Data Entry Contest: What’s Your Feeder Setup like?
For the seventh season in a row, Project FeederWatch and our sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited are rewarding registered FeederWatchers with the chance to win prizes. This year, Celestron is joining the fun and offering one pair of binoculars to each data entry contest winner as well. After entering bird counts (data) into the FeederWatch website, participants have the opportunity to share a story, memory, or tip by clicking the “Enter to Win” button on the Count Summary page. We randomly select two winners per prompt. Our fourth Data Entry contest prompt this season was:
What’s your feeder setup like? What types of foods or feeders work best to draw a crowd at your bird feeding station? If you don’t use a feeder, are birds attracted by any other features in your yard?
Congratulations to our winners, Ann-Marie Kocher and Marianne Farallo!
Ann-Marie shared:
I use a large tree stump as the base of my feeder setup. I have one [Wild Birds Unlimited] EcoClean Seed Tube Feeder filled with a seed variety, one EcoClean Finch Feeder filled with Nyjer seed, and one suet cage. I also spread sunflower and safflower seeds on the stump every morning. This set up draws a wide variety of birds to my feeding station. Large elderberry shrubs provide cover, and the creek behind the stump is a well-visited source of fresh water.
Installing water features can provide birds a place to bathe or drink. In most cases, a birdbath or water sprayer can provide an adequate water source. However, the more natural the water feature, the more quickly birds will discover it. Consider adding a pump to create movement in your water feature. You could even create a bubbling rock water feature or small waterfall, if your yard allows. Birds prefer shallow, ground-level water features, especially with places to perch, such as stones or branches arranged in the water to stand on. Place a birdbath or water feature near shrubs, trees, or a brush pile to provide birds with added protection from predators. Read more about how you can improve your backyard habitat for birds in the Landscaping Tips section of our new Gardening for Birds page.
Marianne shared:
I currently have four tube feeders and two suet feeders in my yard. There are bushes and trees where birds can wait their turn for the feeders. I usually offer a finch mix, which includes Niger seed, and a wild bird mix that includes black oil sunflower seeds and fruit. The suet attracts a variety of woodpeckers throughout the year. I recently tried using a peanut feeder, but it did not take long for the squirrels to find them. I am enjoying participating in Project FeederWatch. It has helped me realize how many species of birds have been enjoying my yard, too.
Wondering what kind of food or feeder types the birds in your neighborhood will like best? Check out our Common Feeder Birds Interactive Tool. This tool features our list of almost 100 common feeder birds across the U.S. and Canada, but you can sort by region. Explore your region to see what you might be able to attract to your feeders this winter!
Thanks to everyone who participated and shared their stories – we wish we could share all of your submissions! Look for the prompts after you submit your next count and stay tuned for when we announce the next data entry contest winners on April 11th, 2023. Email feederwatch@cornell.edu with questions, and read the stories from past winners on our blog.
Interested in becoming a FeederWatcher? Join the fun now!
7 comments on “Data Entry Contest: What’s Your Feeder Setup like?”
I have a suet feeder, a tube feeder, a tray, a standard feeder, a large cylinder “bugs/nuts,” and a water feature. We get a wide variety of birds to include woodpeckers and squirrels. We get No Mess blends and Bark Butter Bits that I mix together in a large bin. I use White Millet in the tube feeder that works well for the little guys. I use “Birds of North America” book to identify our winged visitors. My grandsons call the book, “Grandpa’s Bird Encyclopedia.” 😬😉
On my 4×4 post: eco mini hopper with black oil sunflower seeds, a mesh peanut feeder, feather lite tray feeder for whole peanuts and suet nuggets, a suet cage, and an Erva starling proof feeder with a bug and nut cylinder in it (all of my littles up to downy woodpeckers will go in it!). On an additional shepherds hook I have a safflower cylinder and a small mesh thistle feeder. And out front I keep a Kettle Moraine bluebird feeder for the mealworms! I still get starlings on a few things but most of my tactics slow them down enough that I’m not inundated. There is something there for just about everybody that visits! Really enjoying my nuthatches and red bellied and downy woodpeckers this season.
I have 3 suet feeders that are visited frequently by most songbirds and of course, woodpeckers. A hopper type sits atop a 3 inch metal pole to thwart climbers. A squirrel still manages to gorge his fat face in front of 4 indifferent dogs. One surprising thing to me was the activity at my modest water feature. All winter there were birds actually bathing even when so cold.
We are surrounded by a mix of mature deciduous trees, evergreens, bushes and open ground along a nearby railway corridor. There is a very large urban park not far away. As a result we see a variety of birds; some are year-round residents, some stay for a season, and others are just passing through. I think the travelers feel reassured when they see other birds hanging around for a bite to eat.
A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak stayed for a while last spring and we hope he comes back this year. A few Dark-eyed Juncos arrived during the winter and now the males are singing to attract mates, so perhaps they will stick around.
A Northern Mockingbird has visited twice this week to check things out but it is still rather shy.
I see not much has been posted since March, but as we in far northern California enter the flyway season, I hope to hear from others on the Pacific flyway. I have two bird feeders hanging from a large tree about 30′ from my office window. After a quiet start, now I’m amazed at how busy the feeders are all day! I’m photographing the birds to help me identify the species. So far lots of finches, white-crowned sparrows, and the raucous Steller’s Jay. Today a Downey Woodpecker went for the goodies on the ground. I still haven’t been able to get into the website to add my data, but hope it will be fixed soon.
We live on 200 acres on the side of a small, wooded mountain in the Blue Ridge foothills. The house is in a clearing surrounded by mature specimen trees all around on with 15 feeders: 1 enormous hopper feeder, 2 flat trays with big baffles on the poles, 3 tube feeders (2 with cages surrounding), 2 so-called cardinal feeders, (round dishes with big domes), one column wire feeder for shelled peanuts, 5 suet feeders containing hot-pepper suet, and 1 mealworm house. Types of feed served are peanuts, shelled and unshelled, sunflower hearts, suet, and mealworms. All feeders are busy most of the time.
My problem is that I can’t possibly know how many birds I’m seeing at a time. They tend to perch in the trees and dive down on the feeders all day. Different species prefer different sides of the house. I simply can’t count them. They flit in and out all day. The most numerous this year are, unfortunately, house finches. To make the things more complicated, the sparrows hang out under the feeders, which are surrounded by shrubbery; therefore, the sparrows are usually hidden under the bushes hopping in and out to pick up the droppings from the feeder.
What should I do? Can I report my sightings proportionately?
Hello Jane, Thank you for your message. We prefer that you select a select a site that you can view from one vantage point. But if you want your site to include more than one area of your yard, that’s okay so long as you always monitor all the areas for every count and never add counts for a single species from different areas. For example, if you see a male cardinal on one side of the house and a female on the other side but never see two cardinals simultaneously in either location, you would only report one cardinal. As far as counting all birds, we will take your best estimate of what you are seeing.