During this snowiest of winters, I’ve been refilling the bird feeders several times a day. We usually only purchase safflower seeds because squirrels do not much care for the hard shelled seeds. Recently though I thought that with all the snow cover, our bird friends would benefit from some variety and decided to add black oil sunflower seeds to the mix. What a colossal error! This morning at the feeder a fight broke out over the sunflower seeds, with no less than five squirrels defending their new found cache. The sunflower seeds also drew two fat black rats to the feeders last night. We’re back to strictly safflower seeds!
The following are eight common birds that we see at feeders at this time of year and these eight species are content with the safflower seeds provided.
Male Cardinal
Song Sparrow
House Sparrows
Mourning Dove
Carolina Wren
White-breasted Nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Safflowers seeds are available in bulk at the Essex Bird Shop.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Kim, thank you for the lesson and bringing a bit of spirng thinking to us on these snowy days.
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I hope the post makes it easier for readers to make a quick id. Thanks for your kind comment Mary.
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I Love this! I think we had some of each of these on the bird feeders on the deck of my classroom today….with the exception of the song sparrow!
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I think we get a lot of song sparrows Nichole because our feeder is near a shrubby area, which they like to take cover under. They prefer the seed spread on the ground around the feeder, usually spread and knocked about by the much larger flocks of house sparrows that they hang with.
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Hi Kim -Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing! It just amazes me how hardy these feathery little creatures are. I was wondering how they can survive these howling winds!
I just heard a great story on NPR about a bird exhibition at the Smithsonian. Definitely worth listening to for any bird lovers out there. Or better yet, fly down to D.C. and see the show!
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Thank you Leslie for sending the audio file. Very thoughtful–now if i could only figure out how to post on GMG. In the mean time, here is a link to the show for our readers: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2014/birds/
The exhibit looks tremendous!!
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Hey Kim… Nice photos of all my favorite little feathered friends! I gave up on trying to dissuade the squirrels. I just keep refilling the feeder with black oil sunflower seeds and nut mix (4:1) every day or two and it all works out fine. They can only eat so much. Essex County Coop is the place to go (great price on 40 lb bags of black oil seeds).
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Thanks Doug and thank you for the info about the Essex County Coop!! I don’t really mind the squirrels so much, but we are so close to the water and I DO mind the rats.
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This conversation is great. Thanks, Kim. I had no idea about using different kinds of seeds to deter the squirrels. We have a tiny feeder on the back porch and it needs refilling every day. Yesterday it even drew a stray cat.
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A fill of my feeder is about 2 1/2 gallons! Cheers-
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Hmmmm, what could that cat be up to? We call our feeding station cat-tv.
Every now and then I deviate from safflower seeds–with always the same result–squirrels. They are actually fun to observe, but after some took up residence behind the walls on the third floor, we are not going our of our way to encourage them.
Doug, that sounds like a very large bird feeder?
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Yup, Made it myself. Oops, it’s empty again!
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Doug, if you can spare a moment, I would love to see a photo of your home made giant bird feeder!!
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see: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152753148189436&set=a.10150548439199436.381938.616244435&type=1
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Squirrels don’t enjoy nyjer seed either, so you might look into a finch feeder (they have tiny holes for the tiny thistle seeds) where you only fill with nyjer or thistle. It attracts the most beautiful goldfinches and juncos.
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Great pictures! They really help to identify the winter birds.
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Thank you sooo much for saying that powerparsons!!!
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You know it’s cold the cardinal feather are up…they know where to go for sure! You get the free concert and watch them each has it’s own character and traits! 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂
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Great to see others caring for the birds. It must require so much of their energy to stay warm in this weather. I can’t get to the feeders with all this snow, so I ground feed or simply throw feed out over the snow. The squirrels are welcome along with all of the birds mentioned, as well as the gorgeous crows. I’ve even had a seagull try to eat, but reject the seed. He gets dry cat food instead!
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Thanks Pal for writing–sounds like a great solution when snowbound! Interesting, we see crows out our window on the phone wires and trees, but never at the feeders.
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As you know, the crows are incredibly intelligent creatures. So fascinating to watch. They love peanuts as do the carolina wrens, tufted titmouse and bluejays. The crows are too large to sit at most feeders, but when I see them, I throw peanuts out for them to enjoy. Unsalted, of course.
One other tip for dedicated bird lovers is using water heaters during winter. They are quite inexpensive and I use one submerged in a 20″ plastic planter dish. The only thing required is an outdoor extension cord to an outdoor outlet. It keeps water from freezing and what a treat to see birds coming from everywhere to take a sip of water. The water gets refilled daily!
Thanks for your interesting blog.
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Thanks so much Pal for the suggestion for a water heater. I have been thinking about this for so long. This is surely the winter to purchase one. The K&H 9000 Ice Eliminator looks good and I like that it is thermostatically controlled, too.
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Doug, If you are still reading the comments, fyi the link to your bird feeder unfortunately did not work.
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Oh. That was to my facebook page. I don’t know how to reply with a picture here.
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You can send it to my email address if you would like at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. Thank you!
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