In the fall I tried to coerce the Chickadees to come and eat out of my hand while I was standing on our deck. We have no trees close to the house and the chickadees like to land on a tree branch close to me before diving to my hand. The metal of the deck railing was either too cold or too slippery so they wouldn’t land on it. This is why I ended up going out for walks every day to feed the birds.
I decided to come up with something that would sit on the metal deck railing that I could leave peanuts on and the birds could land on.
My first attempt was a piece of wood the exact width of the upper railing (1.5”) with two pieces hanging down on either side so it wouldn’t tilt or fall off from the weight of the birds. I added two thin pieces to stick out either side.
The only thing I measured was the railing and a piece to match. The other pieces were just scrap pieces of pallet board and pine strips leftovers from another project. I used a brad nailer to put it together.
As you can see, the chickadees came almost right away to eat.
We haven’t had any real wind this week and I could see that the peanuts would fly off in a good breeze. I decided to add a bit larger base and some short walls to keep the peanuts on it.
It kind of looks like a bed.
I just added the pieces on top of the earlier ones I made using more scrap wood.
Both the chickadees and Blue Jays came almost right after I put them out.
I made one more trying a wood slice as the base and the wooden parts of the piano keys I cut off recently for the side walls.
I put the third one on our bigger deck that faces the road. I can watch the two feeders while sitting in my favourite chair and my husband, across the room, can see the feeder on the big deck.
I was able to sit outside in the afternoon sun and captured the Blue Jay coming and going.
These aren’t for aesthetic purposes but they really work well. The rough wood makes it easier for the birds to grab onto. Having more than one feeder allows more than one to eat at a time.
My original plan was to make these for the chickadees. They aren’t a noisy bird. Now that the Blue Jays are coming, I see them sitting in the eaves and they screech at me to come out and bring more peanuts. They may be a pretty bird but they really sound awful.
I solved my initial problem of getting birds to come closer to the house to feed.
I guess if the Blue Jays become too annoying I can easily remove the feeders.
Brilliant!
Norm has feeders out and we ove watching the birds come for food. The blue jays are cute and demanding. If there aren’t any peanuts out they look in the window and sqawk.