Do you feed wild birds?

i hate birds....

We gave my corn muffin to some birds last weekend - but that was a rare event.

I have a feeding box in the garden. I give old bread and other waste.

Not often ... but sometimes I do go to a small lake that's close by and throw the ducks some bread. It's fun to watch them try and be the first one to get to the food.

We just recently got a bird feeder, and I have been seeing a million different kinds of birds. We have 2 bluebirds, several cardinals, and a thousand finches, grackles, and sparrows. We also have a hummingbird feeder, but still haven't gotten any of their attention... I know they are around because the neighbors have them. When I lived in Cincinnati, I would go to the park for lunch and give the ducks and geese my leftovers.

Also, while in Canada I was attacked by a flock of seagulls and ended up feeding them a cheeseburger and fries.

i love feeding and attracting the birds to my yard. i feed them year round.

we have a feeder in the back...and we tried, with no success, to feed hummingbirds...

I wish we had cardinals here. My favorites are the Steller's Jays. Beautiful blue coloring, and they're silly looking things with that tuft of feathers on their head. We toss out whole peanuts (in the shell) for them and enjoy watching them try to stuff as many in their beak at once as they can. I also really like the goldfinches and red-winged blackbirds.

Some pointers for attracting hummingbirds:
1) Make sure the nectar is fresh. It should be changed every week or they probably won't want it.
2) If your feeder is too close to the house they may be afraid. Try moving it farther away, then once they start coming, gradually move it closer to the house.
3) Be patient. It may just take them awhile to notice the feeder.

I don't, but my mom does.

Suebee.. I like Blue Jays also, but I haven't seen a single one since I moved from OH... They are violent little birds though... We used to have one who would sit and wait for my siamese cat to go outside, and he'd attack him.

I love the birds and can identify most of the ones that come to our backyard feeders. I can also identify them by their calls. I am a geek!

They - Did your cat get paranoid after awhile? Our cat pretty much stays out of their way, too. Hummingbirds can also be pretty aggressive. I've heard lots of stories about them dive-bombing people near their feeders. They'll also chase away other hummingbirds and try to keep it all for themselves. Kind of surprising, I think, since they're so tiny!

I once watched a hummingbird land on a small hibachi grill that still had hot coals in it...and just sit there!

mandy: Ouch! I guess hummingbirds aren't too bright??

but very very tough!

Since we moved to this house I haven't fed any wild life. While living in the previous house the birds were fed by "accident": I used to feed the squirrels, they were terribly intelligent and a lot of fun to watch. They got so used to hanging out on our porch and eat peanuts that when they didn't find any on the porch they'd dig some of the unshelled peanuts we had given them earlier and come back to the porch to eat it. And if we were vacuuming the house they'd hang out "glued" to the sliding glass door watching us as if to say "we know you're inside with that infernal noise machine -- can we have the peanuts now?". The neighbors probably didn't like us though. Oh, well, they didn't like us before I started feeding the poor squirrels anyway...

When I have the opportunity (rarely, these days, since I live on the opposite coast), I go to Kelly's Roast Beef on Revere Beach and get fries and then stand on the edge of the pavilion across the street and throw fries to the gulls. They will fly right up and take the fries from my hand or do amazing aerial acrobatics to catch them in midair. I find it stirring and engrossing and very cathartic.

Hunter... so you're the one that taught the gulls to like french fries.. I guess I have you to thank for my being attacked by a million at once :)

Suebee>> We had a hummingbird today! We feed more ants with that thing than birds though... their little abdomens look like they are going to pop when they crawl away from that feeder.

Yep I feed wild birds. I daily feed a family of magpies, a butcher bird family, and a pair of cockatoos, all from my hand. It gives one a wonderful feeling being so close to nature. I have been feeding the adult magpies for three years. The first year they had two young ones, the second year only one and this year they have two. I call the adults moma and popa. It took a while to convince them all that I could be trusted. (Some humans are like that to. But I guess its the best way to be. The world is a dangerous place for the unwary).
...........................................................michael

pcpr - I LOVE squirrels...they're so cute! I wish we had some at our house. I have to settle for the raccoons. They come to steal the cat's food after dark. (Sometimes we put some out just for them.) I love how they use their "hands" to pick up the food.

They - I'm so glad you got a hummingbird! It will no doubt return regularly now that it found you.

Miykal - Where do you live that you get such wonderfully exotic birds?

SueBee, Surfers Paradise, Australia. The two cockatoos are members of a flock of about 40. The flock first visited my garden two years ago, and it blew me away. I was so excited I stocked up with heaps of their prefered seed and started feeding the flock daily. A bad mistake. Anytime I happened to miss their feeding time they would show their annoyance by ripping chunks of wood from my patio timbers. They have very strong beaks. I persuaded the flock to stay away with the help of a water hose. However a pair, male and female, adopted my wife and I and we have been hand feeding them ever since. If we happen to miss their feeding time, they are very polite and do not do any damage.

Exotic? I think that is the first time I've ever heard cockatoos and magpies described as exotic :) Normally we just call them 'roadkill' ;) (flat magpies are very common here :) cockatoos normally come in the alive variety though it seems ;))

Cockatoos sure seem exotic to me, since I live in the comparably dreary Pacific Northwest. People around here have cockatoos as pets! Some magpies are very pretty birds, too. Do you guys see colored ones, or are they all black & white? I held a cockatoo at a zoo once, and the handler warned me not to let it near the snaps on my jacket because it could pluck them right off seeing as how they use those beaks to open coconuts and such. I suppose they could do some real damage to a patio! I hope you both appreciate the natural beauty you have in your homeland that many of us never see first hand. I try to appreciate what we have here, too!

SueBee I appreciate the beauty of all living creatures as I guess you do..........................................................michael

Some people here have cockatoos as pets too. I've never heard of coloured magpies, but I'm not a bird watcher and know very little about birds in general. Cockatoos and magpies don't fall into the 'natural beauty' category (any more than all living things do anyway) for me, they're rather plain and common for me after all. I do however particularly like things like the Wombat (it's so cute :) and *strong*) and Kagaroos. Although some cockatoos are very colourful I guess (pink, grey etc.) - when I think cockatoo I think plain white with a yellow crest.

I'm sure the situation works the other way around for plenty of animals too (for instance as far as I'm aware deer can't be found in the wild here, I could be wrong on that), although personally I think I'd rather have the native Australian animals any day :)

suebee our hummingbird feeder is gettin abused..lol..now that they've found it, they can't stay away...it's sooooooooo cool

Kangaroos are TOO COOL! My favorite thing about them is how the mother will share her saliva with the baby if it's thirsty. I think that's just so sweet!

Magbast - I'm glad you guys are enjoying the hummers. You should try wearing a red hat outside and see what happens!

no thanks...they are already fighting each other...and we get an occasional "fly-by"..i think just to back us off...lol

I think they look good, and I like the fact that they can kick the ass of anyone dumb enough to abuse them :) And if you run into one it'll screw up your car *very* badly :) They're basically one huge hopping muscle ;)

I think that's a characteristic a lot of Australian animals have which I like - they look cute, but they can also kick butt :) (Wombats are very strong, with sharp claws, Koalas have very sharp claws)

supplicant - Are the people of Australia like that, too? Or just the ones I've seen in the movies (like Crocodile Dundee) and on TV (The Crocodile Hunter)? (I'm being silly. Of course there are all types of people on a huge continent like Australia.)

I love the Crocodile Hunter and his wife(Steve and Teri?). They are a very cool couple..I love their concern with conservation and their sometimes total looks of awe when seeing a favorite creature in it's habitat doing it's thing.

Stereotypes tend to at least start off based in a little bit of fact :) The main stereotype for Australians that Australians perpetuate is the one of the beer drinking yob - an ill mannered drunk with a beer gut. There are actually plenty of examples of these sort of people if you know the right place to look (ie any Australian pub ;)).

You probably don't have the same commercials there, but we see some cute ones here. "Foster's...Australian for beer" I love those commercials!

hey suebee..have you seen the commercial for a paging company, where the guys picks his date up...and opens the door for her...and as he walks over to get in...she farts....then when he gets in...he introduces her to the couple who are in the back seat...lol

I do vaguely recall a Fosters ad doing the rounds a little while ago, but we don't see much Fosters stuff in this state anyway. VB (Victoria Bitter) is the most popular beer in the state, it's from the same brewing company as Fosters. I think Fosters might be more popular in other states, but I do get the impression it's more an export beer than anything else, which is funny since it's marketed as being so Australian :)

I remember Fosters being sold in the pubs in England.

Magbast - I haven't seen that, but it sounds pretty funny!

Supplicant - Marketing gimmicks abound! It does my heart good to know it's not just the greedy Americans who try to fool people with their advertising!

I sometimes feed wild birds, but only by accident when trying to feed squirrels.

Birds are gay!!!!!

Australia has the most number of poisonous snakes and spiders... I'd like to go there some day.

And not just the largest quantity - the most deadly too. If I recall correctly (which I might not, I often don't ;)) the Brown and Black snakes are native to Australia, and are two of the most poisonous snakes in the world.

I never feed them seed. I occasionally throw out stale bread, chips, etc.