WILD BIRD FEEDING

**The information on this page is based on personal observations and knowledge and should not be considered a researched set of data for reference.**

This page will give you an idea about how easy and fun it can be to feed the wild birds in your yard, whether you live in the city, suburbs, or rural area of southeast Michigan.  We offer both a good variety of bird feed in different quantities as well as several different styles of well-made feeders at our store to get you started.

Feeding the birds is easy, cheap, and fulfilling in many ways that most of us wouldn't really consider.  Think about it-- for the cost of pennies a day, you can improve the natural balance of your yard, neighborhood or rural property.  You can enjoy the sights and sounds of birds including many different species.  And no matter where you are, if you feed them, they will come.

Most of us might not realize how many of them are around us in the suburbs and cities, but birds will always find fresh food in a relatively short time when it is offered.  Based on personal experience, informative reading and customer reports, I can safely say that in our area, you will get birds if you put up a feeder.  However, the type and amount of birds will vary based on numerous factors that we will approach in the next section.

It seems like there is always a bird waiting for a handout, not because they are incapable of finding their own food, but rather because of the way they are constantly foraging the trees and grasses for new sources of seeds, insects or greens.  But they also remember where food may be found, and will regularly return to check an empty feeder or a place where people have offered food.

Finally, as most of us are aware, birds are migratory, and will live in different areas of the country during different seasons.  But not all birds migrate, and you will find that some birds are around throughout the year while others are only temporary visitors.  For this reason you might notice that certain foods are consumed faster or slower at different times of the year.

There are many different designs used to offer food to the birds, as well as types of food to put in them.  In order to attract the birds you want, you should consider what type of feeder as well as what type of food you will use. Let's take a look at the types of feeders you may find:

• Tube Feeders:  The tube feeder is probably the first thing most people think of when they think of a bird feeder.  They are essentially an elongated cylinder with holes, or ports and perches at various intervals along the length and sealed to prevent water from getting in on top and bottom, but still able to be opened and filled from the top.
• Thistle Tube Feeders: Just another type of tube feeder, but with specialized holes that only allow the feeding of thistle and thereby only attracting certain birds.  Some of these are specially designed so that only goldfinches can eat from them, as the perches are above the feeding holes and they have to hang upside down in order to feed.
• Platform Feeders:  There are various styles of platform feeders which will attract some additional birds that will not stop at tube feeders.  They may be in the shape of houses with a ledge around it, box type with a single side offering a perch, or even a simple flat surface atop a pole.  The important feature of the platform feeder is a landing pad rather than a rounded perch.  Cardinals rarely if ever feed from tube feeders, preferring a flatter place to land.
• Hanging Platform Feeders:  These feeders usually have a domed top and round feed tray, but essentially are meant for the same birds as platform feeders.  One feature of many hanging feeders is the ability to block larger birds by adjusting the dome closer to the seed tray.
• Window Feeders:  As time has gone by, makers of feeders have begun to cater to the demands of the birdwatchers by designing feeders that could be mounted directly to your window or ledge, effectively bringing the birds within inches of your view.
• Liquid Feeders:  This group refers to those feeders specially designed to feed nectar loving birds such as hummingbirds and orioles.  They are a little higher maintenance than other feeders but offer greater rewards as hummingbirds are very beautiful and interesting to watch.
• Suet Feeders:  These come in a variety of attractive variations, but most commonly are a simple square basket that opens on one side for the suet cake to be placed inside.  They are a necessity for attracting woodpeckers to your yard.

• Ground Feeding: Yep that's right, you don't even need a feeder to successfully attract birds to your yard, although many birds prefer to eat from the ground, and some will not eat from feeders of any kind, it is necessary to have a suitable patch of ground to feed them on where you can see well and they can find the food easily, or it's tough to enjoy birdwatching this way.

The type of food provided will determine which birds come to your feeder, and there are plenty of options that will allow you to control what birds you get-- to a certain extent.  Here are the choices that we offer and what you might expect to see when providing them.

• Mixed Feed:  The premium mix we offer is mainly millet, while the economy is mainly cracked corn mixed with oil sunflower seeds and a couple of other choice seeds.  Sparrows, finches, blackbirds, and chickadees will quickly flock to tube feeders with these mixes in it.  The cracked corn in the Economy mix tends to attract blackbirds more, so it is reasonable that you pay a little more for the Premium.
• Sunflower Seed:  Better used in a platform feeder to attract a greater number of birds, sunflower seeds are an excellent choice for beginners, so long as they are aware of the fact that SUNFLOWER SEEDS ATTRACT SQUIRRELS.  They will attract cardinals, tufted titmouse, nuthatches, finches, sparrows and chickidees to your platform or hanging feeder.  Oil sunflowers are more common because they have thinner shells, but you can get giant striped sunflowers as well, which will more likely attract cardinals than the oilers.
• Safflower Seed:  This will attract the same birds as sunflower seed when used in a feeder, but will also attract mourning doves and juncos when on the ground.  It has a thinner shell than sunflower seeds, and leaves less mess.  In fact, the mourning doves eat it shell and all.
• Thistle Seed:  This tiny black seed is most commonly used to bring goldfinches into your yard, as they are the birds most suited to eating from thistle tube feeders.  House finches, chickidees and sparrows will eat thistle, but have a harder time getting the seed out and will more likely eat it off of the ground below the feeder with the doves.
• Corn:  Dry corn can be offered either whole kernal or cracked.  Many birds will eat corn, especially if there isn't much else available or very few other people feeding birds in your area, but it has to be cracked into pieces for small birds to eat.  Whole corn will be welcomed by ducks and jays, but also attracts squirrels, who will gladly eat the center out of each whole piece of corn, leaving it cracked for the birds.
• Suet:  If you are looking to attract woodpeckers to your yard, suet or peanuts will be needed.  Suet cakes are cheap and easy to use, but do have drawbacks.  They usually do not tolerate heat, becoming too easy for larger birds to break apart, or melting in the sun.  They also attract a lot of birds that are willing to land on the suet basket, which will discourage the woodpeckers that you are actually trying to bring in.
• Nectar and Fruit:  Special food for orioles and hummingbirds comes as a powder that you mix with water and is quite effective, but must be kept fresh, so if you don't get any traffic after a few days, it should be disposed of and restarted.  Fruit or jelly can be offered to attract less common birds including orioles, who love oranges, and catbirds, who love grapes and cherry tomatoes.
• Meal Worms:  There aren't many insect eating birds besides woodpeckers that will go to suet, but for bluebird enthusiasts, offering fresh or freeze dried meal worms might be the only way to get this insectivore into your yard. (We do not sell these, sorry.)
• Scraps:  Not necessarily those that you would feed to the dog or put in the compost pile, but table scraps that are dry such as bread, crackers, chips and pizza crust.  These will attract larger birds such as grackles and starlings, as well as sparrows, finches and squirrels.  Squirrels will be your largest consumer of scraps in the winter when there aren't many blackbirds. (We do not sell these, but there is a discount bread store very close to us!)
  

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Here is a quick look at birds that you are most likely to see in our area when offering food.  In no particular order, I will give the type of bird and what type of feeder and feed it prefers, including suggestions on getting more of the guys and girls you like the most.

Keep in mind that male and female birds are usually different in appearance, so its easy to see how some birds are always in pairs when they forage.  For more information on birds in lower Michigan, check this out.  There is a relatively complete list of our feeder birds, and plenty of nice pictures of them, some of which are included to the right.

• Sparrows:  Three or four diffent species of these guys come to my yard in the suburbs, so you can only imagine what variety you might find in a more rural area.  They are pack foragers and will eat pretty much whatever seed or bread type product you offer including mixed seed, cracked corn, sunflower seed, suet and scraps.
• Starlings:  These blackbirds are pack ground foragers that will disappear when there is snowcover, as they cannot forage.  When they are in town, they will keep your scraps and suet eaten up as they will commonly feed in my yard during the late winter and spring with numbers over one hundred. (often joined by a hundred or so sparrows.)
• Grackels:  Another blackbird that will mainly come through in the spring and summer, but not in such large numbers as starlings.  They will forage on the ground for scraps and other seeds, and will usually go to platforms, but are too large for most tube feeders and hanging types.
• Finches:  Red house finches and purple finches enjoy sunflower seeds and thistle seed, but have a harder time eating from thistle tubes, so if you offer oil sunflowers on a platform or hanging feeder, you will probably get finches.  It isn't uncommon to see the male and female together with this species.
• Goldfinches:  A bit smaller than other finches in the area and yellow instead of red, these guys are the most common visitors to thistle tubes.  They are usually seen feeding in groups of ten to twenty, but can appear by themselves or in larger groups.
• Chickadees:  These quick little birds are fun to have around, often seen foraging alone and during bad weather or at times when other birds are not around.  They love sunflower seeds and will readily go to any feeder that has them inside, stealing away with a single seed as if having pulled off some great hiest.
• Tufted Titmouse:  Easily identified by their dainty crown of grey, these little birds enjoy sunflower seeds and are relatively common in the area.  They are inventive songbirds, clicking out numerous sounds, and are a joy to see hanging about, usually in the early morning hours.
• Nuthatches:  Two different species of nuthatch frequent my suet and sunflower feeders, they can be spotted moving around on the trunks of trees, hopping veritcally up and down instead of perching in the branches.
• Woodpeckers:  There are two very similar species in this area, the downy and hairy woodpeckers, which will frequent suet feeders throughout the winter.  Another, larger type, the red-bellied woodpecker, will also come to suet feeders, but has a love for peanuts as well and will take them in shell from platform feeders.
• Cardinals:  The male of this species is colored brightly in red, and both males and females have bright orange beaks that make them stand out among other birds.  A bit more shy than many species, cardinals are often seen in pairs, feeding happily on sunflower or safflower seeds-- especially when there are no other birds around to compete with.
• Blue Jays:  Many people don't like blue jays on account of their seemingly arrogant and territorial behavior.  They are quick to defend their nesting area and will scream their heads off for many reasons.  Not really the songbird type, but still attractive in their own way.  These guys have beautiful blue, white and black coloration and are both majestic and cunning.  If you want to see blue jays, just offer whole peanuts or corn on the ground or a table, or platform feeder.
• Mourning Doves:  A very slow and boring bird with a gray coloration and the call of sadness, these birds are very similar to the pigeons you see in city parks.  They rarely land on feeders aside from larger platforms, as they are clumsy flyers.  They are good ground cleaners though, and will hang out in pairs, or groups of four to ten under just about any type of feeder, or an area where scraps are offered.
• Juncos:  This small, black and white bird is strictly a ground forager.  You will never see one on a feeder, and rarely ever see one outside of the winter months.  They will eat seeds from below your feeders, and seem to prefer sunflower seeds and cracked corn.
• Robins:  The Michigan State Bird is not a feeder bird, but will forage for scraps and fruit on the ground during the mating season.  Mostly they like worms and grubs, but early in the season, when the ground is still frozen, they will eat wild berries, ornamental pears, crab apples and any fruit that you offer.
• Ducks:  Not likely in the suburbs or city, but more likely than you might think, a pair of mallard ducks isn't uncommon where whole corn or scraps are offered.  They will mainly be seen during the spring nesting season, when a nearby watering hole or nest will make your yard an easy stop for a meal.
• Hummingbirds:  These tiny visitors can be found most commonly during the late spring and late summer weeks.  They will feed from special hummingbird feeders in your yard, or from certain flowers, annual and perennial.  It is quite common for plant shoppers to ask which flowers will attract hummingbirds, and there are many hanging basket annuals that will do so with ease.
• Cooper's Hawk:  These birds of prey have learned that people like to feed the birds, and take advantage of it.  If you have any of these small hawks in your area, it is only a matter of time before you see one divebombing your feeders for a snack.  For this reason, your songbirds will enjoy having evergreen bushes nearby for cover from such attacks.
• Other Birds:  This is only a sample of the things I have seen in our area, of course, there are many other species of birds that may come to your yard during different times of the year.  One of the reasons why it is so interesting to feed the birds-- you may see something in your yard that no one has seen in the area before, or at least in a long time.

Is there a proper time of year to feed the birds?

This is a personal choice, but you can feed the birds all year, increasing your chances of seeing rare or unusual species, or you can only offer food when the need is greatest, during the fall, winter and early spring.  Some would say that during the summer, they can find plenty of food, and the young need to learn to forage without the help of feeders, or they might become dependent on them, and suffer when you don't fill your feeders.  Birds are quite good at finding food when they need it, or moving to a new location when there is none, so it is hard to say that you allowing your feeder to run out will have any effect on the wild birds in your area.  But you are helping to encourage bird populations, which in turn helps the local ecosystem and encourages biodiversity.  I like to feed them from November until April, when the need is the greatest.  However, I'm never home in the summer, or I probably would continue to offer at least one feeder.

Squirrel Disclaimer:

If you have squirrels anywhere in your area, and you feed the birds, YOU WILL GET SQUIRRELS TERRORIZING YOUR FEEDERS.  These love 'em but hate 'em friends are crazy for sunflower seeds and peanuts, and if they can figure out how to get sunflower seeds from your feeder, they will.  It is common to see squirrel resistant, or even squirrel proofed bird feeders and squirrel proofing devices for your feeder.  This is one reason why we offer Droll Yankee's feeders, which are made to resist squirrel damage and have many designs that are squirrel proof. (mostly)  I have found that if you offer scraps, and use sunflower seeds only in feeders with squirrel protection, they are more tolerable.  Also, whole corn on the ground is an effective way to keep them busy and less likely to damage your feeders.

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A Few Helpful Tips:

• Birds can be a bit picky, turning down food that is not fresh, or has gotten wet and begun to mold.  For this reason you should take care to clean your feeders and be sure the food is fresh.

• Be careful about where you buy food and how much you buy at one time.  In other words, make sure the store is selling fresh food and don't buy fifty pounds if you don't have a lot of birds.

• Know that squirrels will come and locate your feeders accordingly.  You can grease poles, use squirrel gaurds and domes, or buy special feeders, but most importantly, don't make it easy for them.

• Be careful about putting feeders over flower beds, where the dropped seeds will grow into weeds.

• Don't be discouraged if you don't get birds as soon as you put a feeder out.  You might have to try a couple different feeding strategies to find out which birds are prevalent in your area.  They don't smell the food from a long distance, so it may take time to get regular traffic.

For more information on the bird feeders you might find in our store, check out the Droll Yankees website here.

Here are a few of the more common birds you will see in your yard in southeast Michigan.

American Robin

 

 

 

 

White-breasted Nuthatch

 

 

male

female

 

male

female

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 Downy Woodpecker

 

 

male

female

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 Common Grackle

 

 

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Blue Jay

 

Tufted Titmouse

Cardinal 

**Pictures borrowed from wikipedia** 

OTHER LINKS:

Wikipedia has more information about local birds than any other link I could find for you, so if you have a need for more detailed information on any one species, start there.  There is a full list of birds on this page, but always consider the source before assuming that all of these birds actually live or migrate through Michigan.

A good field guide is also a handy tool for any bird watcher.  The one I have is called 'Birds of Michigan, Field Guide' by Stan Tekiela and is one of the best field guides I've ever used.

Or find out the latest at www.michiganbirds.com/