Feeding Flickers

me

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Mar 2, 2001, 10:09:49 PM3/2/01

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Hi all

We have some Red shafted flickers hanging around the garden here in eastern
Washington and we'd like to know what to feed them.

Thanks.

Grimlyfiendish

Mary MacTavish

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Mar 3, 2001, 1:35:13 AM3/3/01

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On Sat, 03 Mar 2001 03:09:49 GMT, "me" <m...@home.com> said:

>
>We have some Red shafted flickers hanging around the garden here in eastern
>Washington and we'd like to know what to feed them.

oranges? :)
http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net/Noflick003Feed.htm

Does your local market sell ants?
http://www.backyardbird.com/species_info/flicker_nesting_box.htm

Don't use pesticides in your garden:
"Natural food sources are important for the flicker~more than any
other North American bird they eat ants on the ground. (Note: the lawn
pesticides that kill ants also remove the major source of food for the
flicker). You may find flickers coming to feed on the suet and peanut
butter at your feeding stations. Raisins and apples put out on a tray
feeder may also bring them to where you can view them more closely."
(from http://wbumadison.com/nest2/attracting%20birds/birds/flckr1.html
)

I suppose for cats, turnabout's fair play:
"Though it feeds largely on the wood-boring ants and beetles it finds
in dead trees, the flicker often alights on the ground to prey on
smaller, terrestrial ant species. One on 2 August 1946 and another on
29 July 1949 were seen in cherry trees competing with hordes of
gluttonous robins and starlings, looking quite ungainly and out of
place. On 2 September 1949, one was seen eating rowanberries. Perhaps
the strangest behaviour at feeding time was recounted by Rand: a
flicker came regularly to his feeding station in February 1923 for
suet but occasionally left it to glean a few tasty morsels from the
frozen carcass of a cat exposed nearby."
(from http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nsbirds/bns0235.htm )

Good luck :)

.
Mary MacTavish
http://www.prado.com/~iris

me

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Mar 3, 2001, 2:28:31 AM3/3/01

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Thank you.

Sharon Alsup

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Mar 3, 2001, 3:30:45 PM3/3/01

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My flicker loves peanuts. I also take peanut butter, add some bird seed, and
smear it on the trunk of a tree. Nuthatches will enjoy your 'spread' too.

Sharon Alsup
True Audio/Outside Ears
Check out the bird monitors at www.outsideears.com !

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Fishpiggle

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Mar 3, 2001, 3:27:40 PM3/3/01

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"Sharon Alsup" <Sharon...@trueaudio.com> wrote in message
news:WK5o6.2541$e37.1...@news3.atl...

> My flicker loves peanuts. I also take peanut butter, add some bird seed,
and
> smear it on the trunk of a tree. Nuthatches will enjoy your 'spread' too.

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. (And the great links!) You've
given us some good ideas for feeding the flickers.

One question about peanut butter -- I'm assuming that *unsalted* peanut
butter is preferable? Seems like the stuff with salt in it might not be so
good for the birds. (Oh, and... crunchy or smooth?)

Fishpiggle (wife of "me")

Sharon Alsup

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Mar 4, 2001, 1:36:17 AM3/4/01

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Both the peanuts and peanut butter should be unsalted. I usually buy crunchy
peanut butter but they love creamy too. Jays also love peanuts and squirrels
too so expect your traffic to pick up.

Sharon Alsup
True Audio/Outside Ears
Check out the bird monitors at www.outsideears.com !

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Jordan Brooks

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Mar 3, 2001, 7:09:27 PM3/3/01

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In article <0Dco6.7510$sD.5...@e420r-sjo2.usenetserver.com>,
Fishpiggle wrote:

>One question about peanut butter -- I'm assuming that *unsalted* peanut
>butter is preferable? Seems like the stuff with salt in it might not be so
>good for the birds.

I don't know about that. Birds don't have the same dietary
requirements/restrictions as humans. I've read a lot of homemade suet
recipes and none have ever stipulated unsalted peanut butter.

>(Oh, and... crunchy or smooth?)

Either. Here's some recipes:

http://www.bcpl.net/~tross/by/suetrecs.html

--

Jordan Brooks /\ "I believe in God, only I spell it Nature."
central North Carolina \/ Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959)

Sharon Alsup

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Mar 4, 2001, 10:10:39 AM3/4/01

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When I mentioned unsalted peanut butter, I really just meant the regular
store brand (oops! it does contain salt). Sorry about the confusion.

As for salted peanuts, my birds avoid them and so I buy unsalted raw or
roasted.

Sharon Alsup
True Audio/Outside Ears
Check out the bird monitors at www.outsideears.com !

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Lutachris

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Mar 17, 2001, 11:53:01 AM3/17/01

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I put out peanut butter (on pine cones). The chickadees get a little and then
the squirrels steal the pine cones. Regular peanut butter IS salted. If is
giving the squirrels high blood pressure, they seem to be coping well because
they are as fat and squirrelly as ever.