Birdfeeder confusion

2 comments

Ever since I saw the cardinal on my railing, I’ve been mulling over Wohlibuli’s suggestion I get some sunflower seed and put it out for the birdies…I hadn’t wanted to do that because with a full time job and a tendency to not get home until 8 or 9 pm, I thought I’d just create more of a mess for myself and never have time to clean the feeder or refill it. I mean, I barely have time to vacuum my apartment at times! But recently I’ve decided it might be nice after all, and if the birds actually do come, it would be fun to watch them…So I started looking out for birdfeeders.

Today I went to Wabash and they have quite an array of birdfeeders – and the more I looked the more confused I got! Should it be a plastic birdfeeder? At about $10 it was the cheapest…but would it melt in the sun? After all my balcony receives full sun most of the day…and why go cheap? I mean the birdfeeder should last awhile…and with the wind the balcony receives, it might just disappear one day in a gust so where are the savings then? Should it be a flat birdfeeder which seemed designed to also feed squirrels (this one cost $44!! Ouch!) or a vertical tube birdfeeder – The one I liked was glass and metal, and at $30 dollars was a little more manageable though still expensive – yet would the metal get too hot for the birdies? Would their little feet get burned if they should happen to alight on it during the hottest part of the day? I don’t want to scald them! Or do birds only come out in the mornings and evenings? My sister had a boss once who loved the Washington National Zoo and he told her that animals were smarter than people – they only went out in the cool morning or cool evening part of the day, the rest of the day they spent in the shade. Maybe birds also follow this rule.

I also liked the nesting boxes, but somehow the holes seem to be a bit small to get a bird inside. Do birds actually use them? Are you supposed to put something in there? There are some really cute ones, but I wonder if they’re worth it. If I did get one I would get a wooden one. I figure the more natural the material, the better.

• 2 Aug, 2008
• 0 likes

More blog posts by Raquel