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#46
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Deter squirrels (only) from bird feeders?
In article ,
Bill Smith writes Sorry, folks, the squirrels seem to have acquired a taste for chilli-ed (+paprika +cayenne+ground white pepper) peanuts! What on Earth are you thinking of putting out such stuff, especially at this time of year? If birds feed this sort of stuff to their chicks it will kill them. Even bread is considered a bad idea. Roy. -- Roy Bailey West Berkshire. |
#47
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#48
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Deter squirrels (only) from bird feeders?
In message , Roy Bailey
writes In article , Bill Smith writes Sorry, folks, the squirrels seem to have acquired a taste for chilli-ed (+paprika +cayenne+ground white pepper) peanuts! What on Earth are you thinking of putting out such stuff, especially at this time of year? If birds feed this sort of stuff to their chicks it will kill them. Even bread is considered a bad idea. Roy. My birds are clever enough to have ignored the peanut feeder for a few weeks now. They've all gone stale. -- Gordon H Remove "invalid" to reply |
#49
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Deter squirrels (only) from bird feeders?
"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message ... The message from "BAC" contains these words: "Granity" wrote in message ... Roy Bailey;845361 Wrote: In article , Bill Smith writes- Sorry, folks, the squirrels seem to have acquired a taste for chilli-ed (+paprika +cayenne+ground white pepper) peanuts! - What on Earth are you thinking of putting out such stuff, especially at this time of year? If birds feed this sort of stuff to their chicks it will kill them. Even bread is considered a bad idea. Roy. -- Roy Bailey West Berkshire. According to the RSPB that's a load of crap Roy: http://tinyurl.com/pjlo78 No it isn't - that RSPB article specifically warns about putting out 'unsuitable' food such as bread and peanuts during the bird breeding season, stressing that if birds feed them to their young, it can do more harm than good. When birds are feeding nestlings RSPB warns against putting out whole, loose peanuts (which could choke them) but says its okay to put peanuts in "suitable mesh feeders that will not allow sizeable pieces of peanuts to be removed.". Probably because they sell such feeders :-) |
#50
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Deter squirrels (only) from bird feeders?
On 2009-05-18 17:54:25 +0100, "BAC" said:
"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message ... The message from "BAC" contains these words: "Granity" wrote in message ... Roy Bailey;845361 Wrote: In article , Bill Smith writes- Sorry, folks, the squirrels seem to have acquired a taste for chilli-ed (+paprika +cayenne+ground white pepper) peanuts! - What on Earth are you thinking of putting out such stuff, especially at this time of year? If birds feed this sort of stuff to their chicks it will kill them. Even bread is considered a bad idea. Roy. -- Roy Bailey West Berkshire. According to the RSPB that's a load of crap Roy: http://tinyurl.com/pjlo78 No it isn't - that RSPB article specifically warns about putting out 'unsuitable' food such as bread and peanuts during the bird breeding season, stressing that if birds feed them to their young, it can do more harm than good. When birds are feeding nestlings RSPB warns against putting out whole, loose peanuts (which could choke them) but says its okay to put peanuts in "suitable mesh feeders that will not allow sizeable pieces of peanuts to be removed.". Probably because they sell such feeders :-) I've seen several people remark over the years that they have yet to find any choked to death nestlings on the ground or anywhere else. Nonetheless, we do put peanuts in such feeders and still continue to put out seed and the birds go at them like nobody's business. I don't know if it's the adults taking stuff to feed their young, or if they're just topping themselves up when they get a spare moment. Certainly they give the impression of being rather harassed! -- -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials South Devon |
#51
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Deter squirrels (only) from bird feeders?
Sacha writes
I've seen several people remark over the years that they have yet to find any choked to death nestlings on the ground or anywhere else. Nonetheless, we do put peanuts in such feeders and still continue to put out seed and the birds go at them like nobody's business. I don't know if it's the adults taking stuff to feed their young, or if they're just topping themselves up when they get a spare moment. Certainly they give the impression of being rather harassed! The BTO reports that garden feeding supports greater densities of small birds such as tits, but that their breeding success is lower than in the countryside, which they ascribe to the nestlings being fed on insects. So that even though the parents are feeding at feeders for themselves, they are still seeking insects and caterpillars for their young, and these are often not at high densities in the urban garden. So it would seem that the feeders are good at maintaining health in the adults, but are a last resort for feeding young. The RSPB is making the point that it is difficult for us to understand when there are food shortages, and therefore when the adults will resort to feeding their young from feeders, and therefore, to be on the safe side, don't feed anything that might cause a problem if fed to the young (even though it probably won't be fed to them) I must admit, I hadn't seen the thing about not putting out fat in spring and summer, and rather assumed that it would be as important in spring and summer (breeding and moulting) as it would be in winter. -- Kay |
#52
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Deter squirrels (only) from bird feeders?
On 2009-05-18 20:46:27 +0100, K said:
Sacha writes I've seen several people remark over the years that they have yet to find any choked to death nestlings on the ground or anywhere else. Nonetheless, we do put peanuts in such feeders and still continue to put out seed and the birds go at them like nobody's business. I don't know if it's the adults taking stuff to feed their young, or if they're just topping themselves up when they get a spare moment. Certainly they give the impression of being rather harassed! The BTO reports that garden feeding supports greater densities of small birds such as tits, but that their breeding success is lower than in the countryside, which they ascribe to the nestlings being fed on insects. So that even though the parents are feeding at feeders for themselves, they are still seeking insects and caterpillars for their young, and these are often not at high densities in the urban garden. So it would seem that the feeders are good at maintaining health in the adults, but are a last resort for feeding young. The RSPB is making the point that it is difficult for us to understand when there are food shortages, and therefore when the adults will resort to feeding their young from feeders, and therefore, to be on the safe side, don't feed anything that might cause a problem if fed to the young (even though it probably won't be fed to them) I must admit, I hadn't seen the thing about not putting out fat in spring and summer, and rather assumed that it would be as important in spring and summer (breeding and moulting) as it would be in winter. All this makes sense to the feeding patterns we seem to be seeing, although a lot of it is assumption on our part, admittedly. The adults come to the box we keep by the till in the Nursery and just stuff themselves! This is a shallow cardboard tray filled with seed and crumbs and it attracts robins, sparrows and blackbirds. But, they're also foraging around in the garden and greenhouses and will, presumably, be helping us in our biological controls by taking insects and worms to their young. We do have fat feeders out but the birds are ignoring them in favour of seeds and peanuts, or crumbs for themselves. -- -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials South Devon |
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