Backyard Bird Feeders

Backyard bird feeders are the best way to attract birds. In order to choose a bird feeder, you will need the following:

• Identify the location where you want to place the feeder
• Know the type of birds you want to attract
• Bird seed

1. Choose the best location for your feeder. If you are an avid bird watcher, place it on the deck or by a window. You can provide a place for birds to hide in the event they get startled by positioning the feeder near bushes.

2. Choose a feeder that is easy to fill and easy to clean.

3. To attract a wide variety of birds like blue jays and woodpeckers, select a hopper feeder with a slanted roof. Mount in on a pole or hang it from a tree.

4. To attract smaller birds like finches and chickadees, choose a tube feeder. Hang it from a tree branch, pole or a hook mounted into a roof overhang.

5. Ground or platform feeders are best for groundfeeding birds such as doves.  This type of feeder can hold different kinds of food including fruit. You can attract even more birds by hanging a suet cake made of beef fat or raw mutton near the feeder.

6. Fill your feeder. Sunflower seeds are attractive to the widest variety of birds. Use shelled sunflower halves if you don’t like cleaning up seed shells. Squirrels unfortunately also like bird seed, and it is difficult to discourage them. Get a squirrel-proof feeder or put extra bird seed on the ground to distract them.

7. Now that your feeder is set up, get out your binoculars and watch the action!

Scarlet Tanagers Wow Bird Watchers in Georgia
Now arriving in Georgia from winter grounds as far south as Peru is the scarlet tanager, whose gleaming red breeding plumage (in the male) is one of the brightest in the bird world. The stunning bird is a common summer nester in Georgia’s upper Piedmont and mountains up to 4,400 feet in elevation. [read full article at the Atlantic Journal-Constitution]

Send Bird-Watching Data Straight to Scientists With Your Smartphone

A new smartphone app allows bird watchers to share sightings with scientists straight from the field. BirdLog, developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a companion tool for eBird, the world’s largest online database of bird observations. [read full article at Wired.com]

Early bird watching at Point Pelee
Check out Point Pelee National Park later this month for the start of one of the most spectacular songbird migrations in North America. Millions of birds flying north to summer nesting grounds cross Lake Erie, and the green spit of Point Pelee is the first land they see after 40 miles of open water. The promise of food lures huge numbers of them to stop and refuel. [read full article at the Detroit Free Press]

Painted bunting target for bird watchers in Mid-South
The male painted bunting is undoubtedly the most-colorful small bird of the Mid-South. While the female and first-year males are uniform greenish-yellow, the adult male is positively tropical in his vividly variegated plumage. [read full article at the Memphis Commercial Appeal]

Auburn in Washington State opens new bird-watching park
The Auburn Environmental Park is the newest park in King County and is designed specifically for bird watching and features a viewing tower and boardwalk. About three dozen different bird species can be seen here, especially early in the morning. [read full article at The Seattle Times]