Hello everyone. I am from Queens NY ans have recently hung a bird feeder to accompany by birth bath that has been on my lawn for ages. After losing my dog the love of my life after 16 wonderful years I found myself watching the birds and feeling a need to take care of them. I bought a great feeder that they adore and visit from dawn to dusk however I am finding a ton of food on the ground mostly sunflower seed maybe bc a cat stray neighborhood cat is shaking to the ground but it must be at night bc I don’t see it. I have cardinals blue jays mourning doves and lots and lost of house sparrows that visit this feeder all day. Can those that have become experts she’d some light and advice on how to control this bc as we all know feed isn’t cheap. So if there is another feed I should buy please advise. At the moment I am buying Kaytee birders blend. I just put an online order in for a feed catch tray hoping that will help so the verdict is still in on that until I receive it. I also bought a squirrel baffler but I would think that if they were shaking it down all that food on the floor would be eaten and I don’t mind feeding them too they gotta eat too. But like I said I’m an amateur so I’m looking to the experts bc my expertise is in the canine and feline arena. Thanks to all ans happy to join!
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New bird lover needing advice on feeders (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Shelly928
- Start date
Hi there Shelly and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t: and from a former New Yorker 
You will always have this problem with Sunflower Seeds. You can try using Sunflower Hearts as they are the insides of the Sunflower Seed but they are not cheap. Catch tray may help and believe me you will start feeling differently about the squirrels after they have destroyed your feeders. I finally bought Squirrel Buster feeders which shut down the open ports whenever something heavy gets on them like squirrels and raccoons. No problem for the birds though. Hope you enjoy your time here with us and never be afraid to ask a question .
You will always have this problem with Sunflower Seeds. You can try using Sunflower Hearts as they are the insides of the Sunflower Seed but they are not cheap. Catch tray may help and believe me you will start feeling differently about the squirrels after they have destroyed your feeders. I finally bought Squirrel Buster feeders which shut down the open ports whenever something heavy gets on them like squirrels and raccoons. No problem for the birds though. Hope you enjoy your time here with us and never be afraid to ask a question .
Hi Shelly and a warm welcome from me too.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.
Hi Shelly and welcome to Birdforum.
Rich
Rich
Hello Shelly and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.
Thank you all for the warm welcome and advice!
Thanks again for all the warm welcomes and advice to the amateur :-O I will for sure switch to the waste free feed bc it’s bothering me so much to see all that food laying on the ground even though I’ve read the mourning doves like to eat on the ground however I do see them on the feeder lately. Another question is it possible the house sparrows are spitting the sunflower seeds on the floor weeding through what they don’t like? Also I purchased the catcher tray but I don’t think it will work bc my feeder is a 2 level round panoramic feeder but the pole it’s hanging on is sitting along side the feeder and the catchers ive seen need to be attached onto the bottom of the pole . I’ve attached photos to see what I’m talking about. Maybe I will just try the seedless sunflower seeds and see if that works first before I make anymore purchases
Thanks again for all the warm welcomes and advice to the amateur :-O I will for sure switch to the waste free feed bc it’s bothering me so much to see all that food laying on the ground even though I’ve read the mourning doves like to eat on the ground however I do see them on the feeder lately. Another question is it possible the house sparrows are spitting the sunflower seeds on the floor weeding through what they don’t like? Also I purchased the catcher tray but I don’t think it will work bc my feeder is a 2 level round panoramic feeder but the pole it’s hanging on is sitting along side the feeder and the catchers ive seen need to be attached onto the bottom of the pole . I’ve attached photos to see what I’m talking about. Maybe I will just try the seedless sunflower seeds and see if that works first before I make anymore purchases
