birding

I bought myself a window bird feeder and I am not really sure why, after all, I have a slew of feeders in my backyard already so another one was not what I needed. I’ve also never been into window feeders because of bird window strikes. Now thank goodness I have not had this happen except on very rare occasions and the birds have always survived, but I didn’t want to invite trouble by attracting them towards the glass. Then I read that if you have window strike problems a window feeder can help since it gives dimension to the otherwise smooth reflection in the glass. Okay so this maybe was my rationalization. It was a whim. So, thinking that I was really smart, I purchased a two-in-one style feeder. I bought the one pictured below. (you can buy them at : Window Bird Feeders) It’s pretty nifty because the top comes off and in the winter you can put bird seeds in it, then in the summer use it for a hummingbird feeder. I put it out and used peanuts in it. This gave me the chance to feed peanuts to the smaller birds without having them at my main bird feeding stations, therefore the larger caching birds don’t wipe out the peanut supply rapidly. So far it has nuthatches (white breasted, brown headed) and titmice in it all day long. Oddly my Carolina chickadees don’t visit it. Go figure!

I was quite surprised with how much I enjoyed having a window feeder from day one. I love it! But I wasn’t thrilled with the black metal holder - this is entirely a personal preference. There is not a darn thing wrong with it. But being me, I bought a different one. See below, Now this model I like better. The little tray sits inside the holder and lifts out without having to take the feeder off the glass, it is a nice thick plastic and I put the removeable tray part in the dishwasher. Same as the black metal bracket model but still, I prefer the one below. There are no drain holes in the tray of course as it is supposed to be used as a hummingbird feeder and hold nectar but I haven’t found this to be a problem. It sits under eaves and the rain does not come from that direction so all is well. Of course we are in drought so rain is a memory which help keeps it dry.

 
 What I have had a problem with is the dang suction cups sticking to the glass. I think it’s my glass though, no fault of the feeder at all. I have weird windows and I’m not even completely convinced that they are glass. Anyhow, after it fell down several times on me, I bought a second suction cup, drilled a second hole in the back of the feeder and had two suction cups holding it up. It fell down. By this time I was loving the feeder right at my window, and the birds were having fits when it fell down, attempting to hover where their feeder should be. I was determined to keep it up, after all, the squirrels could not get it, I could feed peanuts and the birds were fussing at me. I ended up using a small piece of double adhesive velcro on the back of the feeder. I didn’t want to do this thinking that this would be tacky, but the strip of velcro is small as the feeder itself is very light and it does not show. It hasn’t fallen down since. My titmice have stopped screaming at me to get their dang peanuts back every time I walk outside.

 There are several styles of window bird feeders on the market but I do recommended when you by one, make sure that it lifts off easily without removing the suction cups. I haven’t found a need for a larger capacity than the one above, it is located right outside my door and a quick fill, but perhaps you would like to fill less often. I love the two-in-one models and recommend them! They also have similar in oriole instead of hummingbird feeders.