Feeding Wild Birds the Easy Way

I have a woodpecker on my deck right now, although he declines to have his picture taken. How did I get a wary, red-headed customer?

It started with the tufted titmouse and worked its way up. You see, the cat that hangs around my yard likes to eat burger style dog food as a treat when it's cold out, and the cat had had his fill of it. The little titmouse looked in through the patio door, stole a piece of the leftover burger food, and flew away. He did this all day yesterday, much to my amusement.

He was back again today, although there was no food out there, so when I got a moment I placed a handful of it upon the mat right outside the window. A woodpecker happened to see, and with a "chuck, chuck, chuck" call he scolded me away from the food. I retreated inside to see what he would do, and he has been taking it away, piece by piece, so close to the window that his feathers touch the glass.

We have a steady line of goldfinches and other small birds that regularly flock to the black thistle seed feeders. Thistle seed is highly nutritious and helps many small species stay on their toes. It keeps their plumage nice and bright.

The coach pole feeder has regular birdseed in it, but there was a striped, four legged problem: raccoons. They terrorized the feeder constantly, climbing up it and removing its lid with their dexterous fingers. Solution? None, really. A bungee cord has currently outwitted them, and the rather large alley cat that stays with me actually chased them up a tree one night with a tremendous sing-song growl! I amended some discrepancies between my fence and the uneven ground, and this seems to have discouraged the coons and opossums for the time being. You are always going to have to contend with unwanted wildlife visitors when you attempt to feed the birds, but seeing the happy, bustling, active, feathered marshalls of natural insect control flocking in droves to your yard is going to be worth the extra effort.

I used to have more trouble with mischievous squirrels that chewed holes in the feeder's lid, but the large alley cat seems to have put a stop to that particular problem, and I'd highly recommend that you find one yourself. Check your local animal shelter, and make sure that they know you intend the animal to live outside, as it's okay with some shelters and not okay with others. Choose one that has not been declawed so he can climb trees and catch mice! (Mice also raid bird feeders, by the way.) Provide a doghouse or some other adequate shelter so the cat can get out of the weather when he wants to (who ever heard of a cat doing something he doesn't want to do?), and happy birdwatching!

P.S. Most birds are too fast for most cats, but if an accident does happen, try to think of it as survival of the fittest, i.e. only the fastest, healthiest, smartest birds will survive. I've lost very few birds, and the yard is full of the saucy, pesky, bold little creatures that even dive bomb and tease the cat on occasion. He protects their feeders, so I think the trade off is equal.