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What kind of dirt can I buy from Home Depot or Lowe's that is not toxic for birds to eat and will not cause anything to grow there? I have to cover a hole under the bird feeder but want to do it only safely.
I'd mix washed play sand in with the gravel. If you don't keep disturbing the gravel, Organic matter will eventually drift into the crevices and support seed sprouts. Sand will fill the crevices, block water and air and suffocate young plant roots. But that's kind of complicated. You could also dump a bag of Quikrete into that spot and prevent growth too. Either way you have to buy and haul something heavy and shovel/settle it into the ground.
TBH OP, this bird feeder seems to be the bane of your existence. If you feed birds and you don't put a seed catcher under the feeder or keep the area swept, you're going to have seed on the ground which means you'll end up with seed shells, potentially mold, moss, algae, and plant growth. Life will find a way.
Last edited by Parnassia; 08-16-2020 at 03:24 PM..
TBH OP, this bird feeder seems to be the bane of your existence. If you feed birds and you don't put a seed catcher under the feeder or keep the area swept, you're going to have seed on the ground which means you'll end up with seed shells, potentially mold, moss, algae, and plant growth. Life will find a way.
By the No-Waste variety of Bird Seed. It is more expensive, but it lasts longer and you don't have to deal with the mess.
Also, make sure it has no millet. It is cheap and a lot of it gets thrown out by the birds, which then sprouts below the feeder.
By the No-Waste variety of Bird Seed. It is more expensive, but it lasts longer and you don't have to deal with the mess.
Also, make sure it has no millet. It is cheap and a lot of it gets thrown out by the birds, which then sprouts below the feeder.
Of course that's an option...considering the multiple threads the OP has started due to this bird feeder I don't know why they haven't tried this before. However, IME even using "no waste" type seeds you'll still end up with some on the ground. Birds sort through it and shove/kick it out of the feeder. Some birds will not go down to the ground to feed even if there's visible food there, so if another type of seed eating bird or a rodent doesn't eat it, it can still build up if you don't clean it up.
Last edited by Parnassia; 08-17-2020 at 01:23 PM..
Of course that's an option...considering the multiple threads the OP has started due to this bird feeder I don't know why they haven't tried this before. However, IME even using "no waste" type seeds you'll still end up with some on the ground. Birds sort through it and shove/kick it out of the feeder. Some birds will not go down to the ground to feed even if there's visible food there.
Of course, you can always have birds like mine that will NOT use the feeder at all, but will eat the seed if it is lying on the ground - that's if they can get to it before the squirrels do. I had 11 feeders at my old house that I refilled almost daily, but the birds here seem to think they're scary traps or something else that's ominous. They simply won't approach them. Maybe city birds are less desperate for food? I'd think it would be the opposite, that the country birds had more natural food sources. I remain perplexed.
Of course, you can always have birds like mine that will NOT use the feeder at all, but will eat the seed if it is lying on the ground - that's if they can get to it before the squirrels do. I had 11 feeders at my old house that I refilled almost daily, but the birds here seem to think they're scary traps or something else that's ominous. They simply won't approach them. Maybe city birds are less desperate for food? I'd think it would be the opposite, that the country birds had more natural food sources. I remain perplexed.
I know what you mean! I usually put out some suet and seed for winter resident birds, but I wait until fall migration seems to be over and snow accumulation is starting to make natural foods less available. It isn't my intention to encourage migrants to stay past their usual departure dates just for my own amusement. Last winter was the first in this house. I put out the same feeder and a seed mix I've used at my previous house a few miles away. Birds there fed from it routinely. Not here. Not a single bird of the same species approached or used that feeder all winter. Even though I know it can take a while for "new" birds to find a "new" feeder, I was stumped. Some species definitely forage on the ground, others never do. The only seed that attracted any birds was what got scattered onto the ground by the wind. The red-backed voles had a field day however!
What did birds eat before humans started putting out feeders?
I guess we have to make up for all the feral cats that we humans have introduced to the environment, that tend to eat the birds. Maybe we should introduce something else that will eat the cats, LOL.
What did birds eat before humans started putting out feeders?
I guess we have to make up for all the feral cats that we humans have introduced to the environment, that tend to eat the birds. Maybe we should introduce something else that will eat the cats, LOL.
The Fisher Cats (actually not a cat, in spite of the name) do a good job of that here. They are about the only thing that will eat porcupines too.
The Fisher Cats (actually not a cat, in spite of the name) do a good job of that here. They are about the only thing that will eat porcupines too.
You just taught me something new, thank you. I never heard of these before, and at "up to 40" long", would not want to run across one myself. There's a reason Madison WI named it's football team the "Badgers", those things can be nasty - I went near a badger enclosure in a wildlife park in IL a few years ago, and the resident gave me Hell, I've never been so glad for chain link fence in my life. My guess is that Fisher Cats are a relative.
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