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(Part 3 "HOUSE" FEEDER) BACK-STORY of TLLG's Rain or Shine Feeders
by
TheLastLeafGardener
(IC: blogger)
Welcome to Part 3 of my series of follow-ups to the Rain or Shine bird-feeders "story," which I posted here on HT on June 28th 2013. I don't give up on things easily, and finding the right bird feeder to meet the needs of the array of birds which visit my garden has been no exception. In parts one and two of this series, I covered two hanging bird-feeders, the Droll tube and the dome. Both of the aforementioned feeders are marketed as hanging feeders; however, I got more "customers" at the each of these feeders when I placed them atop a given surface in my garden. It seems that the wild birds which visit my garden are not ones who like to perch while they are eating. I can totally relate to that, as I am not coordinated enough to walk and chew gum at the same time!
However, perhaps the reason behind my visiting birds not multitasking (perching and eating) has nothing to do with coordination; rather, it may have to do with their vulnerability.
In other words, it seems that it is difficult for my birds to make a fast exit if they sense danger, or see a predator when they are balanced on a given feeder's perch-stand or feeder-ledge while eating, as opposed to noshing from a feeder on a solid surface, but I had not come to this conclusion when I tried my next few feeders!
For after I tried the dome, I procured a feeder which I named The FAUNA HOUSE or FH, in honor of the folks who work at FAUNA, a NYC shop that sells exotic birds. The FH can be seen in the first image with a tufted titmouse (who was kind enough to pose) standing alongside of it. At the time, the only place I had to hang the FH was from a bracket which is adhered to a wall close to the door leading from my apartment to my garden, and that location is a bit too close for my visiting birds' comfort level, as you might surmise from photo-two in the series of images accompanying this post.
But once I set the feeder atop various surfaces in my garden, it was visited by an array of birds including house finches, mourning doves, a lone chickadee, and a few titmouses, as seen in images three through ten. Even though I had "feathered- customers" at this feeder I could not resist giving it to my second cousin, Sandy, who has had her leg amputated but still derives joy from watching the birds.
This brings me to the conclusion of part three with more to come on my feeder saga!
However, perhaps the reason behind my visiting birds not multitasking (perching and eating) has nothing to do with coordination; rather, it may have to do with their vulnerability.
In other words, it seems that it is difficult for my birds to make a fast exit if they sense danger, or see a predator when they are balanced on a given feeder's perch-stand or feeder-ledge while eating, as opposed to noshing from a feeder on a solid surface, but I had not come to this conclusion when I tried my next few feeders!
For after I tried the dome, I procured a feeder which I named The FAUNA HOUSE or FH, in honor of the folks who work at FAUNA, a NYC shop that sells exotic birds. The FH can be seen in the first image with a tufted titmouse (who was kind enough to pose) standing alongside of it. At the time, the only place I had to hang the FH was from a bracket which is adhered to a wall close to the door leading from my apartment to my garden, and that location is a bit too close for my visiting birds' comfort level, as you might surmise from photo-two in the series of images accompanying this post.
But once I set the feeder atop various surfaces in my garden, it was visited by an array of birds including house finches, mourning doves, a lone chickadee, and a few titmouses, as seen in images three through ten. Even though I had "feathered- customers" at this feeder I could not resist giving it to my second cousin, Sandy, who has had her leg amputated but still derives joy from watching the birds.
This brings me to the conclusion of part three with more to come on my feeder saga!
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Published July 6th, 2013 12:29 PM
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Linda Weeks on Feb 22, 2014good points. I also feel that everybody likes sunflower seed better than the millet. Except for throwing millet on the ground, I use sunflower as the seed of choice, so everybody's happy!
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