Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Sunday, December 17. 2017

Feeding winter birds

I get a kick out of winter bird-feeding. It gives me an idea of what things are around, and it makes a winter garden lively and interesting. 


One rule: If you start, you have to keep doing it through the winter. Like people, they will develop a dependency on your generosity, and can starve without it because they have not had to develop or find other resources.  

Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation at 12:14 | Comments (6) | Trackbacks (0)

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It's always fun to see the birds and critters come in to feed, but it's probably easier to feed them in Texas where there's no long-term ground coverage (snow) that inhibits foraging. What do you put out for bird feed? I've put together some nice hanging feeders made of 4-6 ft lengths of clear 3½" PVC with multiple ports - just have to fill them every 3-4 weeks or so.....

1. Millet / sunflower mix
2. Dried fruit / chopped nut / safflower mix
3. Black Sunflower seed.
4. Suet blocks

And of course,
5. Wildlife crunch blocks for the deer & critters
6. Hanging Corn blocks for the squirrels and larger birds
#1 Aggie on 2017-12-17 13:15 (Reply)
Cracked corn and sunflower seeds for the squirrels, bird seed mix and suet for the birds, and they all eat whatever they want, often switching up during feeding time. The creatures are a little territorial within their own kind but I counter that by tossing the corn and sunflower seeds into several piles spaced around the yard. They seem to like coming to eat when we have mealtime indoors and don't seem to be bothered by some humans on the other side of a couple panes of glass.

The biggest challenge is keeping unfrozen water available. A bucket of hot water twice a day on the ceramic water fountain/pool seems to work.
#2 MarkInKansas on 2017-12-17 14:25 (Reply)
We have a stream nearby, but I have seen sparrows munching on snow
#2.1 BD on 2017-12-17 15:36 (Reply)
We live rural, in central Pennswoods . Have a verity of two/four legged critters, foraging about daily . This year, more so then normal, our 'bird feeders' have become 'hawk feeders' .
#3 LA on 2017-12-17 16:54 (Reply)
I had to quit feeding birds. Too many visits from Ursus americanus. However, the bird bath was enjoyed today by up to 4 yellow rumped warblers at a time. There were 8-15 in their little flock.
#4 Mark on 2017-12-17 21:56 (Reply)
Yes, aka Myrtle Warblers. I love to see them in the winter.
#4.1 Bird Dog on 2017-12-18 08:35 (Reply)

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