Desert Bird Feeders

The desert supports a rich variety of bird life, from the tiny, lovable black-chinned humming bird to the somewhat less attractive turkey vulture. While you may not what to attract turkey vultures to your backyard, hummingbirds, wrens, and other small birds add color and life to your home's landscape. http://lala.essortment.com/nestsheat_rnpc.htm -- bird friendly

Type of feeder

Before selecting a wild bird feeder, know what species are in your area. Exactly what and how birds eat varies by species. Birds are attracted by different kinds of foods, ranging from seeds, to nectar, mealworms or fruit, each with its specialized feeder. The size of the holes in a feeder and the length can attract some species and keep others away. While many desert birds prefer insects, others, such as the desert sparrow (Passer simplex), the (Passer ammodendri), and larks eat seeds.

See a list of wild bird feeder types

Feeder Placement

Location of the feeder makes the difference between attracting birds or not. Place the feeder near the kinds of cover into which birds can escape from cats, hawks, or other predators. Without some cover, birds may avoid the feeder altogether. However, keep the feeder at least five feet off the ground and ten feet from the nearest shrub, to give birds a chance to flee in the event of a cat attack. In a desert landscape, providing the birds with shade is also important. Placing the feeder in the oasis zone of your landscape will not only make mealtime more comfortable for the birds, but you'll also be able to see them better. While it's fun to watch the birds eats, avoid placing the feeder beside a window as birds may fly into the glass. house martin, barn swallow

Hygiene

Because birds can be messy eaters and seeds and droppings make a source of infection. Ideally, the bird feeder should be cleaned and disinfected weekly. First, scrub the feeder with a soapy water. Then mix one part chlorine household bleach with nine parts water. Rinse or, even better, soak the feeder in this solution for 10 minutes. Large feeder can be sprayed, but cover all the small corners so they spray doesn't settle in the crevices. Then rinse your bird feeder and let it dry thoroughly.

Damp seeds and debris under feeders creates a breeding ground for fungus that birds can inhale. If the ground under your feeder is with plants, use a broom or rake to turn the earth. Paved ground can be vacuumed or rinsed down with a bleach solution.

Types of Wild Bird Feeders

• Hopper Feeder
  Hopper feeders provide dry storage for several pounds of mixed seed, which tumbles forward on demand. Position hopper feeders on a pole about five feet off the ground. Hopper feeders attract all of the species tube feeders attract, as well as such larger birds as jays, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and cardinals.

• Ground-feeding table
  This screen-bottomed tray sits several inches off the ground and is useful for helping to keep grain and droppings from coming in contact with each other. Some designs have covers to prevent snow from accumulating over the seed and others others are surrounded by wire mesh to keep out squirrels and large birds. Ground feeders attract doves, juncos, sparrows, towhees, goldfinches, and cardinals.

• Sunflower-seed tube feeders
  This is one the best all-around wild bird feeders. Be sure to select a model with metal ports around the seed dispensers to protect the feeder from nibbling squirrels and house sparrows. This type attracts small birds such as chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, goldfinches, siskins, and purple and house finches.

• Suet Feeder
  Suet (beef or lamb fat) is a favorite food of titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers love , while wrens, creepers, and warblers also enjoy it. Chunks of suet can be hung from trees in onion bags or a half-inch hardware-cloth basket, or in a more durable cage feeder like the one shown here. Suet can also be made by grinding and melting suet and adding seeds. Pack peanut butter-cornmeal blends and suet puddings can be spread onto pinecones or into one-inch-diameter holes drilled into logs. Hang the pinecones and the logs from poles near other feeders, from trees, or from a wire stretched between trees. Avoid feeding suet in hot weather as the fat can quickly turn rancid and make birds ill or melt and drip onto their feathers.

• Thistle Feeder
  Especially designed to dispense thistle seed (different from the garden weed) these feeders typically have tiny holes that make the seed available only to small-beaked finches such as goldfinches, redpolls, and pine siskins. Avoid thistle-seed-dispensing bags as squirrels can tear them. Hang your thistle feeder from a tree or place it on a pole of at least five-foot to protect it from squirrels.

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