I'm a burgeoning birder. I thought it would be cool beans to have some of the local cuties fly on over to my balcony and have a bit of a snack from the bird feeder you see pictured. This feeder sits, unloved, unvisited, unfound? attached sadly to my living room window.
The seed is fresh; I live on the 3rd floor; there's certainly no predators (well, except for this human); and yet, no birdies come.
I suspect they're not down with the lack of flight cover, and I guess they might simply not have discovered it yet.
But, I thought I'd ask: anyone else try installing a bird feeder on their apartment balcony? If so, was it visited?
In the meantime I sit and wait, hoping I'll get to see (at the very least!) the prolific local sparrows and chickadees.
10 comments:
We've had feeders on our porch, but not in an apt. Regardless, they like the feeder on the rail better than the one right up next to the house. Also, if you've just started, give it time, they have to catch on that you have food there. At first it took weeks for the food to be gone, then it got down to every other day.
Birds often can't see windows (hence, they fly into them and die). I don't have any personal experience with balcony feeders, but I did have some friends that had success with pans of seed left on the balcony itself.
I had one on an appt balcony feeder that was successful, but I hung it from the railing. It was also close access to tree cover nearby.
Perhaps, the reflect in the window looks like other birds...or its too early yet. Still waiting on some types of birds here (now I have a house)
I wish you the best.
I've been thinking of getting one set up at my place this year, which is also on the 3rd floor, but there is a big tree nearby. And I don't have a railing.
Hopefully they catch on there's free food soon! hehe
I put one on my 3rd floor apartment window in the beginning of winter... it's still there :( I did see one bird eating from it on the first day, but still nothing yet.
I think now that the warmer weather is coming it, I'll swap it out for a new one (I have a ball of bird feed in a green mesh sack, hanging from a hook that is stuck to a window on a room that is almost never used). I'll let you know if I have any luck though.
Try sunflower seed in your feeder. There are some other specialty seeds with fruits and nuts that seem to attract them more. The seed I view in your feeder does not interest them even here in the woods.
I enjoy your blog.
the birds are not accustomed to looking for food around apartment buildings and since there are no trees near by for cover it may take them a while to find it, if ever. I think seed in a pan in plain sight to start with might be good advice.
This is a very late comment I know but this is something I've been looking into myself... from what I understand, birds prefer to have one with coverage nearby- bush or foliage- so they feel safe from predators.
I have a window bird feeder outside my apartment and I tied a bright red ribbon to it to catch the birds' attention. They are drawn to flowers and red and orange also draw hummingbirds. I also put a reflective sheet on the inside so my cat and I can watch them up close without the birds seeing us. To prevent birds from flying into my window I put window clings on the outside to break up the reflective surface on the glass. Note: I had the same bird fly into my window repeatedly because he was attacking his own image (I know it just had to be a male! LOL) So I drew a picture of a huge eye ball on a piece of paper and taped it to the inside. He flew away instantly! I guess he didn't appreciate an audience.
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