with and what I ended up with. I think it is an improvement. What do you think?
R has been kicking it lately in the curbside treasure department. It's the time of year where people are setting stuff to the curb rather than storing them through the winter. Here are a few of the things he has brought home.
This is a covered platform bird feeder. It will be perfect once I make a few repairs and modifications. I have something like this on my 'to do' list so it was perfect timing.
We have an assortment of chainsaws and R's favortite brand is Stihl. I bought him one for Christmas about 10 years ago. He also has his father's very very old Stihl chainsaw (he doesn't use it). He found this one and it is smaller than the one he has so that is good. He hasn't had time to look into it mechanically but he does know it has compression which means that the piston, ring, and valves are still good and nothing inside is seized up. The chain (blade) is frozen in place on the bar so it may just need a new bar, chain, and a tune up. A new Stihl chainsaw in this size will cost Around $200.00. So it is well worth fixing.
He also found this very cool chimera. Needs a little welding work but nothing that we cannot do. It will look great on the back patio when we finally get it poured. Both of us were drawn to the legs of the chimera. You usually don't see such large cast iron legs.
And finally he found the bottom stand part of a fire pit that you would put on a deck. I would like to make some sort of concrete bowl to sit in it and then plant it with red geraniums but I first have to come up with a method to do that.
And finally we tidied up the curb in front of the house by edging the lawn along the edge of the curb. We do this once a year because if we didn't the grass and weeds would eventually grow right over the curb. This also gives us a chance to sweep up any debris along the curb, too.
Our ground is so hard due to the fact that it is clay and we have had very little rain in the last month or so. They have predicted rain but it usually just sprinkles and that's it. So the first day I was able to completely finished the side where the mailbox is located.
Then I started the other side and completed about 1/3 of that when the bottom of my foot started screaming at me to stop. The dirt was very hard on that side and it was too hot to put on shoes with a thick sole. So we sweep up the curb and called it quits.
The next day was cooler and my foot felt much better. I was able to edge another 1/3 before it started to rain. We had a real gully washer and that took care of any remaining dirt that we had left behind in our haste to get inside and out of the rain.
The next day we finished up and because of the rain the edging along the curb was much easier.
You can see in the photos how awful the lawn looks due to the lack of rain. The only vegetation that is growing is the weeds.
We will start the game room roof as soon as we catch up on a few small projects. Tomorrow is a mowing day for R. He has one client who is selling her home so even if the lawn hasn't grown much she still wants it mowed. His other client is on vacation and wants his lawn mowed, too. Then he has 3 offices that need to be mowed. So Fridays are a busy day for him.
I mowed our lawn 3 days ago so I am going to work on painting the platform bird feeder. I have already taken it half apart. I plan on replacing the plywood floor with hardware cloth so that any moisture can drain away.
I will paint it to match the house and it will set atop of a 6X6 post. I have a few ideas for customizing it and can't wait to see how it turns out.
Also for all of you that scrap your metal...R dropped off just a handful of items all classified as mixed metal and walked away with 39 bucks so scrap prices are going up.
And for those of you who have Japanese beetle problems. I am lucky enough to know a Master Gardener who volunteers at the Applewood Estate. She told me that Michigan State has developed a method for dealing with the Japanese beetles. Their hope is that this will completely eradicate the beetles. I will write more about this later and post photos of what to do.
I also plan to write a post about the history of Applewood and Charles Stewart Mott. I was able to get some photos when I was recently there but it started to rain and the high humidity was making my phone camera not to work very well. We will be going back there soon to take the inside tour.
We have had bird feeders for years and because of that, we have enjoyed seeing a variety of birds. Not only have we learned a lot about identifying birds but we have also learned a lot about bird feeders and bird feed.
Not all bird feeders and bird feed are created equal. Your chances of seeing uncommon or rarely seen birds all hinge on the right feeder and feed. Now is not the time to go cheap.
Let's talk feeders first. Whenever possible buy metal feeders and feeders made specifically for the type of bird you want to attract. Why metal? Squirrels, possums, and raccoons love a full bird feeder and to get to that feed they will chew through plastic in a heart beat. Animals cannot chew through a metal feeder. They can try but at the most they will just bend it and you can just bend it back.
Plastic is also brittle and affected by both the heat and the cold. If a feeder is knocked down by an animal, there is a greater chance of breakage if it's plastic. Plastic can rarely be fixed. So when you are deciding on your feeder and it comes down to plastic or metal, ALWAYS go with metal.
So now that you have picked the correct feeder for the type of bird you want to attract (finch tube feeder, sunflower seed feeder, tray feeder) and that feeder is metal (trust me...get the metal feeder) you will now want to buy your feed. I feel like I am repeating myself but buy the feed specifically for the type of bird that you want to attract. You know the line in The Wizard of Oz where they say "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Bird feed is like the Wizard, pay no attention to the photos of numerous birds on the packaging. One type of feed does not work for all birds.
The cheap bird seed is filled with filler that the birds will pull out and drop to the ground so that they can get to the few seeds that they really want. Trust me when I tell you, do not buy the cheap feed. It just ends up on the ground making a mess, attracting mice, and those pesky animals that will tear apart your plastic feeders (oh that's right, you are going to buy metal). In the end, you will go through more cheap feed, which will cost the same as if you bought the correct more expensive seed in the first place. See the photo below of some cheap seed that R bought. The sunflower seeds are just empty hulls but the rest of the seed was pulled out of the feeder by the birds trying to get to the black sunflower seeds. It makes a big mess and also makes the birds vulnerable to predators when they are on the ground eating the dropped feed.
If you want gold finches then buy Niger seed. If you want orioles buy oriole jelly or nectar. If you want hummingbirds then buy hummingbird nectar. If you want bluebirds then buy bluebird feed which is what I did today.
After having such great luck with the orioles, I decided to ask the wild bird store clerk (the clerk wasn't wild but was a clerk who worked at a wild bird store) about bluebirds. I was there today to buy another orange cup to hold jelly because every couple of days I wash the cup before refilling and I thought it would be easier to just have a spare to fill and drop into the feeder.
I wasn't expecting to buy bluebird stuff until next year but after hearing what they had to say and looking at my feeder options I decided to purchase the simple set up similar to my first oriole feeder. The frame is metal and it holds a *plastic cup that holds the feed. The cup is blue unlike the oriole cup that is orange. I was told today that they are attracted to blue and I must say that I had never heard that before but then again I have never really looked into bluebird feeders before today.
*I know I said never buy plastic but this is a cup and if the animals want to eat out of it they will not need to chew it apart to get to the food. Plus, replacements cups are inexpensive and easy to find.
I remember the first time that I saw a bluebird. I was 30 years old and we were on our way to a motorcycle race in Nazareth PA (That's a whole other story. What a race weekend that was....LOL). We were driving along on a paved road but it was lined with old fence posts next to the ditch and there on a fence post sat a male bluebird. Oh my goodness. So blue and so pretty. I didn't see another until I was... ahem...older.
Over the years I would see one here or there. Some just flying through the yard but lately there have been more. The more I see, the more I want to make sure that they are around for other people to see. So I need to feed them.
We hung the feeder on the same style of bracket that I use to hang my other feeders and my large solar lanterns. The brackets are made by Panacea and have a hand forged look. They can be found all over the Internet and at a lot of your local stores. The bluebird feeder was hung from the bracket on a tree in the area where I see the bluebirds sit and fly from tree to tree.
The feed that I purchased came in a small container and is a mixture of seeds, suet, and roasted mealworms. This container was about 8 bucks. A big bag of mealworms was more expensive and I thought if the bluebirds eat just the worms then I'll spring for a big old bag of mealworms later. Tasty.
I filled the cup up with the delicious Bluebird Munch and placed it in the metal holder. Tomorrow we will see if the bluebirds found the feeder and if they ate the feed.
It's tomorrow and the cup is half empty. But what ate the feed? Was it bluebirds, finches, cardinals?
Later in the day after I refilled the cup, I came upon the culprit.
A red squirrel.
Some DOs and DON'Ts Do wash your feeders several times throughout the year or if the seed gets wet and moldy. Use hot soapy water. I let mine sit in the water for awhile before I start scrubbing. Do keep your feeders full once you have the birds regularly coming to your yard. Do grab a beverage and sit back, watch, and listen. Let the birds get used to you. Do hang the feeder where you can get to it. You will never refill your feeder if you need to use a ladder to get to it. Do use metal hooks and extenders if you need to hang from a high branch. Do buy a field guide for identifying the birds. I like the small faux leather covered Audubon Field Guides. The cover withstands a lot of handling and it is arranged somewhat by color which makes identifying the birds easier for young kids and adults like me who want to know NOW and not have to read an entire book to determine if a bird is a bluebird or blue jay. Make sure you buy the correct field guide for your area as most come in either Eastern or Western US or North America. Do research. Find what works best in your area or climate. The wild bird stores are my best source of information for my area. Do give it time. You won't have this many hummingbirds overnight.
Don't cheap out. I hate to harp on this but you will get frustrated and never see the wonderful song birds that are out there flying around. Don't let your young kids handle a dirty bird feeder. Sorry but adults only when it comes time to handle or clean the feeder. Don't use rope to hang a bird feeder. Rope is easily chewed, rots, and really provide no stability for the feeder when the birds land on it. Ropes also allow the feeders to twirl and even though you might enjoy the tilt a whirl ride at the fair grounds, it makes it too difficult for the birds to land when it is spinning. Don't let your feed get wet. If you use large seed feed, make sure there are drainage holes in your feeder. If not, drill a few holes in the metal feeder (remember you are buying a metal feeder). Just make sure the holes are small enough that the seed cannot fall out through the hole. Don't place a feeder too close to large windows. Large plates of glass reflect the sky and the birds will fly into the glass. I once had a hawk fly into my patio door. Stunned him and scared the living day lights out of me.
If you still are not sure what kind of feeder to get, here are my suggestions. Buy two feeders. First one is a quality finch feeder that holds Niger seed. The American gold finch (some call them wild canary but they are not) are beautiful, they find feeders fast, and are not shy about landing on them. Females are a dull version of the male but during the winter the male gets dull yellow like the female. In our Michigan climate they stay year round.
Second feeder is one that hold sunflower seeds. A lot of birds love a good sunflower seed and the best one to buy is the all black variety. Buy a feeder that has a cage around it so that the birds can fly in and be protected, I like the Perky Pet brand sunflower seed feeder. All metal, contains the seeds really well, and also offers the bird some protection as it pulls individual seeds from the feeder.
Both feeders have very little wasted seeds and attract a variety of colorful interesting birds. With these two feeders you should see American gold finches, house finches, purple finches, rose breasted grosbeaks, blue jays, cardinals, tufted titmouse, and if you hang a suet cage from the bottom of your sunflower seed feeder you should enjoy a variety of woodpeckers such as downy woodpecker, red bellied woodpecker, and flickers. Don't expect to see the pileated woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker type) they prefer deep forests and are rather shy. I have only seen one and that was on my way to Mammoth Cave as the guide was taking us to the entrance.
Take your suet cage inside at night and place in a plastic grocery bag (cage and all) put in a cool place like the basement or if it is cold outside just put in your garage. Rehang in the morning. If you don't do this the raccoons will take the cage and all. It will be months later when you are weeding your bushes and flowers that you will find the stash of empty suet cages.
Suet is especially important in the winter because the birds needs the extra calories and fat to stay warm. R sometimes withholds the suet during extreme high temps because it melts. He also prefers peanut butter flavor and the ones with berries in them. If you shop well you can find quality suet for around a buck a block.
I'll do another post later on the different feeders in our yard.
