Hi, I've introduced myself in the say hello forum... I just got my very first bird feeder in my very first apartment and I'm so excited. My parents would never let us get a bird feeder growing up, so this is exciting for me.
I put it up last night, and today, slowly but surely, the birds are staring to come.
environment: I live in an apartment community outside of downtown ann arbor. The landscapers do a good job. We have crab apple trees lining the sidewalks and one about 10-15 feet in front of our balcony on the second floor. About a quarter mile away is a river. I haven't seen it so I don't know if it's swampy or clean or whatnot.
Before we put it up, we noticed one kind of bird living in the tree and in a vent on the side of the building. I'll describe it below with the other birds I'd like help identifying. At first, it was only that one bird that came and chacked out our balcony. It ate the spilled seed on the floor, but ignored the feeder. After a few hours, more started to come and actually go to the feeder. Here are my descriptions:
first bird: 3-4" mostly black with lighter belly, black top of head (maybe dark brown... sun in my eyes), white sides of head, two horizontal white stripes on shoulders- one above smaller
mostly brown with a lighter belly, 3-4". I couldn't tell if there were any markings on the back-- same size, maybe skinnier than black one------ another just came after I wrote this, and it appeared to have a rust red belly and throat.
very soft, smokey grey pair, one with rusty back and head blending smoothly with the grey, maybe a bit longer and skinnier than first 2 birds
yellow with sharp black markings, very small with longish legs
some sort of dove- a pair of them, soft grey with light shiney green marks on back of neck - these were nice-- couldn't really perch on feeder, but hung out on my railing staring at me for quite some time.
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If anyone could tell me the names of these birds, that would be great. I couldn't find the first two on any bird guide websites, but I haven't checked the others yet. I'd appreciate any tips on attracting even more in my type of environment.
I've set up a couple of small flat dishes with water in them on the floor to act as some sort of bath, but none have taken interest in them yet. I placed a drumstick on an angle in one of them for a perch, and put some seed in and around it. Any tips on that? I'd like to have a nice little area for them so I can have something to watch while I'm alone here all day (and to keep me company).
Again, I'm open to any advice. I want to have fun with this. I'm young and I have to start somewhere.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day...
Kimberly :hi:
I put it up last night, and today, slowly but surely, the birds are staring to come.
environment: I live in an apartment community outside of downtown ann arbor. The landscapers do a good job. We have crab apple trees lining the sidewalks and one about 10-15 feet in front of our balcony on the second floor. About a quarter mile away is a river. I haven't seen it so I don't know if it's swampy or clean or whatnot.
Before we put it up, we noticed one kind of bird living in the tree and in a vent on the side of the building. I'll describe it below with the other birds I'd like help identifying. At first, it was only that one bird that came and chacked out our balcony. It ate the spilled seed on the floor, but ignored the feeder. After a few hours, more started to come and actually go to the feeder. Here are my descriptions:
first bird: 3-4" mostly black with lighter belly, black top of head (maybe dark brown... sun in my eyes), white sides of head, two horizontal white stripes on shoulders- one above smaller
mostly brown with a lighter belly, 3-4". I couldn't tell if there were any markings on the back-- same size, maybe skinnier than black one------ another just came after I wrote this, and it appeared to have a rust red belly and throat.
very soft, smokey grey pair, one with rusty back and head blending smoothly with the grey, maybe a bit longer and skinnier than first 2 birds
yellow with sharp black markings, very small with longish legs
some sort of dove- a pair of them, soft grey with light shiney green marks on back of neck - these were nice-- couldn't really perch on feeder, but hung out on my railing staring at me for quite some time.
********************************
If anyone could tell me the names of these birds, that would be great. I couldn't find the first two on any bird guide websites, but I haven't checked the others yet. I'd appreciate any tips on attracting even more in my type of environment.
I've set up a couple of small flat dishes with water in them on the floor to act as some sort of bath, but none have taken interest in them yet. I placed a drumstick on an angle in one of them for a perch, and put some seed in and around it. Any tips on that? I'd like to have a nice little area for them so I can have something to watch while I'm alone here all day (and to keep me company).
Again, I'm open to any advice. I want to have fun with this. I'm young and I have to start somewhere.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day...
Kimberly :hi: