best practices in bird feeding, with julie zickefoose

Jan 15, 2024

What's your bird-feeder scene right now? Any winter water source involved? Tell us more (and where you are).Hi Margaret,My name is Terry. I live in Huntington, NY… north shore of Long Island. I love your program and read/ listen to lots of your interviews! I have had a variety of bird feeders over the years, most of them of the plastic tube or mesh variety. I stopped using them when I heard about the disease they were cultivating and spreading. This past summer I grew some large sunflowers which the birds (and some squirrels) gobbled up. I also grow lots of cone flowers. In the mornings I can see the yellow finches swooping across the yards and landing on them, nibbling the seeds from the cones. I have stopped cutting them down until the seed heads are gone. I also have some red chokeberry trees which feed a variety of birds in the neighborhood. For now, I have stopped putting out the feeders.We have an above -ground swimming pool that is covered for the winter. When it rains, water collects on the cover. We are always draining it off, but we do see that the birds land on the cover and drink water that has collected.