Feeding wild birds

[tcreeley]

For a long time I spoiled my wild birds. Fancy bird seed mixes & sunflower seeds. Now they just get scratch. They have adapted and eat over 2 pounds a day.
Plus a little dog food.

Anyone have an idea what my Mocking bird actually is???

In this part of the country I'd guess a catbird, migrant in your area. View attachment 304371 http://www.natureinstruct.org/dendroica/spec.php check out the songs on this link, see if they check out. I just read the rest of the posts where someone else had suggested catbird.

dark Sage thrasher (really just guessing)?

Nature Instruct Dendroica - range maps and songs and pics

 

[rekees4300]

So the next time your at the farm store, try the cracked corn in your feeder.Paddy

Thanks for the tip. I've been spending hundreds of $$ each winter on suet, sunflower, thistle, and regular bird feed. Going to try the cracked corn and see what happens.

 

[94BULLITT]

One thing I read is cracked corn may attract pigeons.

 

[Pirate]

Went and bought a big bag of cracked corn. The dang birds will not touch it. I filled two new feeders, side by side, one with sunflower, one with cracked corn. The sunflower is long gone. I guess I'll scatter the cracked corn out back and use the black sunflower in the feeders.

 

[rekees4300]

Went and bought a big bag of cracked corn. The dang birds will not touch it.

Ditto ... my birds are too spoiled to eat anything but sunflower, suet and thistle.

 

[DKCDKC]

I tried the cracked corn too, now use it to feed the wild turkey. It's been a good year for turkey here and I've got several flocks of 15 or more each. If you scatter the corn they get it and the deer don't. I also put out small piles of ground oyster shell for both deer and turkey - stronger eggshells and antlers.

 

[Paddy]

Pirate,

I figure if the birds won't eat cracked corn, they must be doing OK with out me. We have a DNR guy living near by. He said birds do fine except long periods of snow cover. We still have sun flower seeds out with the cracked corn but don't fill it near as often. They keep looking for the better feed when it runs out so we get to see them. I feel that's 75% the reason we all feed birds.

Patrick T

 

[J F]

I picked up a 50lb bag of cracked corn at TSC the other day, and the doves and jays seem to be loving it.

I saw almost 40 gold finches at the thistle and sunflower feeders (and on the ground) this a.m. The males are just starting to get a bit of color.

 

[crash325]

When the birds are doing well on natural feed, they do get pretty picky. Mine have adapted pretty well to the Scratch that I've been putting out.
Right now I have lots of sparrows & finches, 3 types of doves, morning, Inca, & turtle, several family's of quail, Cardinals, wood peckers, cactus wrens & a few unknown.

The black song bird has been back a few times. Seems to have its own call that is not very pretty sounding and 6 or 8 other pretty songs. It's pretty brave, but does not seem interested in eating.

Male doves, year around are more interested in breeding than eating. Girls not to much interested most of the time.
Quail are getting into breeding. Saw a male in hot pursuit of a female yesterday.
My hummers stuck it out through the real cold, but now not here. Guess they went south.

 

[jcliburn]

I have a sizable group of Pine Siskins at my feeders this winter. In past winters I've had a couple here and there for a day or two at a time, but nothing like this year's persistent little flock of a hundred or so birds. Kinda nice to get a different visitor.