"Jean B." > wrote in message
...
> wrote:
>> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:47:38 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>
>>> Same here. They really NEED to have their food. I can't imagine why
>>> this guy said what he did. I sure hope he didn't convince anyone to put
>>> away their feeders.
>>>
>>> I do have a question, which someone might be able to answer. One is
>>> often told (or reads) that birds need water in the winter. BUT how on
>>> earth did the birds survive before man started putting out water for
>>> them? Obviously the birds DID survive without man putting it out. What
>>> am I missing here?
>>
>> They drink from puddles, I have seen them doing that and I think they
>> get moisture off blades of grass as well when times are hard.
>
> But in the winter, puddles are apt to be laced with salt. And the grass,
> at least now, is covered with snow. Obviously birds did survive the
> winter. Hmmm. Maybe the salt complicates things?
Not here where salt is never used. And did they use salt in the old days?
I don't really know. I just either read this or saw it on TV. Can't
remember now as I saw things about ponds in several places. But they were
talking about man made ponds in your back yard and they said that the trick
to keeping them free of ice in the winter was to put tennis balls in the
water. They claimed that the balls would move around and help prevent ice
from forming at the top. I suppose this might only work if you lived in an
area where you didn't get an extended deep freeze and perhaps if the water
was deep enough.
>>>
>>> (And I do view food differently because I have been feeding the birds
>>> and figure they make their nest near sources of food and thus become
>>> reliant on those sources.)
>>
>> I am certain the old trees near me get more woodpeckers because I feed
>> during the summer as well and it's a short flight between my balcony
>> and the trees. The woodpeckers are probably my favourite, they become
>> the most friendly and by mid-summer do not fly off just because I go
>> out there.
>
> I love my woodpeckers! I have two feeders and foods that they
> particularly like: blueberry pellets (which never attracted blueberries)
> and a fruit-nut blend. Both of these are in peanut feeders. Now I can't
> find more of those feeders. The ones I DO see are just wire mesh. The
> ones I have are metal with round holes in it.
Oh man. I have wood siding so I do not like them at all. I had one peck
on. I spoke sharply to it and told it to go elsewhere. It did! But I
still hear them around here.
My parents were not so lucky. Their house was targeted several times by
woodpeckers and they did a lot of damage to it. In the end they had to hire
a company to put stuff on the house to scare them off. The things that my
dad bought and tried did not work. What they eventually put up were some
bright, silver things that spun in the wind. They had to be put on every
corner of the house and more in the areas where the woodpeckers often
pecked, which was outside what used to be my bedroom window.