wooden hopper style bird feeder

[annedonnelly]

How long's it been out there? Sometimes it takes a while before they try something new.

We've had a couple of weeks of really cold weather and I'm surprised that the fat balls haven't proved to be the most popular food that I put out. In order of preference it seems to be - sunflower hearts, peanuts, fat balls & lastly seed. Of course, fresh water has been very popular too.

 

[rockyroller]

How long's it been out there? Sometimes it takes a while before they try something new.

We've had a couple of weeks of really cold weather and I'm surprised that the fat balls haven't proved to be the most popular food that I put out. In order of preference it seems to be - sunflower hearts, peanuts, fat balls & lastly seed. Of course, fresh water has been very popular too.

about 1 week

 

[annedonnelly]

I'd give it a bit longer. I've put up a window feeder and that has been ignored for weeks. Though the window wasn't even there before so they might not have even noticed it. I'm thinking of moving it to a different window near the existing feeders til they learn how to use it and then moving it back. I want to be able to watch birds from my new kitchen window.

 

[rockyroller]

I'd give it a bit longer. I've put up a window feeder and that has been ignored for weeks. Though the window wasn't even there before so they might not have even noticed it. I'm thinking of moving it to a different window near the existing feeders til they learn how to use it and then moving it back. I want to be able to watch birds from my new kitchen window.

thank you, some good news I saw a bird or 2 pecking at the suet today

re: window feeders, I like those. diff. types out there. I had a shor,t vertical, clear tube type. is yours like that or a platform type?

 

[annedonnelly]

Mine's a platform type. I want to use it to feed mealworms to the smaller birds. If I put them on the ground the pheasants and crows will get them.

 

[rockyroller]

after a little activity on the suet, then nothing. added some regular seed & switched the suet to this one

 

[Windle]

Ours seem to prefer fat balls at the moment, they don't last two minutes. Pink suet pellets are going down well too. The wheat based wild bird food gets little interest so I don't bother with it, though that's what we feed the chickens on instead of just plain wheat or chuck pellets.

 

[rockyroller]

cropped cell phone snap of a small wood pecker at the suet. need to use my real camera

 

[rockyroller]

big winter storm coming so I splurged on a new feeder. switched the suet & changed from sunflower seed w/ shells to just the hearts

discovered it's not as well constructed as the old one, when I was replacing the attachment / hanging wire w/ cord & a zip tie & moved the mount from one feeder to the other. requiring some minor drilling & screw driving. I will supplement how the whole thing is held together when it warms up

a little worried that the tray is not as wide as the old one, especially when birds started coming but when some got close they backed off. I feel like they want more room to land

should I add wooden dowels on the side for them to grab hold of?

 

[rockyroller]

those are not good pictures showing the difference of the tray. more to come, maybe tomorrow

this looks like an easy way to add a wooden dowel. I'm reading 1/2" diameter is good

or maybe I'll use metal eye hooks?

 

[rockyroller]

got the eye hooks & dowel. all that remains is the doing. & the shoveling

 

[rockyroller]

16F after a storm. that was painful but got it done. squeezed the hooks tight w/ pliers, I think that will hold them. now let's see if it helps

 

[rockyroller]

ok I feel better seeing birds using the dowels. also saw a red belly wood pecker using the suet on the far side & it kept peeking around to look for what? predators? me? also saw this little black & white wood pecker. terrible photos as I was rushing out the door, but they're using the dowels