Paula's Patch: A Minnesota Garden

I love our nuthatches! They are so fun to watch and they are enjoying the peanut pieces we put out this year. Most of the other songbirds love them too, so we purposely chose a globe cage feeder to keep the junk birds and squirrels out. The openings are just large enough for the small birds to climb in and enjoy this nutty treat.

Get a globe feeder of your own here: Gardener’s Supply

Do you attract junk birds that eat all your food and bully the small birds? Try experimenting with the type of food you offer and the type of feeders you choose.

My hubby and I are always trying new things to keep black birds, sparrows, squirrels and rabbits out of our yard and out of the food we put out to attract the beautiful songbirds. Here’s a few things that are working for us – give them a try:

• We hung strings of varying lengths from our suet feeders to keep some clever sparrows from flying up underneath and devouring all the suet. Somehow this frightens them! To attract chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches, we offer suet from feeders that are accessible only to those birds than can hang upside down like the one at the right. →→

• We put Vic’s vapor rub on our sheperds’ hook to deter a determined squirrel from getting to multiple feeders. It’s slippery and they hate the smell.
• We placed plastic squirrel baffles above and under the suet feeders to keep squirrels from leaping from the tree to the feeder.
• We have a live trap in our yard at all times to lure and catch rabbits and squirrels. We don’t destroy them; we release them into the wild far, far away.
• We offer nyjer seed/thistle in a sock-type feeder to attract finches.
• We offer safflower seeds rather than a wild bird feed mix to attract small birds.
• We offer grape jelly and orange halves in a dish to attract orioles.

What works in your yard? I’d love to hear what clever ideas you have for attracting birds!