Bird Update and Tip for Suet Feeders

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The baby robin made it through the night. I thought I might put a few more drainage holes in his nest after dinner last night and I was happy to be attacked by his parents.

Here he is this morning. Still opening his beak when I reached my phone up to snap the picture, but not peeping so much. Hopefully mom and dad just went home for the night and will be back.

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Speaking of birds needing to eat, I don’t usually fill our bird feeders from the time the leaves turn green in the spring until the leaves start to fall off of the trees in autumn. There are many reasons for this, some of them are that birds shouldn’t become dependent upon the feeders, the expense, and that it invites guests to make our yard their daily rest stops (which can last hours). These guests are mostly deer and turkey, but also chipmunks and mice. The fat greedy squirrels of every color are always around, so I don’t include them on the undesirable short list.

However, once in a while I will buy bird food and keep the feeders full for a week here and there in the spring and summer, just to see who stops by. Suet and seed were on sale at the garden center last week, so this has been a full feeder week. Our visitors have been abundant. I’m amazed at how all of the posts on the feeders can be occupied, each with a different kind of bird, two more species on the ground getting the crumbs and others in nearby tree limbs waiting for an open space.

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I’ve had pretty bad luck with suet feeders and squirrels (particularly our resident nasty red squirrel). The squirrels are always chewing the feeders apart or prying them open to scamper off with the entire cake, and three times the squirrels (or deer or someone else) have walked off with the entire feeder (or parts of it).

Finally, I found something convenient that has kept the cage shut and on my tree for almost a year. I attached the feeder loosely using a zip tie. We have a bunch so I can cut it down for easy cleaning. Then I secured the door using a cheap carabiner (I found this under my girls’ bunkbed). I can easily take the carabiner off and open it up for filling. It doesn’t prevent the squirrels from hanging on the feeder and eating for hours, but they generally don’t finish it in one sitting. The woodpeckers still have a chance to come by for snack.

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3 Comments

  1. Pingback: This is weird | Two Clever Moms

  2. Love the tip on keeping suet feeder up on tree! Squirrels usually manage to knock it down immediately!

    • Thanks! While the squirrels frequent it often, the zip tie/carabiner combination has successfully worked for a couple of years now in my yard for keeping the feeder on the tree and the door closed so they don’t get away with the whole suet cake!

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