c/backyard-birdwatching

Just read a report that window collisions kill nearly a billion birds here in the US every year...

I found this fact in a study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and it made me look at my own big living room window differently. I put up some simple decals last month, and I've already seen fewer confused thumps against the glass. Has anyone else tried something like this and noticed a change?

I always thought suet was a winter-only thing until this morning

For years, I only put my suet cakes out from November to March, thinking birds wouldn't want that heavy food in warm weather. This spring, I saw a downy woodpecker really struggling to find food in my oak tree, so I put a plain suet block back up as a test. Within 20 minutes, that woodpecker was back with two chickadees, and they've been working on it all week. I guess some birds need that fat and protein year-round, especially when they're feeding babies. Has anyone else kept suet out through summer and noticed which birds use it most?

The $80 squirrel-proof feeder that's currently feeding a squirrel

I bought this heavy metal 'squirrel baffle' feeder for about $80 after watching a gray squirrel do parkour to get to my old one. It has a weight-activated perch that closes the seed ports. For two whole days, it worked. Now there's a fat squirrel sitting on it, his weight not quite enough to trigger the close, just slowly picking seeds while staring at me through the window. I think he's figured out the exact pressure point. Has anyone else had a 'smart' feeder get outsmarted, and what did you do next?

Pro tip: I put a cheap plastic owl on my shed roof to scare off the starlings that were hogging my feeder. It worked for about a week.

Had to choose between a heated bird bath and a bigger seed hopper for my Ohio yard

My budget was tight, just $80, and winter was coming. I went with the heated bath because the creek froze over. It worked, I saw a dozen cardinals using it last Tuesday. But now I'm refilling the seed every other day. Did I pick wrong?

Hot take: I was chasing the wrong birds for years.

Always wanted a perfect shot of a cardinal, so I'd sit for hours staring at my feeder. Then my neighbor in Akron pointed out a tiny wren nest tucked under my porch gutter, full of babies. Anyone else miss the small stuff right in front of them?

My neighbor said my bird feeder was basically a squirrel buffet. He was right.

I had this big tube feeder full of sunflower seeds hanging from a maple tree. Thought I was doing the birds a solid. Then my neighbor, Frank, walked by and just said, 'You know you're just feeding the squirrels, right? The birds can't get near it.' I argued that I saw birds there sometimes. But I started watching more closely. For three days, I counted. Squirrels: 47 visits. Cardinals: 2. He was totally right. I moved the feeder to a metal pole with a baffle, about 15 feet from any tree limb. Now the chickadees and finches are all over it. Anyone else have a simple fix that actually worked to keep the squirrels out?

Appreciation post: I planted a native dogwood in my yard in Charlotte and the bird visits doubled in two years

Everyone talks about putting out feeders, but I think the real magic is planting native stuff. I put in a single flowering dogwood tree in the spring of 2022, and now I'm seeing way more cardinals and blue jays than before. They're there for the berries and the bugs it brings, not just my seed. Has anyone else seen a big change from just one specific plant?

I bought a cheap bird feeder that was a total waste of $30

I got a fancy looking one online that promised to be squirrel proof. The plastic latch broke after two weeks, and the whole thing fell apart in a storm. I lost about $30 worth of seed when it hit the ground and got soaked. Has anyone found a feeder that actually holds up to weather and squirrels?

My kid said something about the robins that made me stop and look

We were watching a pair in the yard last week, and my daughter asked why they always hop instead of walk. I gave my usual answer about worms, but then she said, 'Maybe they just like how it feels.' It hit me that I've been watching birds for years but always trying to figure them out, not just seeing them. Now I notice the silly little bounces more. Do your kids ever point out simple stuff you've totally missed?

I thought the 'put out a water dish' tip for attracting birds was just silly, but after my ceramic bowl sat empty for a week, a pair of house finches finally showed up yesterday.

What's the best way to keep the water clean without scaring them off?

My neighbor in Springfield thought my bird feeder was a tiny spy camera

I was filling up my tube feeder with sunflower seeds yesterday when Mr. Henderson from two doors down came over looking really serious. He pointed at it and said, 'Sarah, I've been watching that thing for a month, and I finally figured out it's not a birdhouse, it's a camera, isn't it?' I had to explain for ten minutes that it was just for the chickadees before he believed me. Has anyone else's bird watching gear ever been totally misunderstood?

I finally caved and bought a heated birdbath for the winter

It was about $80, and I was worried it would be a waste, but seeing a dozen juncos and a cardinal bathing in 20-degree weather this morning made it worth every penny. Anyone else try something similar to keep the birds around when it's freezing?

I used to think a bird feeder was just a bird feeder, but a neighbor in Phoenix set me straight

She saw my single tube feeder and said it was basically a fast food joint for aggressive birds like house sparrows, scaring off the smaller ones. I switched to a platform feeder with a roof and put it under my mesquite tree, and now I get way more variety, like verdins and curved-bill thrashers. Anyone else find that changing the feeder type totally changed their backyard crowd?

Rant: People keep calling the little brown birds in my yard 'sparrows' and it's driving me nuts

I'm in suburban Ohio and for the past year I've been logging every bird that visits my feeder. I keep seeing posts where someone has a photo of a bird and just labels it 'sparrow', but half the time it's a female house finch or a juvenile song sparrow. I learned the difference by noticing the house finch has a blurry streaked chest and a thicker beak. How do you guys quickly tell them apart without a guide book?

Looking back at my first bird feeder setup and cringing a bit

When I got into this hobby about five years ago, I went all out and bought this fancy, three-story 'squirrel-proof' feeder for over $80. It had metal parts and a weight-sensitive perch that was supposed to close the seed ports. The squirrels in my yard in Cincinnati just sat on it and laughed (well, chattered angrily), then figured out how to hang upside down and trip the mechanism. I lost maybe 20 pounds of expensive seed to them in a month before I gave up. Ended up switching to a simple tube feeder on a pole with a basic baffle, which cost about $25 total and works perfectly. Anyone else have a 'fancy gadget' fail that sent them back to basics?

Pro tip: a cheap bag of black oil sunflower seeds changed my backyard birdwatching

I was only getting sparrows and starlings for months, but after switching to a $15 bag of black oil sunflower seeds from the hardware store, I had a northern cardinal pair show up the very next morning. What other simple seed changes have brought in new birds for you?

Realized I was chasing off every bird in my yard by putting my feeder right next to the window. Saw a cardinal stare at me, then fly off, and it clicked.

My bird feeder pole snapped clean in half during that big windstorm Tuesday night

I woke up Wednesday morning and found the whole thing on the ground, seed everywhere. It was a cheap metal pole from a big box store, maybe lasted two years. I had to zip-tie it to the fence post just to get it standing again for the chickadees. Anyone have a recommendation for a really sturdy feeder pole that can handle Midwest gusts?

Vent: I always thought the robin in my yard was just one bird coming back, but a bird banding report from the local Audubon chapter showed it's actually three different individuals using the same spot over a season.

Has anyone else had a similar surprise with a 'regular' visitor turning out to be multiple birds?

Noticed the blue jays were ignoring my platform feeder completely

I moved it about 15 feet away from the window and added a small water dish on the ground nearby. They started using it the next morning, maybe they felt safer with a clearer escape route. Anyone else have a spot birds just refuse to visit until you moved something?

Had to pick between a birdbath and a new feeder, went with the bath and now I'm second-guessing

I mean, I had a budget for one thing, so it was either a nice ceramic birdbath or a squirrel-proof feeder. I got the bath last Tuesday, thinking the robins and sparrows would love it. It's been a full week and I've seen maybe two birds use it, total. Meanwhile, the starlings are still hogging my old feeder and scattering seed everywhere. Should I have just gotten the better feeder first? Has anyone else had a birdbath that took forever to get any action?

Appreciation post: I thought the 'bird bath heater' was a silly gimmick until my old metal one cracked last winter in Cleveland, but this $35 plastic one with the built-in thermostat has kept the water open for cardinals all season.

What other simple backyard upgrades have you all tried that actually made a real difference for your local birds?

My $40 squirrel-proof feeder just got completely outsmarted by a raccoon

I bought this fancy weight-activated feeder last month, thinking it would stop the squirrels from eating all my sunflower seeds. It worked for about two weeks, until a big raccoon showed up on my deck in Cincinnati last night. It just climbed the pole, hung its whole body on the perch to trip the mechanism, and dumped the entire seed load onto the ground. Now I'm out the seed AND the feeder feels useless. Anyone have a truly raccoon-proof setup that actually works?

Everyone says to keep bird feeders super clean, but I found a different way that works for me

For the last six months, I've been dealing with house finches with eye disease at my feeder in Austin. Everyone online says you have to take the feeder down for weeks and scrub it with bleach every few days. I tried that, but they just came back. So I bought a second feeder for $15 and started swapping them out every single day. I'd take the dirty one inside, let it soak in hot soapy water, and put the clean one out. After two weeks of this routine, the sick birds stopped showing up. It was more work at first, but it actually fixed the problem. Has anyone else tried a rotation system instead of just deep cleaning one feeder?