Here’s a few questions that I’ve answered on individual basis, the answers were short so I saved them up to make a full column.
Q. Will a plastic owl keep pigeons away from my bird feeder?
A. No, if you don’t believe me go to Cafe Cognito on Main Street, order a coffee and get a window table. Before your coffee cools you’ll likely see a line of Pigeons cuddled up on the leeward side of the motion-activated, solar powered, Robo-Owls that line the ledges of the building across the street.
Q. Do finch eat millet?
A. No.
Q. If finch don’t eat millet how come both red and white millet are in my finch mix?
A. Because they are a cheap filler. The finch will drop them on the ground to get at the nyjer seed that they do like. If you don’t believe me, try filling your feeder with just millet and watch the finch flock off to your neighbours. You can buy straight nyjer for almost the same price and you’ll get more finch, have less mess and no Pigeon problems under the feeder. If you don’t mind the mix because the Sparrows and Mourning Doves eat under the feeders, remember that millet alone cost about 75% less than that “Finch Mix”, and you can feed it where the won’t get pooped on from above.
Q. How can I stop the ants from going into my Hummingbird feeders?
A. Make or buy ant moats that create a barrier of water between the hanger and the feeder, as long as there’s some water in the moat, ants won’t get to the feeder. When you eventually replace your feeders, buy the ones with the ant moats built right in.
Q. I was told I could put (choose one) liquid soap, vegetable oil, kerosene, in my ant moat to keep the water from evaporating so fast, do you recommend this?
A. No. You don’t need it, as long as the water is in the moat most of the time, the ants won’t find it. The problem with additives, if it rains a lot, the moat overflows and drips on the feeder. At best the additives make a mess, at worse they cause harm to the birds.
Q. What’s the best tide to see the Sandpiper and Plover on the Bay of Fundy? I always get conflicting information.
A. Three hours before and three hours after high tide. On low tide the birds are all over the bay eating the mud shrimp. The ones you do see will be too far away and the heat shimmers coming off the mud will make viewing impossible. On high tide they congregate at various roosts to await the next low tide.
Q. I hear reports of flocks of 5000, 10,000 and even more Sandpiper on the Bay, how can you possibly count that many birds?
A. You count all the legs and divide by 2. (Thanks Mary, for that tip)
Q. Do you recommend zoom binoculars?
A. No, they are never as good as fixed power binoculars. The field of view is so narrow, even on low power it’s hard to locate birds and impossible to track them in flight. After some time the two sides start “zooming” at different rates, so objects look closer in one eye than they do in the other. I don’t know if it’s possible to make a good pair of zooms, but all the ones available now are very low end, but the price tags don’t necessarily reflect that. I’m proud to say, I’ve never sold a pair. I lost a few sales, but a couple years down the road they were back for a good pair.
Q. I have some bird houses with 1 ½ holes, I’m trying to attract Chickadees but my neighbour says that is too big. Should I replace them?
A. I wouldn’t, although a Chickadee will use a smaller hole, I make all my houses with 1 ½ inch hole so if an Eastern Bluebird happens along he or she will be able to fit in. As long as you don’t go over 1 ½ you won’t get Starlings, that’s the most important. I’ve had Chickadee nests (in 1 12 inch holes) almost every year and many others I speak to have as well.
Q. I had a different bird in my yard today, I ran for the camera but when I got back it was gone. I didn’t get a very good look. What should I do if it returns?
A. If the bird returns, sit quietly and watch, preferably with binoculars and try to note as much information as possible: Note size, in comparison to other birds, if it’s alone you probably still have a handle on how big a Chickadee, Starling or Blue Jay look on the same feeder or at the same distance. Note colour along with any markings, eye rings, eye lines, breast colour/markings, wing bars and/or tail markings. The beak shape tells you a lot, is it fine like an insect eater, longish like a woodpecker or heavy like a seed eater? Maybe most important, who is it hanging out with and what are they eating?
After you note all you can, go ahead and get a picture, but I think you miss out if you go for the camera first and loose track of the bird.
Q. I paid a lot of money for a squirrel proof feeder, but the squirrel just goes right through the wire, he seems to prefer this feeder to all the others. What am I doing wrong?
A. I guess the big mistake was not reading the fine print. The caged feeders (and some of the weight-activated squirrel proof feeders) only work on Gray Squirrels, it probably says so on the packing, somewhere, but you may need the aid of a small microscope to read it. You’re right too, I find the red squirrels feel quite safe and at home inside these cages. If you were mislead when you purchased the feeder you should return it to the store. If you were to squirrel proof it (no kidding), they do make good small bird selective feeders.
Q. My Hummingbirds fight over the feeder constantly, so I bought a bigger feeder with more ports so they could all have a place to eat. They still fight, what should I do?
A. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are extremely territorial, they usually won’t tolerate another bird on the feeder at the same time no matter how many ports in your feeder. Instead of one big feeder, try several small ones. Spread them out so they aren’t all able to be seen and guarded by one dominant bird. I put one on all sides of the house, then if the bossy one goes behind the house, others are able to feed at the front. You won’t want big feeders for this, you’ll end up dumping too much nectar.
written by Dwayne Biggar at The Bird Garden
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