I’ll never forget the moment I realized I was accidentally poisoning the birds I was trying to help. I’d just refilled my tube feeder with what I thought was fresh black oil sunflower seed when I noticed something off about the seed at the bottom. Fuzzy. Gray-green. Clumped together. Mold growth had taken over, and […]
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It’s 6 AM on a Saturday. You’re asleep, dreaming peacefully, when suddenly, tap-tap-tap-TAP! Your house reverberates as a woodpecker treats your cedar siding like a drum kit. Outside in your pajamas, you spot a pileated woodpecker, crow-sized, hammering away at the corner of your house like it’s auditioning for a heavy metal band. After three
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If you’ve ever tried to figure out how to install a squirrel proof bird feeder, let me paint you a familiar picture. You fill your brand-new feeder with premium black oil sunflower seeds, step back to admire your setup, and within minutes a gray squirrel has turned into a furry acrobat. It launches itself six
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One icy morning last winter, a puffed-up chickadee hit my feeder like it hadn’t eaten in days. It tore through black oil sunflower seeds as if its life depended on it, and honestly, it did. Moments like that make it clear why choosing the best bird seed for each season matters. Birds don’t eat the
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Look, I’ll be honest with you, tossing some seeds out for the birds seems pretty straightforward, right? Fill the feeder, watch the show, repeat. But here’s the thing: I learned the hard way that responsible bird feeding is way more involved than just keeping the buffet stocked. A few years back, I noticed a bunch
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My urban backyard measures exactly 400 square feet, smaller than most living rooms. If you’re wondering how to attract birds to a small garden, the good news is that it doesn’t take acres of forest. I planted three native shrubs, hung a single bird feeder, and added a shallow dish of water, and within two
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If you’re wondering how to attract nesting birds, imagine sipping your morning coffee as a blue jay lands on your serviceberry bush with nesting material. Over weeks, you watch them build a nest, incubate eggs, and feed chicks. Your backyard bird habitat becomes a thriving bird-friendly garden with nesting sites, attracting songbirds and migratory birds
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Thinking about how to make a bird sanctuary in your backyard? Picture walking outside and hearing birds chirp and sing all around you, with wings flitting from branch to branch. Chickadees hang upside-down from feeders, cardinals call from oak branches, and hummingbirds zip past bright flowers. You don’t need acres of land to make it
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Everyone’s heard that harsh “jay! jay!” echoing from the oak tree at dawn. That’s your neighborhood blue jay, nature’s loudest alarm clock, making sure the entire block knows it’s awake. But if you think that’s the only sound they make, you’re missing out. After spending a spring morning recording birds in my yard, I realized
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That tiny bird excavating a hole in your dead tree isn’t being destructive, it’s being a chickadee. Nesting habits of chickadees in backyard settings are fascinating to watch up close. Last spring, I saw a pair spend an entire week hollowing out a cavity in my old fence post, carrying away wood chips one beakful
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