If you are always taking pics from the same relative position, you can just memorize/preset the focus manually so the feeder is clear and ready to go (depending on your camera). This means you won’t spook things by pointing a strange camera at them so long.
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UPDATE: Yesterday I confirmed the second male Goldfinch at my feeder. The day before I thought I saw a second pair of Goldfinches but could not confirm. One day I also saw a male House Finch. But I moved around so much inside the window trying to find my camera that he left without eating.
My computer is right inside the window. When I’m at my computer I often notice when birds are at the feeder. They tend to vocalize, which draws my attention. But of course they also vocalize from the tree just a metre or two beyond the feeder so I also hear them from there; they are not always at the feeder when I hear them.
Here’s a frame from the video of both male Goldfinches at the feeder; it lasted but a split second. The one on the left was feeding when the other one flew in from the tree. It had been flying around and passing by the feeder. There had been quite a kerfuffle, back and forth. At one point, one of them was at the plants in the garden beside the tree, not really visible in photo. I don’t know which one is the old-time regular and which is the newcomer.
June 8 2024
Male and Female Goldfinches at feeder earlier in day. Photo taken through window, not too good because of the way the sun hit the birds, but I think ID is definite.
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Yay! Glad you’ve discovered the joys of watching what the birds are up to at the feeder just outside your window, instead of doing whatever it is you were supposed to be doing at the computer!
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There are anti bird strike clings that work on the outside of the window. Amazon sells oodles; none are very expensive, but a few are poor quality.
The first time I had a bird strike a window, it broke my heart. There are three solutions.
Remove the feeder (not desirable for you)
Move the feeders away from the window (not practical for you)
Apply anti-window strike clings ( practical for you and cheap)
I recommend these, I’ve used them for years and years:
https://windowalert.com/?_vsrefdom=adwords&msclkid=229e9f2f53c011268ba9f94a90ea7bfc&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP%20Search%20-%20Bird%20Decals%2FStickers&utm_term=bird%20strike%20decals&utm_content=Bird%20Strike%20Decals
I also use others anti bird strike clings, but the Window Alerts are less obtrusive and they lasted very well even when applied to the outside of the window. They are easy to move or remove.
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I would highly recommend going to Wild Birds Unlimited. There is one on 4391 King St. East in Kitchener, near where you live, if I’m correct. They sell products (like window decals, etc) that help prevent window collisions. I’ve been to WBU before, and the staff are very helpful and knowledgeable.
Here is some helpful information on the Kitchener store’s website, too, regarding window strikes:
https://kitchener.wbu.com/you-can-make-your-windows-safer
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Thanks. I looked at their website a while ago. If I remember correctly, they are not close to a bus route so I would have a problem getting there. This feeder is close enough to the window not to be a problem, if I got by the three foot rule. There is not enough room for the birds to get up speed before they hit the window. Besides, I can’t imagine the birds are anxious to come in this direction.
June 9 2024
EDIT: Now I realize it was probably a mistake to post that picture because the feeder looks further away than it is.
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Oh, ok - that’s too bad. Totally undertand, though.
No worries, Sarah; I understand what you mean. For several years now, I’ve had a bird feeder at about that distance, and I haven’t experienced a single collision. From my experience/research, that distance should definitely be ok.
P.S. Do you have book “The Joy of Bird Feeding” by Jim Carpenter? It has excellent information regarding tips on all aspects of bird feeding, feeder placement, food preferences, and window safety precautions. I learned a wealth of information from this book; I highly recommend it if you don’t have it on your shelf yet.
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I don’t have the book but I read the sample available on Amazon. It looks very good but I think most of the information is also available on the various websites of Cornell Ornithology Lab. I subscribe to their Birds of the World.
One items that really interests me is the topic about which birds are in my area and when. Cornell developed a tool for that, but it’s only available in the States. This book was written by the man who started WBU. He is in Indiana. So I figure that book pertains specifically to the US, same as Cornell, though its information can also be extended to similar conditions in Canada.
Also, some bird species travel the entire continent. Consequently, most bird books focus on Eastern or Western North American birds, or the entire continent. The Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River seem to divide the continent into different areas, and also the Great Lakes. But now I’m getting into biodiversity regions or whatever they’re called, and those are endless. There’s the tundra in the Arctic, there’s the swamps in Florida, there’s the maritime areas all over and they’re all different.
Here is a list of free sources to nature lovers that may be of interest to Ontarians (and others):
Ontario Field Ornithologists
Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas
Canadian Biodiversity Website, put together by McGill University
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, includes eBird for citizen scientists to record observations, and a field guide All About Birds, which I use for ID of sightings and Sound, as well as many other bits of bird info. Their technical scientific Birds of the World is by subscription only, though they are currently offering a free 30 day trial (if I’m not mistaken).
I don’t know if there’s anything specifically about feeders and birdfeeding in there, but Cornell has Feeder Watch projects and lists bird diets, as well as much other information. Cornell’s various websites and iNaturalist combined serve me well, and meet most of my info needs with regards to birding and nature-watching. Conversations like this on iNat are especially helpful.
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This morning for the first time I saw House Sparrows at the feeder itself. They had been foraging on the ground under the feeder. I see more sparrows this summer, maybe young ones, but I see a mature male a lot.
So this–the photo below–is what I patched together to make a halo, using stuff I had on hand. I think it looks a lot like your diagram, @joedziewa. Do you think it will work to discourage the Sparrows? Or should it be larger in diameter? That grill is from an old desk fan and it fits perfectly on the dome of the feeder. (I see it’s a bit crooked right now.)
I also have shiny wire if shiny is better. The wires are hard to see in the photo; there are four, weighted down with those shiny links that I got at Dollarama. I needed only one for the end of my cat’s leash but had to buy a pack of six or so, so I still had these left over.
The American Goldfinch and Black-capped Chickadee both visited afterward. I haven’t seen the Sparrows since but it’s only been up for five or six hours.
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The wires look like a good distance from places to land to deter them. I think there was less space between wires with the one we had set up, but this looks like a spacing working for others. Small, agile birds like finches, chickadees, and downy woodpeckers can easily navigate narrower, but larger birds might avoid it then. If aesthetically feasible, something shiny on top that would move in the wind, like reflective mylar, will make the house sparrows more nervous about trying to navigate the wires. I’m not sure, just the thought of being behind the wires is enough, but I think the caging on top might provide a landing point for bolder birds to hop down from to avoid trickier navigation.
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Thanks, @joedziewa. You brought up a point I never thought of about birds hopping down from the grill on top. I’ll keep a lookout on that.
I am also noticing that the goldfinches and chickadees are taking a different route away from the feeder. If they are on the side toward the window, instead of just flying off, they make a U toward the window before taking off. I guess they have to do that to get out from behind the wires.
This morning I saw a male House Sparrow for the first time since putting up the wires. It did not go on the feeder, just picked at seeds on the table below. It made an unhappy sound. I hope that means it wanted to go on the feeder but couldn’t.
I think the wires are working! This morning I watched two attempts of the House Sparrow to fly from the ground up to the finch feeder, but those wires were in the way, or maybe it was the weights. It always detoured and ended up just picking from the ground.
It remains to be seen whether some House Sparrow will be bold enough to perch on top of the grill and jump down on the feeder, like Joe suggested. The Chickadees and Goldfinches hold onto the wires and grill any old way but House Sparrows are made of different stuff.
Black-capped Chickadee hanging onto grill upside down, waiting for the right time to chase off the other one, July 25 2024
House Sparrow, female, picking seed from table beneath finch feeder, July 25 2024, photographed through two panes of window glass.
Male Goldfinch perches on vertical wire for a moment before joining his mate at feeder, July 28 2025, taken from outside window.
I observe that since I put up the wires, once in a while with some regularity, I hear a bird bump against the window as it exits the wire and feeder environment. Previously, I did not observe this. I do not observe any injuries; the pair of Goldfinches and the pair of Black-capped Chickadees continue to feed many days afterward. As a safety precaution, I taped something to the inside of the window. I don’t have real decals but I hope this serves the same purpose.
Photo taken from as close to the angle of the birds’ view as possible.
Photo taken from further back for better human view.
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I’m in the Portland, Oregon metro area. I have never seen “no mess” bird seed. Birds are messy. Maybe it will work better for you than for me.
Since people tend to be outside less during the winter, I would suggest that a suet feeder be hung low enough to be seen from the window, but (if you can manage it) not low enough to attract raccoons and other pest mammals.
My experience leads me to believe that hummingbird feeders are the least messy. I suspect that they would be warm weather feeders only where you are. They do require regular cleaning (at least weekly) so I always recommend the flying saucer shaped feeders (which are easy to take apart and clean) rather than the tube feeders. You also get to observe the hummers more with the saucer feeder because it has a perching rim.
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Thank you for this advice. I found a hummingbird feeder like you described at the local Walmart and put it in my Cart. Then I asked Google how hummingbirds get along with other birds and this came up from The Spruce:
they will avoid feeding in areas where larger birds are active. Position hummingbird feeders away from other feeding stations
So that won’t work. All I have is an 8 x 4 foot patio on my apartment, and the finch feeder is there. American Goldfinch and Black-capped Chickadee feed there regularly. The hummingbird feeder comes with a stake, so I could put it on the other side of the walkway in my perennial bed, but there’s a wooden fence and a tree that the larger birds use all the time.
I’ll check out the lard feeder. I think I can outsmart the squirrels and rats. I would love to attract blue jays. They are in the trees out here.
We position our feeders so we can watch the birds outside the window, which is only about four feet wide. I think by “larger birds” they are referring to starlings and crows. My hummingbird feeder is less than 3 feet away from a feeder that attracts lots of goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, etc. I have watched the hummingbirds sit on the saucer perch and check out the finches, etc. while they are feeding but they seldom move away from them. Of course, your area may be different, but for us it is not a problem.
As for the suet feeder, we put it on a tall shepherds-hook-type holder and have had no problems with squirrels. Those umbrella-like covers are good for deflecting squirrels, also. Best of luck to you! We are endlessly entertained by the bird visits!
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For the summer at least, you could try putting up a hummingbird feeder. Ruby throated hummingbirds are found in Ontario during the summer months. Those are one of the least messy birds to feed, in my opinion. (Edit: I looked and saw that humming birds may not work, I’ll keep this here though because maybe it still will be useful) If you really need to keep any mess at all from collecting and are using a messy seed (I swear by black oil sunflower seeds to attract the widest variety of birds) then maybe placing a large tray or something with a lipped edge under the feeder. To prevent rodents, I use Cayenne pepper. Birds can’t taste it (Their sense of taste is pretty poor) and rodents don’t like it. Consider using a feeder with small holes/mesh, or one of the ones designed to keep noisy and loud birds away (I love corvids, but they are quite noisy!) some or all of these steps should be enough. Good luck with your bird feeders, I think it’s a great idea!
(Edit 2: Oh, this is from April. I need to check the dates on these threads :-P )
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What type of suet feeder do you use? My friend told me the squirrels can open her suet feeder. She put it in a tree.
About hummingbirds, what you say is wonderful information. I’m looking at my situation and I can place the hummingbird feeder three feet from the finch feeder. I could even attach it to the window because it comes with suction caps. That might also serve in diverting the finches and chickadees from trying to fly through the window.
I taped something to the window for a decal, so now they no longer bump into the glass but yesterday, a chickadee perched on the cross-piece of the window frame and pecked at the glass to figure out why it couldn’t get through.
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Suet feeders: there are lots of varieties out there, from simple cages to fancy “squirrel-proof” ones. I like the ones that have a tail prop because woodpeckers brace themselves with their stiff tails. Small woodpeckers (Downies) can brace themselves on any feeder, but medium-sized (like Red-bellied) prefer a tail prop, and the large Pileateds enjoy one with a long tail prop. The company Nature’s Way makes good ones.
Squirrels love suet, but they are less attracted to the cakes that are just plain suet, without seeds or peanuts, etc. (they are harder to find, though, and more expensive). Supposedly the suet cakes that have hot pepper in them will deter squirrels, but I haven’t tried them. (I can’t bear the thought of the little guys gasping from heat and turning red…)
Starlings also like suet, unfortunately, and will call all their friends, to quickly devour a cake, if you have them in your neighborhood.
Nuthatches and wrens also enjoy it, as well as blue jays.
I have a family of crows that like to come to my feeder. They have difficulty, and have to flap a lot and can’t really hang on, but I like crows, they so are welcome to it.
Keep your extra suet cakes in the fridge, they get very soft in the summer.
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You can see it here. (Northern flicker feeding fledgling from my suet feeder.)
I have a suet feeder that has a wire cage for the suet block inside another wire cage. The small birds (nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, etc.) go through the 1 inch square outside wire and eat the suet. The birds with long necks (northern flickers) eat the suet from the outside wire. It is harder for the larger birds with shorter necks (starlings) to eat the suet. Not impossible, but harder. The height and location of the suet feeder has kept squirrels away (so far).
I love that your chickadee tapped on your glass! I love chickadees and never realized that there were two kinds here (black-capped and chestnut backed) until they started coming to the black oil sunflower seed feeder.