I time bird feeding for when they are the most hungry - before a storm or right after. A shopper was behind me at the local grocery store when she wondered out loud about my big sack of bird food.
I had a 10-pound bag, mostly field corn kernels, plus some peanuts in the shell and sunflower seeds. The more elite bird food selections are also more expensive. They also cost more when the squirrels are going for the lion's share. They have destroyed the "squirrel-proof" bird feeder I once used for extra seed.
When baby squirrels are weaned and told to go to the Jacksons for breakfast, lunch, and supper, they often perch on the kitchen windows, looking in with their tiny front paws shading to see better. They look forlorn, starved, and lonely. Young squirrels must be highly trained in the sport of draining me of my assets.
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| Starlings never bathe alone. They use my kiddie swimming pools to splash together. |
The adult squirrels enjoy duking it out with the birds. One trick is to jump up to the barrels behind a bird to scare them all away. Sometimes squirrels will do the same to each other.
The birds are jumpy but not scared. They pick a nearby bush and wait to fly in and peck at the squirrels' heads. The funniest episode, as you may recall, was a young blue jay screeching at a squirrel who was eating the food and paying no attention to the little bird. The blue jay even wiggled its wings for emphasis.
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| Cardinals loved eating on the feeder which was destroyed by the squirrels. |
I put out a big load of seed when the air is calm but building for rain or snow. I broom off the snow or drain the rain when the birds want to come out and enjoy relatively dry seed. The birds I see eating in the yard and on the barrels are:
- Crows
- Grackles
- Starlings, who also love a group bath
- Blue jays
- Cardinals
- Juncos
- Finches of various colors
- Sparrows
- Mourning doves
- Rock doves.
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| "Mom said you would fix breakfast." |
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