Bird Safety around Bird Feeders
November 01, 2018
Greetings from Vermont! My home's bird feeder went up for the winter season yesterday, after a spell of cold weather, sleet, rain and snow.
This year, it seemed like we went from a day in the 80s, to snow, almost overnight. I thought it was time to put the bird feeder up, and I was right! The birds have been swarming it and I have refilled it twice already. They are so hungry that the Black-capped Chicadees are sharing with the Blue Jays, and the White-breasted Nuthatch will zoom in over the head of the departing Red-breasted Nuthatch.
It's so good to see the birds up close, again, as I can looking out my second story window. We place the feeder just above the porch roof, so that the birds never groundfeed beneath the feeder. If food falls, it falls to the porch roof. That makes the feeder more safe for birds, as quite a few predatory animals (coyotes, fisher cats, and domestic cats) can't get to the roof. This is good. Owls and hawks are still a threat to the birds, but what can you do?
Of course, if you are reading here on our Birdsbesafe website, you know that we make and sell a product to protect birds from pet cats. It uses bright colors around the cat's neck to help birds see the cat from a great enough distance, in time to fly away to safety.
Our Birdsbesafe cat collars work great and protect almost all birds, however, you should still do all you can, in other ways to protect birds. If you put out a bird feeder, have you considered its location for bird safety from, say, your neighbor's cat? Is there a better, more protected place for your feeder? Can you put a fence around it? Think it through, and your visiting beautiful bird friends will thank you!
As always, if you can keep your cat indoors year-round, please do so. If you let your cat outdoors, for whatever reason, please protect the birds with our device or by using a catio or harness system. Cheers from here in Birdsbesafe land!
