Loading…
0
Is it really better to leave your feeder empty in late summer? I keep going back and forth
Last week I noticed my sunflower seed stock was basically untouched for 14 days straight, and I started reading about how some folks pull feeders in August to force birds to find natural food. But 3 years ago when I tried that same thing here in Ohio, the chickadees and titmice disappeared from my yard for almost a month, and I felt like I'd broken some unspoken contract with them. On the other hand, I have a buddy who swears his empty feeder strategy cut down on house sparrow bullying by like 80 percent, and his bluebirds actually had a better nesting season. My gut says birds are smart enough to manage without me, but my heart loves the morning traffic jam of goldfinches at 7am. Anyone else tried the late summer break and seen a real difference in their regulars, or did they just move to the neighbor's yard?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
jade27125d ago
Did you notice if your regulars came back once you started filling again in the fall? I ask because I went through almost the same thing two summers ago in central Indiana. I pulled my feeders for about three weeks in August and the chickadees and nuthatches vanished, just like yours did. But here is the part that surprised me, by mid September they were back like nothing happened, and my goldfinches actually showed up in bigger numbers than before. What worked for me was a middle ground, I stopped filling the big seed feeders but kept one small suet feeder going all summer. That way the sparrows lost interest and moved on, but my regulars still had a reason to swing through the yard. I also read that late summer is when a lot of birds are munching on bugs and wild seeds anyway, so they are not really starving without us. Honestly your heart and your gut can both win here, just do a lighter version of the break instead of a full cutoff.
7