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A neighbor said my bird feeder was wrong and I'm glad they spoke up
For years, I had a big tube feeder in my maple tree filled with a cheap seed mix. A guy down the street, who's a serious birder, saw it last spring and told me, 'That stuff is mostly filler. You're just feeding the squirrels and the house sparrows, and the good birds won't touch it.' I was a bit annoyed at first, thinking my way was fine. But I listened and switched to just black oil sunflower seeds in a different feeder with a weight-sensitive perch. The change was huge. In about two weeks, I saw my first northern cardinal pair, and now I get downy woodpeckers and chickadees every day. The sparrow crowd dropped off a lot. It cost a bit more upfront, but seeing new birds was worth it. Has anyone else had a simple change to their setup bring in totally different visitors?
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stellanelson2mo ago
Honestly, that "simple change" sounds expensive and high-maintenance. My cheap mix works fine and the sparrows are birds too.
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phoenix_grant342mo ago
Totally get using the cheap stuff, it does the job. Saw a guy at a rest stop once with a whole setup, different feeders for different birds. He was trying to attract these specific blue ones, cardinals I think. Ended up with a massive flock of starlings and grackles instead, they cleaned him out in an hour. Sometimes keeping it simple avoids a whole mess.
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That's such a great story! It can be tough to hear that kind of advice, but it's awesome you were open to it. Getting those first cardinals must have felt amazing, like a real reward for making the switch. It's funny how one small tweak, like the seed type or the feeder, can totally change who shows up for dinner. Your yard sounds like a much more interesting place now.
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