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Newbie looking for tips! (1 Viewer)

Safroniabee

New member
I am new to bird watching and LOVING it! We hung feeders a couple years ago, but this is the first year I'm really diving in and it's so wonderful. I have some questions if anyone would be willing to help this newbie.

We live in a recently developed suburb. We don't have a ton of wildlife around here because everything is so new and the trees/shrubs/etc are still growing. I've been using the typical "wild bird mix" seed in my feeders, which I now realize isn't the best, so once it's gone I plan to try some new varieties and hopefully attract some new birds. Currently, house finches dominate our feeder. They're cute and fun, so I have no issue with them, but I would love to find out how to attract some other types of birds too. A pair of doves and a pair of chipping sparrows also show up daily, but the only other visitors have been fleeting.

So far, the only other visitors have been 2 goldfinches who appeared one time each and never returned, a brown headed cowbird, a couple of cardinals who visit but don't really eat much, and a red winged blackbird who makes lots of funny noises. We recently had a pair of bluebirds show up in our nestbox, which was SUCH a treat, so I put out some mealworms for them. Unfortunately, they never seemed to find them, but this morning I found a family of grackles swarming the mealworms and also the suet cage and ate it all before the day was over.

I've been reading that I need a cage feeder or the kind where they have to hang upside down to ward off the grackles. Any other tips for that?

And my primary question - Any tips for attracting some new types of birds, and for keeping the interest of the fleeting visitors? I was SO excited to see the beautiful goldfinches, but then they disappeared and haven't come back. I guess they weren't too interested in the seed I had out there.

I have planted a variety of native trees and berry bushes, and the cardinals and robins do love the raspberries. But it takes time for them to mature so it's kind of a hurry up and wait sort of process. We also have a birdbath.

Thanks for any help!
 
Welcome!

I find peanuts are very popular. You could also put out apples or grapes.
 
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