Feeding Birds - First Steps
mesh so the seeds do not fall out . Chickadees and jays love peanuts, and may other birds will be attracted by them. A great camping activity is to string some peanuts (in the shell) on heavy yarn or string, using a large needle, and hang the strings of peanuts from a tree branch. The jays will spend hours trying to get the peanuts out of the shells. Kids love to watch wild animals and this will keep your kids entertained with "live action" even if they are used to watching a lot of TV.
Another seed of choice is millet. House Sparrows are particularly attracted to millet, and I've had some success keeping the House Sparrows away from my main feeders by sprinkling millet on the ground in a different part of the yard. This might help if you, like I do, have a problem with House Sparrows crowding less aggressive birds away from your feeders.
One Oregon birder reports that one of his favorite feeders is a box-shaped feeder made out of square mesh wire which has been dipped in plastic to coat the wire. He fills the feeder with broken peanut pieces. After putting out the feeder he began to get both Red and White-Breasted Nuthatches, sometimes both at time same time. An Acorn Woodpecker was attracted, and (of course) the Jays will go to great lengths to get to the peanuts.
Another Oregon birder says her "secret" feed is chicken scratch, which is a combination of cracked corn and wheat. She reports that although it is a common farm feed, many people aren't aware of the variety of birds that like it. She has attracted Juncos, Spotted Towhees, assorted blackbirds, crows, ravens assorted jays, Golden-Crowned and White- Crowned Sparrows, as well as Robins and Flickers. Depending on your location, you can also attract Mallards and Wood Ducks -- Peggi has one pair of mallards and a Wood Duck hen and five drakes that fly in three times a day for free food. She also reports that European Starlings don't much care for either chicken scratch or sunflower seeds (the only other seed she uses for bird food) so they pretty much stay away from her feeders. Sounds like a good tip!
I like to keep a suet feeder up all year, because ever since I began serving up suet I've had at least one resident pair of downy woodpeckers. I buy "Peanut-bugger" suet from the Backyard
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