Bird Feeders

Gloria Diaz asked:


All bird houses sold on the market are not suitable to birds. These bird houses will not attract any birds and re detrimental to the bird’s health. Please make sure you read the following tips and use them when you buy that bird house:

1. Dimensions: Different birds need different sizes of bird houses. Depending on the birds you want to keep check the area inside, the size of the entrance hole and the ground clearance of the hole. These are very important to attract suitable birds.

2. Ventilation and Sanitation: Make sure the bird house is well ventilated so that it does not heat up too much in summers. Also heck the sanitation and drainage holes to make sure that the baby birds do not drown.

3. Access: The insides of the bird house should be easily accessible so that you can inspect and monitor the nests. One side of the bird house should be hinged and easy to open.

4. Construction: The bid house should be properly constructed with non-toxic material. It should also be properly insulated with unpainted wooden board to keep out the cold and heat. If painted, the paint should be non-toxic.

5. Other Precautions: The entrance hole should be shaded by a roof extension to keep out the rain. No perches should be kept outside the entrance hole as it will encourage predators.

Bird Feeder tips

Before embarking upon a mission to buy a bird feeder, it is important that you assimilate knowledge on what kind of foods the bird you want to attract eats and the plants that attract it. Accumulation of some knowledge about the species of birds that frequent area would also help immensely. Placing the attractive plants in the garden along with the bird feeder will increase your chances of attracting the bird. Be ready to accept that the birds frequenting may not eat from your feeder but may feed on the insects and fruits of the plants you have placed for some time.

The most important factor of using a bird feeder is that the feeder should be placed in the same position for a long period of time and it should be regularly filled with food like clock work. Birds are creatures of habit and when they find food in your bird feeder, they will return regularly to it. If they do not find food there, they will move on to greener pastures.

Bird Feeders are of various kinds. The most common is the “Hopper” feeder. This feeder is built with a platform along with walls and a roof so that the food is protected form rain and wind. Always make sure the bird seed never gets wet, since it would drive the birds away.

The “tube” feeder is a transparent tube of plastic or glass designed to feed many birds at the same time. The “platform” feeder is a tray on which the bird seed can be placed. These feeders are incapable of protection from predators, squirrels and the natural elements. Some squirrel proof feeders are also available.

Make sure the bird housing and bird feeders are always cleaned regularly.



Kristen

Mayoor Patel asked:


Sometimes the best thing about having bird feeders in your garden is sharing those moments of bird watching with your children. It is a wonderful opportunity to teach them about the wildlife that flies past your window as well as a nice time to spend sharing something beautiful with your kids. If this is something you want to do perhaps you also would like to make some of the bird feeders with them. Depending on the age of your kids this can be another sharing and learning opportunity. One of the feeders you could make is the finch bird feeders. They are a little more complicated than making the simpler platform feeders which are very simple, but not so hard that you could not construct one.

Since finches are such tiny birds what is used as a finch bird feeder is often a tube bird feeder. The first thing to do is to find all the materials that will be needed. Start with a narrow plastic tube. This can be something that was used as a medicine bottle, spice jar or soda pop bottle. Then you will need something to use as perches. The best thing to use for this will be doweling. Doweling are round pieces of wood. You will want them to be no wider than a quarter of an inch. This allows the birds to grab onto them easier. How long they are is completely dependent on the width of the tube you are using. On average each piece of dowel should be around six inches long. This measurement allows the perches to be a few inches long for the birds to sit on. It the tube you use is very wide you will need longer pieces of doweling. You will also need a small hook which has a screw at one end, a hot glue gun or strong glue, paint, using non toxic is a must and a drill with a few bits so there are ones that are big enough for the multiple purposes you will need them for.

Take the drill and make holes for the dowel to go into. Leave them longer on one side so the bird has a place to sit on the perch then glue them in place. Depending on how big the tube is you can make at least six perches by alternating them on all the sides. Use the screw hook to attach the top of the feeder to your tree. If you want to make it more attractive for your garden you can paint it. This is the simplest way to build finch bird feeders. You can do this with your children, having each of them build one to put outside their bedroom windows, so that they too can they watching the birds feed.



Joanne