Sometimes birds are not the most intelligent.

I really don't understand why people who obviously don't give a shit about birds have a bird feeder in the first place. Better yet, why don't you get those feeders that suction right to the window. I'm sure it would give you hours of enjoyment. But you might need a bigger shovel.
 
So far, skunk is the very worst smellin thing I ever hit. Geese are pretty but when I hit one (didn't kill it) I was sick to even think about it for days. It's still a life.
 
i love birds! they're one of my favorite types of creatures.
we have three bird feeders, my dad takes a lot of pictures of the birds, so do i. here are some of my recent ones: http://photobucket.com/albums/a316/ashbat/Deck/ , not high art, but i love birds.

they're just really stupid, lol.
i'm not happy it died, i'm amused at the novelty of having a bird-print on glass. i have never before seen such a thing.
 
You love birds but you think it's hilarious that it flew into your window and left a mark? Give me a break Ash. You don't love them, they're a novelty to you. If you loved them you would take time to figure out *why* they're crashing into your windows and fix it. But instead you think it's funny how "stupid" they are. Stupid compared to who or what exactly?

Mourning Doves are sweet and docile birds that mate for life. Don't be surprised if you see another dove hanging around, looking for it's mate that was tossed in the woods.

If you're wondering why I'm so on about this, I am a bird watcher and have been for some time. And I take the necessary precautions so the birds that come to my feeders don't get eaten by the neighborhood cats or get confused by a reflection in the window and fly into it. And I don't think it's funny when they do.
 
The only feeder I can see myself having is a hummingbird feeder. It's higher up and to the best of my knowledge a cat would need extraordinary skills to catch a humminbird.
In Ash's defense, I bet her parents are responsible for the feeder and AFTER THE FACT it could seem rather humorous...'course I have a bad habit at laughing at inappropriate times. I believe that Dr. Phil would catagorize it as a coping mechanism.
 
I guess I'm the only one who doesn't find any humor in this whatsoever. Surprising, considering the amount of people who have pet birds on this board. And the ones who helped me with advice when I found a stray parrot. And the ones who were upset at those people who shot a sparrow.

I guess it's my fault for assuming people who lure birds to their yard would care when one of them crashes into their window. As far as who is "responsible" for the feeder, no one apparently. Because if they were responsible, they would know not to put it so close to the window. But then how would they get their own satisfaction out of it? Most people who put up feeders do it for themselves (this my comment on it being a novelty), not for the actual birds.

Whatever, there's obviously no use in arguing this further; I'm alone in my opinion. Sorry I've been such a killjoy.
 
greenfreak said:
I guess I'm the only one who doesn't find any humor in this whatsoever. Surprising, considering the amount of people who have pet birds on this board. And the ones who helped me with advice when I found a stray parrot. And the ones who were upset at those people who shot a sparrow.

I guess it's my fault for assuming people who lure birds to their yard would care when one of them crashes into their window. As far as who is "responsible" for the feeder, no one apparently. Because if they were responsible, they would know not to put it so close to the window. But then how would they get their own satisfaction out of it? Most people who put up feeders do it for themselves (this my comment on it being a novelty), not for the actual birds.

Whatever, there's obviously no use in arguing this further; I'm alone in my opinion. Sorry I've been such a killjoy.
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Actually, you're not. I don't find it particularly funny myself...at least until the post about running over a skunk. That was funny...anyhow...I also don't believe in bird feeders. It gets birds semi-dependent upon humans for survival. Not a good thing. I do however have one very important thing to say...birds fly into glass for one of 2 reasons.

1. They can't see it, and desire something past it.
2. They see their reflection, and think it's a rival.
 
greenfreak said:
Stupid compared to who or what exactly?
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stupid compared to creatures who don't fly into windows, pretty much.
i don't mean to suggest that i think people are any smarter, they do a lot of dumb things too, sometimes resulting in death. take for example the darwin awards.

even when we didn't have the birdfeeders, birds would hit the glass. this is not the first time it's happened, over the course of 19 years i can think of several other times.
we have had the birdfeeders for a long time (maybe a couple of years) and to my knowledge this is the first time a bird has hit the glass since.
so to me, having the birdfeeders versus not having the birdfeeders has no effect on the number of birds hitting the glass.
if we took them down or moved them further away, the odds are still pretty great that at some point, a bird will crash into the glass again.

thusly, i believe that if something in the area is at fault for the birds' deaths, then it is the door, not the feeders.
and what are we supposed to do about that?
 
I don't agree but I said I wasn't going to argue anymore so I won't.

Break up the reflection of the window and you'll decrease the window strikes. There are many different ways of doing it. My windows (you can see a pic in the background here) have some kind of plastic pieces to make it look like there are seperate panes of glass even though there isn't. It's enough to break up the reflection; I've never had a window strike that I know of in five years.

There's decals and other things that can be put on the window. If it's just put on the window closest to the feeder, that would help. Or just move the feeder somewhere away from the house. As long as you have a feeder, you're going to attract more birds than normal obviously.

It's just a question of how far you're willing to go to help the birds you're attracting to your yard.
 
I don't think it's funny either, and when my cat catches a bird I chastise her. She has learned that birdies are not playthings.
There is a hawk of small size that visits my backyard, looking for mice, moles, even chipmunks and I just watch and enjoy Nature doing things the way they are meant to be.
Hell, I even have opossum and racoons visit my back deck.
 
ash r said:
even when we didn't have the birdfeeders, birds would hit the glass. this is not the first time it's happened, over the course of 19 years i can think of several other times.
we have had the birdfeeders for a long time (maybe a couple of years) and to my knowledge this is the first time a bird has hit the glass since.
so to me, having the birdfeeders versus not having the birdfeeders has no effect on the number of birds hitting the glass.
if we took them down or moved them further away, the odds are still pretty great that at some point, a bird will crash into the glass again.

thusly, i believe that if something in the area is at fault for the birds' deaths, then it is the door, not the feeders.
and what are we supposed to do about that?
Click to expand...

Once again, it's not the idea of feeding the birds. It's the idea that they will become semi-dependent upon those feeders for survival. My father used to feed the birds at home in winter. He'd go through sunflower seeds by the ton for three months out of the year. One winter, he spent some time in the hospital (around a month), and nobody fed the birds. I wasn't home, and my mom was working. The end result was some of the younger birds dying from starvation because they kept waiting for my dad to feed them. There's also the migratory waterfowl that no longer migrate, but that's another thread...
 
According to an Ornithologist with the Audubon society, most of that is old wives tales. Here's a good article:

FAQ about bird feeding and dependancy

This is as close as I could find to an expert opinion. There are very little resources for official studies. But he does cite some resources.

I'm interested to hear about the migratory waterfowl. I know geese and ducks at ponds are really bad off with deformed wings and a host of other problems because people think it's so cute to feed them bread.

I took this picture last winter; apparently the girl and her father can't read:

girl_feed2.jpg
 
Feeding them bread is bad? OH no! Sometimes I throw stale bread crumbs in the yard. I didn't know this was harmful.
 
tonksy said:
Feeding them bread is bad? OH no! Sometimes I throw stale bread crumbs in the yard. I didn't know this was harmful.
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Bleached flour, preservatives, gluten, and more will harm those birdies. If YOU won't eat it, why should they?
 
I didn't know either until I looked into the reasons why all those "don't feed the birds" signs were up. Here's an explination: Angel Wings.

It's worse for geese and ducks but all birds are harmed by having bread as a staple in their diet.
 
kat2220 said:
Bleached flour, preservatives, gluten, and more will harm those birdies. If YOU won't eat it, why should they?
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Well, I do eat it...sometimes it goes stale. :shrug:
Thanks for the link greenie....but do ducks like lettuce?
 
That's the problem; they like bread because it's more filling. It's instant gratification. So even if you try to feed them something that's good for them, many times they already prefer bread and will shy away from the stuff that's actually good for them. But if they have any hope of overcoming that, it has to start somewhere. I've spread feed/grain around for them, hoping that if there is enough of a lapse between bread-feeding visitors, that they'll go for the grain. Some of them did.
 
So by that logic it is still okay for me to feed the warren of rabbits that we have living under our holly bushes. I throw them carrots and broccili stems or any other raw veggie bits that are going to waste.
 
I didn't know gardeners and rabbits got along. :D I've heard horror stories about rabbits eating through hundreds of dollars worth of plants.

Someone here found a baby rabbit and fed it something that was poisonous to it. I don't remember what it was though; it may have been rugelah (sp?)...
 
greenfreak said:
I didn't know gardeners and rabbits got along. :D I've heard horror stories about rabbits eating through hundreds of dollars worth of plants.

Someone here found a baby rabbit and fed it something that was poisonous to it. I don't remember what it was though; it may have been rugelah (sp?)...
Click to expand...

I remember that...I don't remember who it was but I remember he was just trying to help it :(
 
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