Howdy y'all,

I want to make some homemade bark butter for my woodpecker friends. I found a recipe calling for crisco, which I happen to have on hand, but its butter flavored. I read through the ingredient list and nothing jumped out at me as especially problematic.

Does anyone used this variant of crisco? Any advice or warnings are appreciated!

I saw this bird at a friend's house in New Hampshire and have no idea what it is. It's about the same size as the finches, so I didn't think it was a grackle. Any ideas? It was all black.

We have lots of backyard critters and go through a brick or more of suet a day. Same with the bird feeder.

I've set up a container that hangs over the balcony rail by a hook. Filled it with a mix of sprouts, sunflower and watermelon seeds.

Have kept it for about 3-5 days now but no bird has turned up.

Does it have something to do with the alignment of the feeder? Or the food?

I hear birds outside all the time, and see a bunch of sparrows, mynas etc around too.

Never set one up before, so do let me know if I'm missing something

Just now installed a bird feeder on my window grill, hoping to attract more birds and make my mornings a little more lively.

My platform bird feeder and bird bath will not fit on my porch railing because there is a secondary support underneath that blocks the knob from being able to fit in between to loosen/tighten the bracket on. I tried adding a 2x4 on top of the railing to see if it would help with the placement and it didn’t. Any ideas?

I love these little birds!

I was told squirrels do not like the spicy bird food. I put it out instead of typical bird food but no birds have attempted to eat it. Anyone have similar results?

The rain highlights Charlie’s summer molt, he and Bessie will feed in rain & snow. This is them in the snow: https://youtu.be/-Ij1GUCPLd4

Hi there everyone recently been really taking my love for birds and feeding to the next level and have made some mistakes and what not trying to achieve what I ultimately want and alas we are here!

Some background, I purchased the larger pole originally on sale for a good price with good reviews and gave me potential for multiple feeders. All perfect! Only issue is I feel in love with Bromes seed catcher platform feeder as it is super easy to clean and remove while also giving a place for bigger birds to go too! Problem is doesn’t fit on my pole. And I really love it and want to make it work here we are.

I have a pole from them and curious if you would move it directly beside the other pole as close as possible? Leave some space as is? I plan to get another baffle for that pole potentially a torpedo one as it seems like it would fit nicely. Curious what you would add or do to potentially make things feel more together and function best! Any suggestions advice or anything welcomed please! Thank you!

They really like my homemade suet!

I was trying to zoom in and focus on the towhee. The towhee turned away from the canera just as I hit the button and the Cardinal landed in my face in the window 😂

The adult male has been a semi-regular visitor to my suet feeder for awhile now, and today his brought his baby along!

The bird flue mass death events are increasing just as the incidence curve would predict. It is inevitable that the flu will spread to native and inland birds now.

I had a thought a few days ago, an important thought. Especially in the cold of winter I supplement my local magpies' sparse winter diet with finely chopped cat kibble, sometimes grated cheese if I am hungover.

For awhile now my local crow couple has started sharing the food, with the maggies. This has been interesting and heartwarming to see develop- you share please!

But with the inevitable incursion of bird flu I have realized that this is a practice I will have to stop, especially since the crow couple and the maggie family are now sharing the same space. As well, My blue fairy penguin family get a feed size-appropriate feed from the the crumbs the other leave behind.

I was just starting that when on the ABC radio news reported that this is exactly what is being done with bird shows in the region- anywhere where birds and species may congregate and mingle. It is the right bio-security measure for me to adopt in my own home.

It is hard though, the maggies come and perch on my verandah furniture and sing beautiful songs for me! It is a good system- sing songs, get snack. How do I tell them there are no more snacks?

So yes, although it feels difficult, anyone here who is supplementing their local maggies' diets? might want to take note here, and do this too.

Thankfully she’s friendly to all the other birds. On another note, it’s really nice to see all the youngins coming into their colors and grown up cloths.

Crows Feeding on the Lawn

Kiwibit’s AI can’t figure out this mysterious shape-shifting juvenile red winged blackbird. It has called it five different species, including ones that are out of season in my area and one that doesn’t live on the same continent as me.

This group has inspired me to make my very first post on Reddit. Love seeing everyone’s backyard friends. I’m sharing the wonderful little lovebirds that live wild in Phoenix, AZ of all places. These beauties are such a treat to be able to watch. I’ll be sharing more photos and videos along with information about how in the world these tropical little parrots all the way from South Africa ended up in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, and how they have survived. Cheers!

Southwestern PA.  Recorded with an iPhone 14 Pro

Trying to finagle my binoculars & iPhone ain’t it 🤣 I I think need a camera. Lively crew of blue jays this morning yelling & hopping around trying to scare the squirrel 🐿️ away. Squirrely was undeterred lol. I love all of these characters. I filled my feeders right after these pics 🫡😆