Among the infinite delights in a garden are birds taking advantage of your efforts. The more active a role you take in providing for birds’ needs, the more pleasure you derive. Every year, we put feeders out in November and de-activate them in April, when nature resumes providing plenty to sustain birds. In past years, feeders which dispensed seeds from the bottom needed frequent replenishing because house sparrows could access them. I don’t have a problem with feeding them, except they’re bullies – the chickadees and nuthatches defer to sparrows and finches get fidgety. By the time the sparrows are finished, there’s little left for other small birds. So, I decided to cut back the sparrow service. Internet tips pointed to a magic halo – a ring with weighted lines suspended above the feeder – and avoiding cheap mixes with cracked corn and millet. I tried Wal-Mart and Peavey Mart but could find no magic halo. Instead, I bought a couple of tube feeders with perches apparently too small for sparrows. Still, I sensed I was missing a solution. On a trip west, I stopped at CVC Farms near Brocket to talk to the “bird lady,” as a friend refers to Cindy, the owner of a store devoted to birds. She shies away from accepting she’s an expert, describing herself as a “backyard birder.” She has learned “from just watching” and from talking to people who drop in to see how she’s diversified her farm. She pointed to a feeder with an adjustable, plastic dome outside the window being used by a chickadee. “Sparrows see the dome as a trap and stay away from it,” she said. Got one. Then, she described how one nyger (thistle) feeder keeps the sparrows away because they can’t cling to the small-gauge wire mesh. Got one. When I brought them home with a fresh box of nyger, they went up in the side yard beside the dining room window. It works well for birds to access the feeders and gives us a perfect spot to watch. Hanging from tree limbs are six feeders, including a suet cage preferred by downy woodpeckers, red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches and the occasional common flicker. The nyger feeders draw pine siskins while their larger cousin house finches head for the sunflower seed tube and domed feeder. It got particularly busy one day last week when a flicker, white-breasted nuthatch, five pine siskins, 10 house finches and a chickadee decided together it was lunchtime. (No partridge, no pear tree.) I watched, fascinated, for a bit, then snuck out the back door with my camera. Sitting on a rock beside the backyard pond eying the koi was an American Kestrel – a small hawk that feeds on sparrows and other little birds which also frequent the pond. By the time I reached the side yard, all the small birds were gone. But, they return several times daily and I expect they’ll continue – the Kestrel’s presence that close was unusual. So far, sparrows pay only the occasional visit, usually picking up seeds from the ground. Good luck to the bird counters Sunday. |
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