Current Challenge: How to accommodate Northern Cardinals and redirect House Finches to other feeders.

Northern Cardinal female

Spring of 2014 was when I first began to seriously bird watch.  I loved watching all of the birds, but I noticed that the Northern Cardinals rarely used the C & S Nugget bird feeders. Consequently, they seldom made an appearance in my back yard, except at the bird baths to take a drink (never to bathe!) and to occasionally forage on the ground.  I began to read more about my new hobby and learned that I had made a typical beginner's mistake of using a single style of feeder and seed.  

I bought a small platform feeder (Perky-Pet Adjustable Platform, holds 1/2 lb of seed) , but then had problems with the squirrels "squatting" on it, and defending it from other birds and squirrels. 

It would be a year before I figured out one of the most important things that back yard birders should to know:  I needed to offer safflower seed (hereafter referred to as SS) in the "open" feeders and black-oil sunflower seed (hereafter abbreviated as BOSS) only in squirrel-blocking cages or on a much smaller feeder that wouldn't easily accommodate squirrels or larger birds.

This year, in the Spring of 2015, I decided that I wanted to attract more Northern Cardinals to my back yard.  So I've started offering SS, but have found it to be quite expensive, even when bought in bulk at my local feed and seed store. 

Because of their size, Northern Cardinals usually won't easily fit through the squirrel-blocking cages I bought this year (PineBush PINE30736 Squirrel Blocking Cage 12 inch) although I have seen an adventurous young female go in on occasion.  So I would like to be able to offer the  seed in a feeder on which the Northern Cardinals could comfortably perch. I've used three different feeders for the SS, but each has its defects.

The first one I bought at Roses Discount Store and have no idea the brand although I believe I've seen it in other places. It has only two ports, which I thought would limit the number of birds feeding but my efforts were stymied because the large tray that will allow a cardinal to perch, also collects enough seed so that as many as seven House Finches at a time can feed.  Even so, a good bit of the seed still ends up on the ground.  This attracts flocks of Mourning Doves, which are really messy and undesirable.  I don't mind the occasional pair or three, but seven to ten at a time is far too many for my smallish backyard.   

An unexpected bonus was that the fallen seed attracted the attention of two Blue Jays and I had my first ever sighting (in this yard) of a chipmunk.  My neighbor has three cats that control the rodent population so I'm impressed that this one has managed to survive.  But we've suffered enough squirrel damage which has made minimizing fallen seed a priority.

The second feeder, also purchased at Roses Discount Store, has only two feeding ports with an adequate perch, but no trays to catch the over-flow so an unacceptable amount ends up on the ground. I suspect it may be used for nesting material next year.

The third feeder was the Spill No More feeder by Blue Bunting.  It has 6 feeding ports, spills little to no seed and the Northern Cardinals readily will use it, but unfortunately, so will the House Finches. I now have two of them, one for SS and the other for BOSS.  With an s-hook, I've been able to put it in a squirrel blocking cage for the one I've filled with BOSS so that only birds will have access to it. 

I'm really not sure if that will help me in my mission to make it easier for the Northern Cardinals and a little more challenging for the House Finches.  I put it up today, we'll see. I suspect what will happen is that the "open" feeders will be emptied first, as that is what has been happening. I shouldn't have been surprised to learn that like humans, birds like convenience.  Slowing down to land on the cage before hopping inside has apparently not been convenient enough for the House Finches although the smaller birds like the Brown-headed Nuthatches, Titmice, and Carolina Chickadees will do it when the open feeders are too busy. 

Next I'll probably need to think about moving the feeder stations and to put further thought into the best feeder station configurations.  Three or four feeders per station might just be too many to achieve my objective, I really don't know yet.

What I have learned through all of the experimentation is that most House Finches prefer to eat communally, although they will also eat alone.  Most mature Northern Cardinals seem to prefer to eat alone whenever possible, but will tolerate a couple of other birds. Like most of the other critters that visit the feeder station, they prefer the BOSS,  but will readily eat the safflower seed.  I endeavor to give them some access to the BOSS, but easy access to the SS while minimizing access by the House Finches. It may be an impossible task, but I'm motivated enough by the challenge to make the effort.

I just put up this small tube feeder by Birds Choice, the  2 cup 2 port feeder with metal components instead of plastic ones.I'm disappointed that I haven't seen a single Northern Cardinal using it although I did see a male make an attempt to land on the perch. I'm going to leave it up for now, but I suspect that will be temporary, unfortunately.

I've also ordered a small Nyjer feeder with only two ports, that I had planned to offer at a separate feeder station, away from the "communal" feeders for the House Finches. That item may be returned because a recent experience has taught me that if I want to have any Nyjer seed for the American Goldfinches, I'll need an upside feeder. The Perky-Pet 398 Patented Deluxe Upside Down Thistle Feeder  (pictured above right) will arrive tomorrow. 

Overall, I have had some success with my efforts. I now see many more Northern Cardinals than I had previously.  There are at least 4 mature males, two mature females (that I've seen and whose gender I can comfortably ascertain), two birds transitioning to their orange beaks and adult plumage, and two immature birds with black beaks.

Now I just need to figure out how to feed them on a much more economical basis.  Buying at the feed and seed store in quantity helps, especially with the black-oil sunflower seed, but the safflower seed is still expensive, even in quantity.  Hence my quest to feed more birds and keep the seed from falling to the ground. I'm not sure if seed catchers are worth trying, I need to do a little research to find out if it deters the doves and squirrels. Any suggestions??