davidhunternyc
Member
I am a beginner birder. I live in NYC and my apartment is across the street from a park. I see birds everywhere and I have attracted some birds to my fire escape with bird feeders but... I am confused and have questions. Hopefully you'll all be able to help me.
About 6 months ago I started buying bird feeders to hang on my fire escape. I probably spent more than $1000 going through feeder after feeder, trying to find the right ones that would attract desirable birds but, at the same time, keep those pesky pigeons away.
After some trial and error I managed to get a combination of feeders that I liked and that attracted birds other than pigeons. The first birds to my feeders were the house sparrows. I know... a bore and a nuisance to some of you but in NYC beggars can't be choosers. Then I started getting blue jays and downy woodpeckers! Hooray! Then, the horror of horrors, I started getting another bird I had never seen before, the dreaded european starling. The starlings came in droves and would eat all of my bird feed in minutes and poop all over my fire escape. Yesterday, in the bitterly cold winter, I climbed out onto my fire escape to scrub it down with bleach and to clean my windows.
Then I got the idea. Screw the sparrows and the european starlings. I remember watching a YouTube video from experienced ornithologists and one guy said that, "If all you're attracting is sparrows then you deserve sparrows". Oooh, the truth hurts. So I took those words to heart and took down all of my feeders except for one, the feeder with whole peanuts that the blue jays and woodpeckers love.
So my question is for those birders in the northeastern U.S. It is the middle of winter. I want to attract other birds, such as songbirds and finches. If I got a thistle/nyjer feeder, will this attract finches in the middle of winter? Are finches migratory birds that fly south for the winter? I will gladly displace sparrows and starlings if I could attract more native birds to my fire escape. This would up my bird game considerably.
Any help would be welcome.
Thank you,
- David
About 6 months ago I started buying bird feeders to hang on my fire escape. I probably spent more than $1000 going through feeder after feeder, trying to find the right ones that would attract desirable birds but, at the same time, keep those pesky pigeons away.
After some trial and error I managed to get a combination of feeders that I liked and that attracted birds other than pigeons. The first birds to my feeders were the house sparrows. I know... a bore and a nuisance to some of you but in NYC beggars can't be choosers. Then I started getting blue jays and downy woodpeckers! Hooray! Then, the horror of horrors, I started getting another bird I had never seen before, the dreaded european starling. The starlings came in droves and would eat all of my bird feed in minutes and poop all over my fire escape. Yesterday, in the bitterly cold winter, I climbed out onto my fire escape to scrub it down with bleach and to clean my windows.
Then I got the idea. Screw the sparrows and the european starlings. I remember watching a YouTube video from experienced ornithologists and one guy said that, "If all you're attracting is sparrows then you deserve sparrows". Oooh, the truth hurts. So I took those words to heart and took down all of my feeders except for one, the feeder with whole peanuts that the blue jays and woodpeckers love.
So my question is for those birders in the northeastern U.S. It is the middle of winter. I want to attract other birds, such as songbirds and finches. If I got a thistle/nyjer feeder, will this attract finches in the middle of winter? Are finches migratory birds that fly south for the winter? I will gladly displace sparrows and starlings if I could attract more native birds to my fire escape. This would up my bird game considerably.
Any help would be welcome.
Thank you,
- David
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