Our favorite gift for people these days is a birdfeeder, a bag of black oil sunflower seeds and a bird guide. Crazy, right? It works as a house-warming gift to new homeowners or birthday present to a young child, as a present to someone in the suburbs or living in a mid-rise apartment building.
I didn’t always care much about birds or looking at them. Maybe I was too busy rearing the family, running a business and all the rest. But life moves at a somewhat slower pace now, and I find real joy at watching a gang of noisy finches or a family of cardinals jostling at the feeder.
A Brome Squirrel Buster birdfeeder hangs from a hook on our covered deck so the birds come in close to the house, just a couple feet from the kitchen windows. I like the feeder here, as it protects the birds from hawks circling out in the open that might otherwise swoop in to pick off an easy lunch or dinner. I can sit at our kitchen island and watch the birds skittering about, fussing at one another. No binoculars needed.
Squirrels – the bane of all backyard bird watchers – cannot rob this style of feeder. A spring mechanism allows small songbirds to feed from the tube, but the weight of a squirrel or big mourning dove on the perch pulls down a shroud that closes off the seed ports. Not to worry, though: No one goes hungry. There always seems to be enough seed dropped by the lighter-weight songbirds so there’s something to eat on the deck. (Reason #2 for the feeder’s placement on the covered deck: no volunteer sunflower seedlings in the garden.)
The New York Times’ Wirecutter likes Droll Yankees birdfeeders, which are another tube-type feeder with a removeable bottom. I’ve had one and liked it – it’s easy to clean and well made – but I simply could not keep the squirrels out of it. Maybe you’ll have more luck than I.
There are at least two other general kinds of bird feeders for the casual bird hobbyist. The first is the hummingbird feeder, which you fill with sugar-water (or simple syrup). Its ports mimic deep-throated flower blossoms to accommodate the bird’s long beak. It’s important to keep the sugar-water fresh (bacteria grows rapidly in our summer heat, as you can surely imagine), and there’s no need to tint it red. Food dye is not good for people or birds. The red plastic feeder will attract hummingbirds without the addition of food color. Note that the sugar-water “nectar” can also attract ants (some feeders have a built-in ant moat), bats and bees. Who can blame them?
(Side note: You would think, given their dainty size, that hummingbirds are gentle and sweet. In fact, I’ve witnessed the opposite: fierce dive-bombing bullies chasing away other hummingbirds. With their sharp beaks they can impale rivals, and hummingbirds have been known to fight to the death.)
And, in the winter, you can also install a suet feeder. Woodpeckers and many other birds relish suet. These feeders are typically a metal cage into which you drop a block of suet, usually with seeds and dried berries blended in. The high-fat content of the suet is an energy-booster for birds, much needed during days of chill and rain. This tail-prop suet feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited is a good example of this style of feeder. Squirrels and raccoons go nuts for these suet feeders, too, so be sure yours is well-built and very well secured to a tree, fence or pole.
Finally, here are three books also worth sharing (or buying for yourself). I’m particularly fond of the bird song book, which I bought about two years ago after seeing a copy in someone’s home. Our grandson loves to listen to the various trills, tweets and calls. Open the large-format book anywhere to see a colorful illustration of a bird along with breed information. Then press the corresponding number into the small “dashboard” attached to the book to hear its song or call on the built-in audio player. I could mess around with this all day.
Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song by Les Beletsky (2018)
The Sibley Guide to Birds (2nd edition) by David Allen Sibley (2014)
Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard by Joan Strassmann (2022)
