Anonymous wrote:Bird feeders are great but they attract squirrels like crazy, who eat the seeds. Also the birds spread the seeds around so you do wind up with lots of wildflower and weed unintentional seeding.

I have this one:

https://gardenercorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/19-12.jpg

It is squirrel proof. What seeds fall on the ground are eaten by squirrels and birds that prefer to feed off the ground. I wish I could get some sunflowers to grow, but nope!

Bird feeders are great but they attract squirrels like crazy, who eat the seeds. Also the birds spread the seeds around so you do wind up with lots of wildflower and weed unintentional seeding.

Another vote for a bird bath. I have a heated one on our deck (easy access to a power supply) that I plug in when the weather gets freezing. You do have to clean it (same for bird feeders) or risk doing more harm than good.

I also vote for adding native plants to your yard if possible.

Finally, be aware of starlings and house sparrows, which can eat you out of house and home, and, more importantly, kill native songbirds. I like to use feeders like hummingbird feeders, upside-down suet feeders, and upside-down birdfeeders that the house sparrows can't access. I feed a mixture of sunflower chips and nyjer seed in those.

Totally agree with the bird bath poster. If you live in the city and don't want to attract rodents but want to attract birds, just put out a shallow dish of water with fresh water every day.

That being said, out in the burbs I've had zero problems with rodents and don't notice bird poop with our one feeder sort of nestled in our landscaping. We add the no-squirrel hot sauce to the bird food and that works really well.

We have 4 feeders. Keep your seeds fresh. The placement matters if you don't want bird poop on your concrete driveway/patio. We have 3 in the front landscape, one in the front near the holly bush, one in the hedges.
We only get rabbits visiting. I love watching birds. It's like a God moment.

As for rats, you live in rat city. I'd think by now you all would be used to that.

I have a tall feeder pole with baffles that prevent squirrels from climbing. You also have to position the feeder far enough so they can’t jump onto it from trees. I have a platform feeder for whole peanuts in the shell, one for the no-waste bird seed and a tail-prop suet feeder.
I also have plenty of plants that birds like, such as black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, elderberries, a couple of blueberries just for the birds, dogwoods, viburnum and my neighbor let a mulberry tree grow from a weed. I used to rail against that tree but the birds go bananas for the mulberries. I’ve even seen a flock of cedar waxwings on it a few times. We have serviceberries planted on the city right of way and I let a couple of pokeweeds flower and fruit in an isolated corner of the yard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No but you might attract rodents.

If you live in DC you will absolutely get rodents. Also, your neighbors will secretly hate you.

Can confirm.

My idiot next door neighbor (townhouse community) has a bird feeder, and I hate him…..and it. I’ve found dead rats in my backyard. I believe he also has rat poison out.

[NoVA NP]

He’s contributing to the death of birds like owls then.

Anonymous wrote:… will there be noticeably more bird poop?

Sounds like a stupid question but hear me out! Lately we’ve had so many beautiful visitors and I’d like them to stay! They’re already here feeding from our yard. If we add a bird feeder, will our yard turn into a disaster area?

You will get vermin unless you are religious about cleaning up spills every single day.

Make sure you clean it regularly so you're not passing germs between birds. This is a real problem with bird feeders.

Anonymous wrote:No but you might attract rodents.

We have several feeders and no rodents. But I suspect the snakes, foxes, owls, etc. take care of them.

Safflower seeds and/or shelled sunflower seeds. Pricy but worth it. Not much mess and we have never had rodents.

Anonymous wrote:No but you might attract rodents.

And coyotes, bears, etc

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No but you might attract rodents.

If you live in DC you will absolutely get rodents. Also, your neighbors will secretly hate you.

Can confirm.

My idiot next door neighbor (townhouse community) has a bird feeder, and I hate him…..and it. I’ve found dead rats in my backyard. I believe he also has rat poison out.

[NoVA NP]

Anonymous wrote:I use the "no waste" bird seed. It is more expensive, but has sunflower seeds already shelled. I have heard the black shells that get tossed on the ground are what the rodents like. You will get raccoons, squirrels and rabbits. I used my suet feeder when it snowed and had so many beautiful birds! Also, when it snows, you can see who else visited the feeder by the tracks, pretty cool!

I do the same thing and live in burbs….we get no rodents, only squirrels, rabbits and occasional raccoon. Every so often, we might see a field mouse. But the no waste bird seed is great bc hardly any mess at all. And suet is great to attract the woodpeckers and other birds.