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Q: How do I keep squirrels off my feeder?A: There are many ways you can discourage squirrels from coming to your bird feeder. Here are some ideas:
You can use a weight-activated feeder, which closes off the feeding ports when squirrels sit on them. Check out the weight-activated feeders we have available here. Also, have a look at this video, which shows how weight-activated bird feeders work. With Brome Bird Products, you can adjust the weight that triggers the feeder to drop.
You can also coat your bird seed in hot pepper products, which squirrels do not like the taste of. Birds do not have the receptors to taste the spiciness of capsaicin, whereas mammals do. Be cautious of using this product if you have pets that like to eat seed that may fall on the ground - it isn't great for pets to be eating lots of capsaicin.
If your feeder is on a pole, you can use a squirrel baffle to prevent the squirrels from climbing up the pole. If your feeder hangs, you can also get a different style of baffle to hang above the feeder to prevent squirrels from climbing onto the feeder from above. Check out what we have in stock for baffles here.
A: You could try to divert them by putting food meant for deer, such as the salt lick or deer seed mix, in a different part of your yard. Some people keep deer from scarfing down their bird seed by stringing wire over their fence or around the base their feeders. Just like people, squirrels, and all other furry critters, deer can taste spicy food so one of our hot pepper products should help keep them them away.
A: There are many possible answers to this question so I'll explain some of the more common ones. You may need to wait a little while; birds are pretty cautious around feeder so it could take several weeks for birds to find and feel safe around your feeders. Try a different bird food; lots of the foods sold at grocery stores or department stores are full of seed that are cheap to grow but birds don't like such as: milo, corn, canola, or wheat. Your yard might be too open; as I said earlier in this question, birds will only use feeder if they feel safe so you could try moving your feeders closer to plants or try planting some trees or shrubs near your feeders. Try getting a running water fixture; the sound of running water attracts birds so a fountain or bird bath bubbler could bring more bird-traffic to your yard.
A: You could try using a feeder that they can't easily access. Crows and magpies are big and clunky so feeder that require a little more grace to eat at, such as up-side-down suet feeders or mesh sunflower feeders deter them. Try using seeds that these birds don't like as much such as nyjer or millet. Another solution to these pesky pests it to put out a decoy. These decoys look like a dead crow or magpie so putting one of these in your yard will cause all the local miscreants to perform a "funeral" where they gather around the "dead" bird and caw. After this funeral they will all leave the area. Make sure to move the decoy around every once and a while or these clever birds will realize that it's a fake and move back in.
Absolutely! All the shells in the "no mess no waste" and "no mess grubs and such" seed mixes have been removed so the seeds can't sprout if they land on the ground. In addition, these seeds aren't just clean they are super high quality and have something that every bird in your yard will love!
A: Birds are looking to get easy food fast in the cold winter months so try a seed mix with sunflowers out of the shell, like the two no mess varieties previous question. In addition, suet becomes a favourite food of many birds during the winter months for the same reason. This may make winter birds seem lazy but would you want to go hiking in the forest for your lunch in the middle of winter?
A: Nope! During all times of year birds make sure to keep eating natural foods whenever possible. This means that birds almost never become fully dependent on feeders. Although, with the increase in natural foods, like bugs and fruit, summer birds usually don't visit feeder as much.
Totally! Some birds, like chickadees, eat pretty much any seed you could put out while other birds are super picky. There are too many types of birds to say what every kind likes in this answer so the best way to get the right seed for the right bird is to know what kind of birds you want to feed and then ask one of our staff what their recommendations are, everyone at the shop loves talking birdy. Here are a couple common feeder birds and their favourite foods: finches and nyjer, sparrows and millet, woodpeckers and suet, and blue jays and peanuts.
A: This is an easy one! Get a pack of window decals. These decals come in two varieties, shiny decals and UV decals. Shiny decal are self explanatory, they're shiny and let a bird see and avoid your window while flying. UV decals on the other hand look just as clear as the window you put them on. This is because UV, or ultra violet, is a colour that people can't see but birds see as super reflective so these decals appear clear to us but look shiny to birds.
A: That is probably a territorial male trying to defend his home from his own reflection, silly birdy. Try using the same decals as the question above to keep him away from your window.
More Q & A’s coming soon!
