I love the Happy Birding sweatshirt! Nice video!

Ty hon!!

Great Review.

How can a Coopers Hawk , plucking and eating a Starling or any bird alive be a positive As you try to scare them into flying with their prey, to not have to here the screams. Red Winged blackbirds were also a favorite for plucking alive. The small hawks lack the strength to kill cleanly I don't hate them for it. They must survive too. But it is not a positive of having g feeders. To help reduce the numbers of some species. A pigeon isn't a rat with wings. And too large for the small hawks. Sorry, but I just don't agree.

I love your videos, got a pink hoodie!

YES! Exactly what I was thinking!

Exactly! Since I have put up my bird feeders, I have had a fascination for not just birds, but nature too! I have tried to become more environmentally friendly by recycling plastic, paper and cardboard. In the future, I want to live in a tiny house using solar power and possibly hydropower (If I live near a large creek or river.)

I totally agree. With every word.

This is exactly how it happened for me. Soon after I put up a bird feeder, I stopped using fertilizers and pesticides. I let the birds do my pest control! Now I am adding more native plants to my small property.

This comment is so underrated. My curiosity was sparked after getting backyard chickens and observing the wildlife that also enjoyed the grains I tossed around. Here I am, a year later, waiting for my first set of Purple Martin houses to arrive...

I always fed wild birds. Mostly non migrators in my yard. Also had a Running water, heated in winter (to prevent freezing) I never considered a Cooper's Hawk a benefit. They have weaker talons. And pluck and eat victims alive. Same for the Sharpie. But confess to a fondness for one. Long story. I kept feeders and baths spotless and same for filtered bath. We don't all have the woods out our back door.

I agree. with the due precautions shown.

After a horrible "Greenaway Fire" last year .my step daughter had a huge influx of Goldfinch's. Having learner from me, she got an extra feeder. She was in the only trailer park that didn't burn.

I was in the same situation snow ice and no power I still refilled my bird feeder until I ran out of bags.

SantaFeMike99 I live in Houston and it was pretty brutal, right? My feathered friends had huge appetites so it was especially awesome to help them out during a surprise snow!

Way to be guys!

@@karendiane5 They were hungry, to the point they didn't bicker and chase each other away from the seed feed. I use the Shelled Seed from Tractor Supply Company. Less waste that way. Even the tiny millet seed gets eaten by the Gold Finches. I'm in Galveston County.

Bless you for thinking of the precious little birdies, whilst you are suffering such a hardship. 🙏😇🌟

That's a fantastic idea! Wish I thought of that. I ended up buying I scare rods off Amazon that essentially do the same thing.

Well done!

Awesome job helping out our feathered friends.

Thanks! Only the best for the birds.

@The Creek Kid I have had the same experience here in Virginia. We have had a stretch of cold, rainy and snowy weather the past few weeks and I have never seen the birds so active at my feeders. I have three seed feeders and two suet feeders. They get cleaned out in days! It is a win for me as I enjoy watching and photographing the birds.

It's the same where I live. There's probably a foot or more of snow on the ground from the past three weeks. The birds are emptying my two 4-5 lb capacity feeders every 2 days! I just went and bought 75 lbs of seed at Tractor Supply yesterday. 😋

You can help even further by having areas of your property where, instead of grass that needs constant fertilizer and pesticides which aren't good for us either, there can be natural sources of food for birds and pollinators like bees and butterflies. If you can plant some native flowers (best option) or even non-native pollinator friendly flowers that were likely removed when your house was built, that would greatly help out the bee and butterfly populations that are being decimated lately. It's best to have things blooming at different times, too, like they do in the wild. I've read that one of the reasons for the bee population decline is because native early flowering plants are being wiped out. Believe it or not, even leaving dandelions in your grass helps the bees because they are one of the early flowering things they can use. NATIVE milkweed would be great to plant for the monarchs... they really need our help. By planting native flowers or just having a 'wild' area of your yard, you're also helping feed the birds (and their babies!) by providing caterpillars that they eat. You can also help by planting native bushes and trees that provide berries and nesting areas. It just takes a little research to find out what those are for your area. It's amazing how much you can learn just by doing these things... Mother Nature sure knows what she's doing! Thank you so much for being conscientious and helping the birds!

My cat problem is actually a neighbor problem. They have many outdoor cats that end up at my bird feeders. I started putting food out for those cats & they gobble it down, which tells me they are not getting fed at home. When the weather warms up I will trap them & take them to a spay/neuter clinic. The neighbors are not responsible cat owners. 😐

@@gourddrawing I hear you. What to do with them is a problem. I have had nests destroyed, birds and babies pleasure-killed (that is what house cat do; it's not about hunger/survival as owners like to claim). When I started trapping, it was like my gardens (.16 acre) transformed to wildlife habitat. I have native birds of all sorts competing for the space. There's even air wars (usually Grackles and Robins a little too close for comfort). I was annoyed I didn't do this years ago, but better late than never. You can always tell a feral from a neighbor's cat; they are vicious and even strike at you through the cage. The other huge advantage of trapping is no more cat sh-t and foul disgusting odors permeating my mulch beds. I would be weeding and get handfuls of sh-t -- disgusting.

I have a cat that I keep in doors for this reason and also do take him out supervised. I also have heard that cats also hunt rabbits. Cat hunting birds is no doubt getting worse due to the number of feral cats in our cities. They probably do some good hunting mice and rats though. It all boils down to the stupidity of people in the way they care for animals in general...they no longer want the cat...”hey let’s dump him on the highway or in that empty field!” Don’t blame the animal...blame the stupid cruel person!!

@@areyoukidding1693 So true. In the end, it all comes down to stupid humans. Humans bred these cats as comfort creatures, as with so many other domestic animals. The animal is acting on instinct, even despite it being a pleasure-kill which is maddening. Where people are lazy as you say, we need to take control and eradicate them somehow if we're to help recovery of native species. The hard part is what to do with the cats after trapping them. ASPCA doesn't want them. There needs to be some kind of long term solution that conservationists can look to.

@@franciswarnock8977 TNR is the only long term answer -- PERIOD

Yes hawks would try to eat my doves who came in late afternoon. I had to stop due to hawks

Exactly! Great point. I replace the water in mine every 3 days and throughly clean them with soap and water to get out any stains, bacteria, fungus or algae. She should definitely do a video on birdbaths sometime. I would love to learn more information.

I replace the bird bath water every day and hose out any droppings. I clean tge feeder every coupl of weeks.

Are you talking about a china marker-type pen? And do you use it on the inside or outside of the window? Thank you!

@@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane we put it on the outside of the window. We chose white, but you could use any color I suppose. It’s been on a large north facing window since late fall of 2020 and has held up well throughout a wet cold Michigan winter. www.amazon.com/Glass-Pen-White-Writing-WINDOWS/dp/B006MUO6FW/ref=asc_df_B006MUO6FW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=223420522240&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10414426359715984982&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017227&hvtargid=pla-371133480706&psc=1

@@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane here’s where we got the idea. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i6lpq7Scutq1aWw.html

@@Birdlab Thanks! I live in Michigan, too! Lol! I must be getting old because when I checked out your link to the video I had already 'thumbs upped' it, so I must have watched it a while back and forgot about it...duh! Lol, it looked REAL familiar! 🤣 I went with the window clings a few years ago, which greatly reduce (I'd say 95%), but don't totally eliminate birds hitting our windows, so I was curious how/if the markers worked. Thanks again... I bet your answer will help a lot of people, and birds, out there!

@@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane we tried the window decals for awhile but they didn’t seem to work. We had a flicker die after hitting window 🙁so we tried the glass pen instead. So far, so good.

My cockatiel was in his cage that allowed him to look out to the backyard. A Red-Shouldered hawk perched on the back of a lawn chair and even in his cage in the house, he freaked out. Apparently, birds instinctively know a predator when they see one.

More than once I have seen the local crows police hawks on the prowl. I have witnessed an airborne chase between a murder of local crows and a hawk. It was truly impressive to see how they swooped, dived and soared again giving chase.

WH: When the hummingbirds do battle on the porch I used to have my slider open at times, a few occasions one would dart inside in their haste to get away from the aggressor. They seem to get confused easily once indoors, heading for the first window they see and hovering there expecting to get out. I would shoo the dog outside, Labs being very curious about noisy little birds, and would take a broom stick and hold it up. The bird would eventually land on the end of the broom stick and I would walk it towards the slider and freedom. It would take a few attempts, the birds would get nervous and fly back to the window but once they tired out they would perch until I stuck the stick outside.

I've had sparrows in my house, by flying down the outside chimney pipe for my antique, (functioning) Glenwood 111 coal stove. (In the off season, when not running.) You could hear it flying in the stove, and the 1st time we opened the door, the bird went all over the house, finally landing on a window sill. Was challenging getting it back outside. When it happened the second time, B4 we opened the stove door, we blocked off the rest of the house with a sheet, shut the window shade in the room, and opened the frt door, (which was in frt of the stove.). When we finally released the bird by opening the stove door , it saw the light, and flew directly back outside. Lessons learned. (Also, keep the stove pipe cap screen tight, and serviceable.) :)

I grt a bunch of doves and quail as well...and in the summer TONS of starlings.

My dad saw an osprey last month and they’re also not supposed to be where I live. I saw a snowy owl 10 years ago here and they’re not supposed to be where I live either. It was pretty stunning to see both! The owl was flying to different light poles in a Walmart parking lot and perching on them. It was night time and really beautiful looking

@@CenturianEagle cool I live in Kansas I think it awesome to see now birds around.

The diminishing magnetic field of the Earth is causing large amounts of wildlife to turn up in places where they don't normally go.They usually navigate by it, but the weaker it is, the harder it is for them to figure out in which direction they need to go.

If you have a new, man made lake in the area, especially with open water in the winter, that might explain the osprey.

We had a black bear rip in half our heavy metal poles holding the feeders.took off with the suet baskets and one of the feeders...wondering what we will do this spring...when the bears are finished hibernating..

@Tim Brown I had a similar problem with racoons helping themselves to my backyard feeders. Racoons are very clean animals and choose a specific spot to defecate which coincidentally was our front yard by the mailbox and creating a nuisance. After some critical thinking (and common sense) I realized I was causing this by filling the feeders too often. So as a rule I fill the feeder in the early morning and it is devoured by noon. Resisting the temptation to refill them after this caused the raccoons (and one time a hungry opossum) to forage elsewhere during night. Just meant no more afternoon birdwatching for us...

@@joandemarco1859 A bear's strength is more than many people may realize. Pretty powerful.

@@heathparkhurst3011 What kind of seed do you use that's gone in 1/2 day? Seems like they really love it.

@@Mityob67 I buy Royal Wing from Tractor Supply. The Far Mix blend is what they go crazy for but the sparrows tend to crowd out the cardinals. I set up a separate feeder with just safflower seeds which only the cardinals seem to like

I bought some inexpensive feed at a Petco type store and much of it got dropped and sprouted weeds. I better appreciate tge “No-Mess” feed from WBU.

We have had sick pine siskins spreading salmonella in Oregon and Washing ton. They tend to look fluffed up and ungroomed, lethargic, they sit in the feeder for long periods, they seem to be panting, they can appear 'tame' - they just don't have the energy to fly away, but will if startled. We have been advised to stop feeding for a while. I feel sad about not feeding, and not all neighbors are on board with the no feeding suggestion, so sick birds just go to someone else's feeder. Also, it is advised to use feeders that can clean easily: plastic or metal that can be soaked in bleach water, wood is more porous and difficult to clean. I'm thinking to wait a week or so, then put the clean suet feeder back up. I seldom notice the pine siskins at it, they seem to prefer seeds. All the other birds look healthy, as far as I can tell. The siskins should be migrating soon, they are only here for the winter.

That's a great point! Water is essential too, and it's such a treat to see them splashing around!

I can tell whose around by their song, how they fly (dive around) and nothing gets me trail blazing like going feeder to feeder!