Bird Feeders

[Honda]

I put out a suet bird feeder about 8 days ago. I have yet to draw a bird. I have no idea why they are not coming to the feeder. It is attached to a hook which is attached to a fence. It is in a safe area under a tree where the birds would have plenty of cover. Any ideas what I am doing wrong. For the record there are plenty of birds around I hear them all the time.

[wacojoe]

I never had many or any takers when I put up suet either.
It’s great in my chili though.

[Honda]

The only reason I did the suet is that I was at a friends house close by and they were tearing it up. I guess I will put a regular seed one out to see if I can get them going. From what I read suet is good for them in the winter.

[Mike]

I only get a few birds at my suet feeders. Woodpeckers, sapsuckers and flickers like it, as well as nuthatches. The purveyors of suet will tell you a lot of other birds like it, but my experience is only those previously mentioned come to mine.

For more birds, put out a variety of feeders with different foods. I have some with thistle seed only, some with a seed mix and some with black oily sunflower seed only. Different birds prefer different feeders.

[Honda]

Thanks for the info. I heard the black oily sunflower seeds were great for most birds. They did not have any at Walmart. I am going to get a new feeder tomorrow and give them a selection. Anybody got any tips on what kind of feeder. I was leaning toward the tube type with three feeds holes.

[Mike]

I have squirrel problems so I use the Brom Squirrel Buster mostly. I also use the 3 tube type on poles with squirrel baffles.

[Honda]

Wow that is a nice feeder. There are squirrels around so I am probably have to deal with them. This is the first time I have put out feeders. We lost our last cat and we are not getting another one so I want to have the birds around.

[wacojoe]

I get my bird seed (wild seed & black oil sunflower seed I mix 1/1) at Tractor Supply, and I got the feeders in the photo below at Wild Birds Unlimited. I add some dried mealy worms to the seed and it drives them crazy!



Works well and defeats my squirrels, which I feed separately. I even had a Painted Bunting last summer. Spectacular.

[Independent Voter]

i just use a 2 ft square platform on top of a 10 ft pvc pole.

[Dave Grubb]

I have squirrel problems so I use the Brom Squirrel Buster mostly. I also use the 3 tube type on poles with squirrel baffles.

On their site they say:

You'll never need to throw away our feeders!

A piece breaks, you lose a part, or a squirrel damages something on your feeder? Nothing to worry about. All our products come with a Brome Lifetime Care. Just give us a call, and we’ll send you a replacement part.

Do you think that would include bear attacks?

[Truckman]

Do you think that would include bear attacks?

Maybe you can convince them that squirrels grow to 500 pounds in Pennsylvania, and look remarkably like bears......Ben

[Dave Grubb]

Maybe you can convince them that squirrels grow to 500 pounds in Pennsylvania, and look remarkably like bears......Ben

Ya, they just have short tails

[Mike]

I don't know about bear attacks, but I do know that they honor the warranty.

I forget how it happened, but I broke a part on one of mine. It was my fault and not something I felt should be replaced under warranty. I could not find a way to order the part, so I called the company to buy it. They don't sell parts. They just replace them. Free. Amazing!

[Dave Grubb]

That is an excellent recommendation

[Honda]

Well I went to Tractor Supply today and bought one of those squirrel proof tube feeders. I also got a mixed blend of seeds which seems to be for a wide variety of wild birds. So now I sit and wait. If I start getting birds then I can fine tune my feeding. thanks for the help and insight offered here.