Here within the Catican Compound, we feed half the birds in Tierrasanta with our array of birdfeeders. Our favorite is a tall tube feeder with multiple perches going up the sides. It's wonderful when the finches encrust it, nomming and cheeping.
It's a mess when the doves go at it. In the video below, watch all the seeds sprayed out of the feeder as the doves lurch and stumble their way through lunch, the little swine.
The doves waste so much of the food that we have the fill the thing at least twice a day. We've tried a feeder that has a mesh screen around it, but the little birds didn't like it because, while it kept out the doves, being inside the screen made the finches feel trapped and vulnerable.
That is really weird. We have doves here, I see them hanging out on the power lines, and hear them calling to each other in the mornings and evenings. But we never, ever, ever see them coming to our feeders. I wonder what the difference is between your doves, and ours?
ReplyDeleteWe mostly feed sunflower seeds, nyjer seed, and suet.
(and in other bird news, we just spotted our first hummingbird of the year a few minutes ago)
We have 4 feeders, plus a couple of homes on top that are roofs and a screen on the bottom. We fill those just in winter. Also some hummingbird feeders and one for putting fruit out for some bird that escapes me right now.
ReplyDeleteSeeds go everywhere. And so I think really what we are doing is feeding the squirrels and rabbits. The rabbits especially like the back yard since its fenced in an there is plenty of cover in the gardens and the low to the ground deck to use. The very mature sour cherry tree also helps.
There is a murder of crows around here, and eagles soar overhead when the breeze is coming off the lake.
But we don't have doves or pigeons. I recently read an "interesting facts" article stating that a dove is just a pigeon with better PR. Also that pigeons are actually pretty smart.