Hummingbirds. What fascinating creatures. Hummingbirds are tiny, really tiny. Got a nickel in your pocket? That’s how much the little birds weigh. Their nests are the size of a quarter. Hummingbirds are in a perpetual state of excitement, at least so far as their pulse rates are concerned. On average, a hummer’s heart beats 615 times per minute and can reach over 1,200 beats per minute. They … [Read more...]

  My long-time friend, Harold Spangler in Charleston, loves his bluebirds and has been feeding them live meal worms. He has also been inadvertently feeding the starlings and grackles. They are eating him out of house and home. He asked my advice on keeping the bigger birds away. I discovered the secret a few years back – a domed feeder. The dome over the feeder bowl is adjustable and … [Read more...]

    (From inside a bluebird house)   “What’s it look like out there?” “I don’t know, Mom said stay low, till she gets back.” “What’s taking her so long? I’m starving.” “Wait. Here comes Dad and he’s got a mouth full of meal worms. Glad we live in the Brewer’s back yard. That guy must own a meal worm factory.” Gobble, gobble, gulp, gulp. “Wait Dad, Billy in … [Read more...]

  I was worried. All my feathered friends were present and accounted for– the cardinals, bluebirds, titmice, chickadees, doves, robins, bluebirds, sparrows, thrushes, assorted finches and woodpeckers. But no catbirds. Last year, I had two families of catbirds. They practically camped out at my suet feeder, constantly pecking off pieces of the C & S Peanut Suet to feed their … [Read more...]

  I hung the weird-looking Creature of the Black Lagoon’s Bird House on a shepherd’s crook in one of Nancy’s Garden beds a couple weeks back. As I described, the house is constructed of moss and clay and looks like it was drained from the swamp. But I hung it anyway. Because of the way the crook was situated, the hole to the nest pointed to the side, not to the front. I wondered if … [Read more...]

A male bluebird lit on our window feeder recently and he was simply stunning. There is no blue on the finest artist’s pallet that could begin to duplicate his color. This is the time of year when birds strut their stuff. An early spring molt leads to spectacular colors which male birds use to attract females. The feathers don’t change colors, but new, brighter feathers take their place. Even … [Read more...]

I have two pests to contend with as I feed my backyard birds – squirrels and grackles. Both can lay waste to expensive bird seed intended for bluebirds and other songbirds. I have more or less stopped the squirrels with a baffle on my primary feeder. But baffles don’t stop grackles. They fly in and have figured out that if they stand on the side of the spring-loaded perch, they can still snatch … [Read more...]

They are back already. Grackles. There are not many, just 4 or 5 in my backyard, but soon they will come in swarms and eat me out of house and home as I attempt to feed my songbirds and toss some critter food to the squirrels. But I am prepared for battle. Here is my plan to at least discourage the big, black freeloaders. First, I will switch my primary feeder to Safflower Seeds. Neither … [Read more...]

Last summer I lost a nest full of bluebird chicks to a predator – maybe a snake, maybe a raccoon. I had attached a bluebird house to a tree, unknowingly giving the predator fairly easy access. My friend Chis Johnson read of my plight and gave me a baffle made of sheet metal that keeps critters at bay (his two bluebird families successfully hatched about 20 babies last summer.) Being totally … [Read more...]

  Some folks take down their bird houses after the summer to save on wear and tear through the winter months. If you are one of those people, now is the time to put the house back up. The birds are shopping early. I saw my resident pair of blue birds checking out their old house this week. The male perches on the entrance hole and peers around a bit, while the hen sits patiently and … [Read more...]