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Those $5 suet cages at the discount store are junk - nearly lost a bird yesterday
Bought a cheap wire suet cage from a bin at Tractor Supply in April, looked fine. Yesterday I saw a downy woodpecker with its leg stuck in the mesh after the wire bent. Had to go out and carefully cut it free with pliers. The bird seemed okay but flew off shaky. Check your cheap cages for gaps wider than your pinky nail, gaps can trap feet. Anyone else had close calls with flimsy feeders?
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torres.grant7d ago
My parents had this old metal tube feeder from the 90s that got a crack in the plastic base, and a starling got its head stuck trying to get a sunflower seed out. My dad had to take the whole thing apart with a screwdriver to free it, and the bird was fine but it flew straight into a window after. I try to stick with feeders that have solid perches and no sharp edges now, those cheap wire ones always seem to bend after a few months of rain.
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ray_miller847d ago
my feeder setup is like a DIY horror movie" - yeah that's about right lol. Whoa wait @torres.grant your dad had to basically dissect the feeder to get a starling out and then it flew into a window? That's wild, birds really go through it with the cheap gear.
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patricia5587d ago
...and my dumb self thought I was being all clever saving five bucks, turns out I was just setting a trap for my backyard birds. I swear, my feeder setup is like a DIY horror movie for woodpeckers. I had a similar metal tube feeder that looked fine until I noticed a chickadee hopping around with a seed stuck between the mesh and its beak, poor thing looked like it was trying to chew through a chain-link fence. Now I'm that person who inspects every feeder like it's a nuclear launch code, checking for gaps and testing the wires with my fingers. At least I can laugh at myself now, but man, it's a miracle more birds don't end up needing emergency pliers surgery.
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