feeding birds

[josey]

Who is feeding birds and what are you feeding?

[jaylow?]

There's a guy about 5 min from my place feeding ravens , I think dog food , there must be 50 of them waiting in the trees fences and roof tops , I imagine his neighbors are pretty impressed

[josey]

Originally Posted by jaylow?

There's a guy about 5 min from my place feeding ravens , I think dog food , there must be 50 of them waiting in the trees fences and roof tops , I imagine his neighbors are pretty impressed

I was hoping for good information :-) That's clearly not the way to go.

[roger]

Id be feeding17 grain pellets from my hmr.

[HoytCRX32]

chickadees and nuthatches like black sunflower seeds or shelled peanuts. Pine siskins and redpolls like black sunflower seeds or shelled sunflower seeds in a finch feeder

[HoytCRX32]

Suet is also good for many birds, particularly in colder periods...Downy and hairy woodpeckers really go for them as well as the aforementioned birds

[omega50]

I buy my feed from these guys-knowledgeable.
http://www.wildbirdstore.ca/
Red skin Shelled Peanuts for squirrels and Jays
BlueJay Mix has keep the jays here this winter
BlackCapped Chickadees-Red Finches and Red Breasted Nuthatches love the shelled Black oil sunflowers seeds
Finch feed has the worst result for me as they eat the easy stuff and leave the Nyger alone

Feeder are very expensive there and out of our range but we have found great hanging feeders for $5 on sale at Walmart

Bulk Barn also carries bird feed cheaply
http://www.bulkbarn.ca/en/Products/A...gbird-Mix-1129

[Bushmaster]

I'm feeding about 50 redpolls and they are crazy for canola. I also have a bucket of peas out and there are 2 or 3 ruffed grouse who stop by to check them out.

[The Cook]

We use black oil and big sunflower seed mix and get chickadees , siskens, grosbeaks, blue jays, grey jays and one crazy squirrel.

[josey]

Sounds like black oil sunflowers is the way to go.

How about flax seed and millet? Any takers?

[josey]

Originally Posted by HoytCRX32

Suet is also good for many birds, particularly in colder periods...Downy and hairy woodpeckers really go for them as well as the aforementioned birds

Would I get that at a butcher shop? Not looking for pre-made bird feeder thingies but actual bulk suet.

[stuckincity]

Suet. You can get a little cage to put the cakes, mixed with birdseed, in and hang it up somewhere. Keeps the tree rats from getting it.

I also buy bags of birdseed and scatter it around the rv pad and backyard once in a while.
Stale bread is OK too.

[Dona]

Originally Posted by josey

Would I get that at a butcher shop? Not looking for pre-made bird feeder thingies but actual bulk suet.

I feed bulk Suet. Best purchased at an abattoir. I pay $5.00 per side (15 lbs) and place in a barbecue basket and hang by my bird feeders. Love the Piiated Woodpeckers that come to feed.

[Jack Hardin]

I use sunflower seeds and the bag of mixed seeds. I also have two of those cage cakes in peanut butter flavor for the wood peckers. I have an aluminum pie plate screwed onto the deck railing where I put fat trimmings and I throw out stale bread on the deck.

[histyle]

Along with black oil sunflower seeds, mixed bird seed, finch seed, and suet, I also put out peanut butter (chickadees, nuthatches, downy & hairy woodpeckers, and blue jays go nuts for it). I put it in a 4X4 landscaping tie, that I've drilled a few 1" holes into, then hang it up.
My feeders are attracting house finches, a few crossbills, and lots of redpolls along with the aforementioned birds. Get a few 'unusual' birds too for this area (near Bentley) & time like flickers, and pine grosbeaks.
Attract some nuisance birds like magpies & house sparrows, but the .22 makes short work of them

[stuckincity]

Originally Posted by histyle

..... and pine grosbeaks.

I see a few of those things hanging around my backyard in the summer, especially using the birdbath.
Some of them look like a cross between it and a sparrow.

I thought they only live and nest on the eastern slopes of the Rockies.

What are they doing here on the "flatlands"?

[antlercarver]

If you get sunflower seeds in the shell, birds make a mess with the shells. Shelled seeds seem more expensive, but much less mess to clean up and I think you get more seeds - food value- per dollar.

[Redfrog]

Wife had a feeder above a flower bed. She ended up with a bunch of volunteer sunflowers. The heads were huge. The birds have them cleaned up already. she'll plant a big patch this spring. Easy to feed when you just leave them on the plant.

[Ddawg]

I feed my birds black oil sun flower seeds.

[histyle]

We end up with volunteer sunflowers all over the place. Makes me think the little buggers drop them on purpose! Heads are picked clean by 1st week of December.
The birds love the shelled sunflower seeds, but they are more pricey for sure. I give those out as a treat occasionally, but I prefer the ones in the shell because it's comical watching the birds work at them. Does make more of a mess, but the shells get 'dispersed' by the mower come spring.

[josey]

Originally Posted by histyle

We end up with volunteer sunflowers all over the place. Makes me think the little buggers drop them on purpose! Heads are picked clean by 1st week of December.
The birds love the shelled sunflower seeds, but they are more pricey for sure. I give those out as a treat occasionally, but I prefer the ones in the shell because it's comical watching the birds work at them. Does make more of a mess, but the shells get 'dispersed' by the mower come spring.

Actually that would be natural. The birds are planting for next year! I don't think they would rely on humans to feed them by nature. Re-seeding is much safer for them. Makes a pretty garden in summer too. Shells = mulch/compost.

Thanks everybody. I got some great info and have some ideas now.

[Puma]

Originally Posted by josey

Sounds like black oil sunflowers is the way to go.

How about flax seed and millet? Any takers?

Black oil sunflower seeds.

Niger seed, red polls, finches, and various small song birds

Suet, the commercial square ones, various wood peckers.

NW of Airdrie

[wwbirds]

Feeding hundreds of them. Plant sudham sorghum in the pens along with sun flower seeds for cover for the pheasants. The little bit of lambsquarter has just about taken over all the pens and the little seed heads in that bring in many little finches and a variety of sparrows. for pheasants we buy the screened cracked wheat which often contains canola, peas, sunflower seeds as well as wild weed seeds. There isnt a day go by that we dont have 2-3or 400 little birds going through the netting for a free meal. They really seem to like the cracked wheat/canola mixture so at $125 a ton is the cheapest bird seed I have ever seen considering what pet stores charge for it.

[alacringa]

I do niger seed in a finch feeder, and black oil sunflower is the big, squirrel proof one. Have occasionally put suet out, but the magpies have torn my suet cage apart to get it.
I have had others in the past, but this winter has seen Black-capped Chickadees, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, Common Redpolls, House Finches, and Pine Siskins The feeders have been very busy this winter (especially on the really cold days) -- I'll probably be buying more seed this weekend.

[Sooner]

Just use wild bird seed from the store. Between the neighbor and me, we have our own little flock of sparrows that we feed all year, some pigeons too, they come clean up the stuff that falls to the ground.

[dale7637]

We are feeding a mixture of canola, sunflower seeds, peanuts, peas and oats.
Everyone in the countryside loves the mix.. Even the weasels.

[Chewbacca]

We have black sunflower seeds for a multitude of birds. What kind I'm not sure of all of them. Two different types of chickadees, bigger birds with red, some with yellow breasts, some with crowns like cockatiels.Jays come cruising through once in a while. Suet for the two different kinds of woodpeckers. Ruffies were coming in regular to the miniature apple tree now I see them picking them up off the ground. A squirrel robs the feeder at night. Wife took a picture of a real nice mule buck having a snack one evening at the feeder. Everything keeps the dog busy. It's funny how they seem to be used to her barking at them. As soon as she comes in they're back on the ground picking up the seeds again. Nice to see the variety of birds that stick around for the winter.
Going to see if I can get some canola, from the posts looks like birds like it.

[Rdamours]

We're using the huge bag from Costco. It's a mix of everything and was 17 bucks or so. The feeder empties every couple of days and is pretty popular on the weekends.

[bearsnoreson]

We make our own "suet"

one package of tenderflake lard
one cup of crunchy natural peanut butter
one cup of cornmeal
one cup of whole wheat flour

Mix it all up and smear it on the trees

Lots of pine grosbeak, chickadees, hairy and downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, bluejays out at our feeder.

[sourdough doug]

Back when canola, by a different name, became the go to crop...there was something about "canola" affecting the reproduction aspect of the birds feeding on it. I don't recall if it was to do with shell thickness or what. Does anyone have any recall of this or contradicting info..