Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We may move to a Manhattan condo about 6 or 7 stories up. Sorry if my question seems naive.
Can we attract any songbirds to the terrace?
Sparrows, starlings, grackles?
Maybe even a crow or two?
I suppose a jay or robin would be pushing it.
We would be perhaps 3 blocks from Central Park.
I don't think songbirds would have any reason to fly that high, and as it can get quite windy, maybe there are only pigeons - and perhaps we would be lucky to get them?
I know there are some predatory birds in some building across from the park. Ugh!
Birds are attracted to terraces, window sills and even tops of air conditioners to perch on. In New York we have lots of pigeons and sparrows, but you can also spot other birds. Perhaps a bird feeder and water fountain would attract them.
We may move to a Manhattan condo about 6 or 7 stories up. Sorry if my question seems naive.
Can we attract any songbirds to the terrace?
Sparrows, starlings, grackles?
Maybe even a crow or two?
I suppose a jay or robin would be pushing it.
We would be perhaps 3 blocks from Central Park.
I don't think songbirds would have any reason to fly that high, and as it can get quite windy, maybe there are only pigeons - and perhaps we would be lucky to get them?
I know there are some predatory birds in some building across from the park. Ugh!
There are some beautiful Falcons that next in buildings in that area. They help keep the mice and rat population down, so we like them!
For some reason, people seem to think a city the size of New York is pretty well devoid of wildlife. Of course nothing could be further from the truth! There are--and I know this because I've seen them--even hummingbirds to be spotted around town.
I think that songbirds do not fly that high and there also is a wind issue.
Yes, the falcons would consider songbirds as prey (as well as kittens) so I would not want to attract birds to their ultimate death.
I would not want birds of prey on a structure above me - thinking of all the decaying carcasses up there and the vermin that live on them and that dropping down on people.
These birds harbor mites that will also bite humans(but many birds do).
To each his own.
I guess in the city any sort of wildlife, excepting rats, mice, and roaches, is a treat.
In the area I'm presently in I walk in the mornings and love to observe birds, but sometimes all of a sudden they become quiet, and sure enough, there is a bird of prey circling way up in the sky. A hawk, I usually think.
When these morning birds see a cat they give warning calls and take to the trees. The squirrels also have a peculiar warning call for cats. They all appear to recognize each other's warnings, too.
It is interesting to observe animal behavior.
It's like they live in a universe parallel to our own that often passes by unnoticed.
Believe me, you don't want a crow or jay. My downstairs neighbor was rhapsodizing once about the cutest bird's nest in her backyard, and I ended up having to endure being raucously awakened for two or three years after that.
Believe me, you don't want a crow or jay. My downstairs neighbor was rhapsodizing once about the cutest bird's nest in her backyard, and I ended up having to endure being raucously awakened for two or three years after that.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
Jays are corvids, the same family as Crows, Ravens, Blackbirds. I love them and do have Jays in the backyard some summers, though I think Jays are temperamental.
They are very intelligent birds. I had a boss who did volunteer work for some bird society. She adopted a blackbird that had been crippled, being told it would not survive for long in the wild. She brought a video of it into work and it spoke, sounded JUST like her - not like a parrot or other birds where you knew it was a bird talking. Her vet said they had vocal chords similar to humans and could almost perfectly imitate a voice. One of the women at work got really spooked and thought it was some sort of evil supernatural thing. She said it should be exorcised or something.
There is some documentary I saw which featured crows. Some scientist put food in a tube of some sort - something too deep for the crow to get at. The crow found a paper clip, straightened it out, fashioned a hook at one end, and used it to get the food out.
That's a big part of the definition of being human, apart from other animals - that we make tools.
Birds do sing while they make nests to attract mates. They also call to warn others of their territory. I think they sing just for artistry and happiness, as well. We, my husband and I, go for morning walks and have seen Mockingbirds singing at the end of the year, right before they fly south.
You can sometimes see a Mockingbird on a tv antenna, singing his little heart out. Then, if you watch, he starts jumping up and down, higher and higher still singing. THEN, we have observed this on several occasions, he will start doing cartwheels in mid jump.
I don't see how a person can watch that display and not think the bird is jumping with the sheer joy of living.
Various birds mate for life. Some find a new mate upon the death of the original, but some never do and some actually morn to the point of death.
Don't get me wrong, with all this - I have no problem with fried chicken.
Then your going to get bird doo-doo all over the place. i would not like it if you lived above me, and I would complain to management that you have a bird feeder and this causes a mess all over.
I like birds, not on my terrace, or in my case, fire escape.
Then your going to get bird doo-doo all over the place. i would not like it if you lived above me, and I would complain to management that you have a bird feeder and this causes a mess all over.
I like birds, not on my terrace, or in my case, fire escape.
Good point. A person can't just hose it down as I would in my yard.
I guess I should say that I will have a roof garden and there will be a drainage system so I can hose it down. The rain washes a lot of it away, also.
There are plants that attract birds and butterflies, but there's no sense to it if the birds don't go that high. Of course I could dangle mice on clothespins off of a line for the falcons. (kidding!)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
