It usually doesn’t matter where you place your bird feeders if the birds are able to easily find the feeders and feed from them regularly. However, if you are having problems attracting birds to your yard, try following these steps to make your feeders more attractive to birds:
The Blossom Hummingbird Feeder – Pretty
Hummingbird/Nectar birdfeeders are available in many different styles. Some are decorative while others are not so beautiful .. but functional. All hummingbird feeders are made to hold hummingbird nectar. Your personal tastes will lend to what type you choose. You can make your own nectar recipe or buy pre-made hummingbird nectar mixes.
Types of Hummingbird/Nectar Feeders
- Hummingbird Bottle or Gravity Feeders – Bottle feeders have an inverted bottle which empties into a feeding port container or tube below the main body. They are often colored red. They come in glass or plastic.
Hummingbird Saucer or Dish Feeders – Saucer feeders for hummingbirds are most often in a red, dish like container with a cover. Tiny holes are in the cover through which the hummingbird can sip the nectar. These holes are large enough for the beaks of a hummingbird but often too small for the beaks of larger wild birds. Saucer hummingbird feeders are glass or plastic. - Oriole Feeders – An oriole feeder is essentially designed the same way as a saucer hummingbird feeder but is larger, has longer perches to support orioles and other birds larger than a hummingbird and is usually colored orange instead of red. Often you can skewer an orange half on the top of the feeder and give orioles both nectar and orange citrus slices which they love.
Hummingbird/nectar feeders are often made of plastic although glass is popular for the more decorative hummingbird nectar feeders.
The advantages of using glass hummingbird feeders or metal hummingbird feeders are that they are easier to keep clean than plastic. Glass syrup holders provide slightly better insulation from the sun and they also last longer than plastic feeders.
The down side of glass is that it is breakable and heavy.
Prevent Insects from Invading Your Hummingbird Feeders
Insects love the sweet nectar in a hummingbird feeder and will find a way to get to the nectar in the feeder. The two most common insects to plague hummingbird feeders are bees and ants. To prevent these insects from invading your hummingbird feeders it is important to follow these simple steps:
1. When filling your hummingbird feeder, make sure to wipe away and clean any nectar that spills on the outside of the feeder.
2. To help prevent bees, wasps and other types of flying insects, use a feeder with bee guards or nectar guards, such as the HummZinger Fancy Hummingbird Feeder. When using this type of hummingbird feeder, bees and wasps are deterred from getting to the nectar.
3. Another trick is set up a fine spray of water around the feeder to help keep flying away. Hummingbirds love to bath in the fine spray of water.
4. An ant guard is also helpful for keeping ants away from the hummingbir feeder. You may also want to choose a feeder with an ant moat and coat the hanger with petroleum jelly.
5. Never use insect spray around your feeders. Using a pesticide can be very harmful to hummingbirds. Professional pest control experts, including those at pest control madison wi, strongly advise against using pesticides in areas where hummingbirds may feed, as the chemicals can be extremely harmful to these delicate creatures.
These simple tricks are sure to help keep insects away from your hummingbird feeder and allow you more time to enjoy the hummingbirds! Check out these items and more at Rachel’s Robin.
C and S Suet Plugs Feeder & Plugs
Attract a great variety of birds to your yard using the C and S Suet Plug Feeder and Suet plugs.
This attractive wooden feeder offers an easy and no-mess way to feed your feathered friends. Four plugs of suet feed may be placed inside of the predrilled holes.
Use different flavors of suet plugs (see below) to attract a wider variety of birds, or use a single type of suet to attract specific birds.
Cleaning is simple; there are only four plug holes to maintain!
To refill the feeder, simply insert more suet plugs.
This feeder may be suspended with the included eyelet. Give your backyard birds a convenient feeding station with minimal maintenance using the Suet Plug Feeder
Birds that use this Suet Plug feeder:
bluebirds, chickadees, flickers, grackles, jays, kinglets, mockingbirds, nuthatches, starlings, tanagers, titmice, towhees, warblers, woodpeckers, and wrens
Type of suet plugs that you can purchase:
- Peanut Delight Suet Dough Plugs
- Woodpecker Treat Suet Plugs
- Insect Treat Suet Plugs
- Orange Delight Suet Dough Plugs
For more DIY-bird enthusiasts, you can create your own suet plugs by cutting a suet block yourself and placing the pieces in the suet plug feeder .. or for us “laid-back birders” you can buy pre-cut suet plugs made specifically for suet plug feeders.
What to Do if You Find a Young Bird (Nestling) on the Ground
Before you help or pick up a young bird or nestling found on the ground, make sure that you follow these simple steps:
1. Don’t assume that the bird found on the ground has been “orphaned” by the parent bird. Most young birds on the ground have not been orphaned. A parent will not typically leave their young on their own. Usually the parent bird is nearby watching over their young and providing them with food. This may even be the case if a cat or dog has caught the bird.
Nesting a Robin’s Perogative
This photo was taken about in early May 2009, in my mother’s backyard.
Apparently, every year for the last 20+ years, a robin’s nest has been built in this very same spot. Of course, it’s not the same robin every year (Robins are not able to be octomoms). According to a zoology archive from the US Department of Energy, very few robins survive their first year. For those that survive, a life span of about 5 to 6 years is the norm.
So, back to this particular robin in her nest. I’ve been following this bird, and her family, with my camera and video phone for the last 2 weeks. I’ll update the blog later with photos of feeding, the daddy and such, but for now I wanted to focus on the momma and nesting habits of the robin. Personally, I think she looks a little cramped and uncomfortable in that nest. But she seems to be content.
Most robins place their nest in a crook of tree or a shrub about 5 to 20 feet above the ground. What makes this particular robins nest interesting is that it is always built at the intersection of the gutters along the top of the garage. It does seem to be the perfect little hideaway, and usually is, until nosy people such as myself hang out all day and try to get the perfect photo of a robin’s nesting habits. Then, it gets a little ridiculous while the robin and the person (me) have a battle of wills. The daddy will come hopping along, squawk at her, look at me, and take off. Then I have to leave to give them a chance to bond as a family and let them feed their babies.
But, I have a secret window spot too. So I’ve had the chance to see it all in action. Quite amazing.
In any case, another interesting facts about robins is that they can produce three successful broods in one year. On average, though, only 40 percent of nests successfully produce young. And, only 24% of those young will survive to November. So, in order to help robins thrive, it is suggested that a person can try to place fruit on tray feeders or plant fruiting shrubs to attract more of them to your backyard garden.
One great tray feeder is the Droll Yankee Seed Tray. This clear plastic tray measures 7.5″ and will fit all Droll Yankee tube feeders and many other brands. The Droll Yankee Seed Tray easily attaches with a threaded plug and is constructed of clear durable plastic.
What’s even better is that even if you don’t have trees, feeding the birds with the Droll Yankee Seed Tray will be no problem. The ultimate yard system comes with a 68 garden pole and pole adapter for mounting feeder on top. Also included are three 24 pole sections, a triple pole hook assembly, pole adapter, and ultimate pole auger.
So, for now, we’ll let this robin rest. More updates will be available as we follow this beautiful bird and her brood.
Economical Bird Feeding in Style
Usability Enhancements at RachelsRobin Wild Bird Supplies
Here is my favorite tip of all time:
A great use for an old slinky…..Put a bird feeder pole through the center of the slinkly and attached the slinky at the top. The squirrels and raccoons will not try to jump or climp on the pole!
More on: Bird Feeder Pole
Another big change to our website is the ability to narrow by keyword within major categories. This comes in handy if you are looking for a particular type of bottle type hummingbird feeder or a particular sort or tube style bird feeder.
Pictured above is the Birdscapes new Lightpost Hummingbird feeder which is my absolute favorite new feeder this year.
Finally, we have placed alot of emphasis on the habitat in your backyard that birds love. Birds will naturally migrate to locations that have flowers and bushes and trees. Understanding this, we added a couple of new categories – most notably Planters and Flower Boxes. There are over 60 different planters that we carry and we must say that we have exceptional prices.
One of my favorite new planters is the Canterbury Standing Planter that allows you to place the proper flowers in the absolute perfect location in your yard.
Please let us know how we are doing – once again, we truly appreciate your feedback.