Anyway, when it finally get a tiny bit of brown, I went to take it down and discovered some resourceful birds had built a nest behind it up against the door and there were already 4-5 eggs in it! I’m pretty sure they are finches, as we see the mom all the time hanging out in the nest.

The babies hatched about 3 weeks ago.

2 questions:

1. When they start fledgling, don’t they sometimes take a few falls? I’m worried one will fall and hit the concrete front porch rather than a nice, soft, grassy spot. I’ve noticed the mama bird has been working hard to build up the sides of the nest about 2 inches higher than when they were born, so now it is visible even from the front of the wreath, so I’m assuming they are getting close to wanting to learn to fly. So, my stupid question is, do they fall a little initially? Should I put some blankets on the porch in front of the door in case they fall? NOT interested in finding little dead baby birds on the front porch.

2. When they all start flying, will they abandon the nest completely? Or, at what point, does the nest get abandoned completely? Am I stuck with the wreath, say, until fall? Or maybe just another 6 weeks?

Thanks!
Thanks all 3 of you for your answers. They all helped. And, to the one who mentioned mama bird may defend her babies…yes, I have seen that before with birds who have nested on our back patios…they dive bomb you LOL..but this one is not like that at all…mom and dad don’t bother us at all…we open the door slowly from the inside and they sense us coming and fly off about 10 feet and wait…one time they got confused and both got inside the house, but we were able to get them to jump on a soft jersey shirt and take them back outside…anyway thanks for the answers!!

As common as birds are, and as photogenic as many of them are, they are maddeningly difficult to photograph. It’s challenging to get close enough for a decent shot, and birds never seem to sit still for the camera. Lighting, focus, and exposure can be tricky, fooling even the best automatic exposure and focus mechanisms. So what do you do?

Technique
As with any photography, knowing your subject will improve your photographs. Spend some time watching the behavior of birds around your feeder. You’ll notice certain patterns. Do they first land on a nearby branch before going to your feeder? Do they return once they have grabbed a morsel? Do some birds feed off the spilled seed on the ground? Do they favor a certain spot on your feeder? What time of day do various species feed? When will the best light fall on your birds?

Getting close to the subject is the key to successful bird photography, or any photography, for that matter. Cameras have a funny way of making things look larger through the viewfinder than they will on the print. If you’ve tried to photograph birds, you know that the bird often appears only as a small dark spot on the print. But with a little ingenuity, you can get close enough for decent photographs. Here are some ideas for getting close to your subject.

The most common solution is the blind. You can buy blinds made for the purpose from professional camera stores, but an old tent or tarp can be just as effective. A visit to your big-box sporting goods section can be worth while as well. Even a car can be an effective blind. What ever you use put it in place two or three days before you plan to photograph so the birds will get used to it.

Patience is a virtue. When you go into your blind, the birds will leave, but only temporarily. But you should plan to be in your blind for some time, maybe a few hours. So have some water and snacks with you, and take care of necessities before you go to the blind. You will be sitting still, so in cold weather layers, gloves and a hat will be needed.

A great solution is to place your feeders near a clear window, and you can photograph from the comfort of your own home! Feeders are even available that fit on the window sill or stick to the window glass. You will need to darken the room as much as possible to avoid reflections and, of course, clean the glass.

It is only necessary that the camera be close – you don’t necessarily have to be close yourself. Remote releases, both wired and wireless, are available for most popular camera brands. To use this method, you will need to set your exposure and focus the camera on a spot where you know birds will land. Experiment with your aperture setting to provide some focusing leeway for birds that aren’t exactly at your focus point.

Before we leave the topic of blinds, keep in mind that the safety of the birds is more important than any photograph you may get. Do not position yourself or your blind where you will interfere with nesting birds.

As mentioned, getting close is the most important technique, but here are some other tips to help you get the knock-out image. First, get familiar with your camera’s aperture and shutter priority modes, as well as its manual mode because you will want to set the shutter speed and aperture yourself. Try a shutter speed of about 1/1000 or 2/1000 seconds to stop the motion of the birds. Open your lens almost – but not quite – as wide as it will go. This will help “fuzz out” the back ground, and moving down from wide open improves image sharpness. Set your focusing mode to use its center point focus – don’t let the camera pick the focus point, because it will likely pick the wrong one.

Exposure can be tricky as well. A bright bird against a dark wooded background that fills most of the frame is sure to cause over exposure of the bird. As mentioned above, don’t rely solely on the automatic exposure modes (automatic, program, aperture priority, shutter priority) of your camera. You will need to learn the exposure compensation feature, or better yet, the manual mode, in which you set the aperture and shutter speed yourself.

If you use flash, practice with it before hand so that you can get the right amount of flash dialed in. You want just enough flash to open the shadow areas, but too much flash overpowers the background and makes the entire image look unrealistic. The right amount of flash will make the bird “pop” against its background and will provide that pleasing catch-light in the eye.

Photography is painting with light. You simply cannot – cannot – take good images in bad light. Study the lighting of your bird photography area. Look for times when your birds will be side lit, generally in the morning or afternoon. At those times the light will have a pleasing “warm” characteristic that will enhance your image. Avoid the middle of the day. The strong down light and harsh shadows don’t make for good photos. Cloudy days are great too, because the light is so even and colors pop. (Hint: exposure is much simpler on cloudy days.)

Equipment
Professional wildlife photographers will spend many thousands of dollars on cameras and big telephoto lenses, and will go to enormous effort and personal discomfort to get “the shot.” However, you can get great bird photos with relatively modest equipment and without wading through swamps.

Although it is possible to photograph birds with any film or digital point and shoot (PS), a digital single-lens-reflex (DSLR) will be more satisfying and produce superior results. The DSLR does not suffer from the frustrating shutter delay of most digital PS cameras. This delay may be up to one second, rendering them unsuitable for fast moving birds. The DSLR will also offer burst exposures of three or more frames per second, and the capability of accepting telephoto lenses, which will help with the getting close part.

The sensor in a DSLR is many times larger than the sensor in a PS, meaning that the DSLR images will enlarge better with less noise. The DSLR has much higher ISO capability (800, 1600 and beyond) than PS cameras, allowing you to use fast shutter speeds even in relatively dim light. Finally, with a DSLR, you can shoot as much as you want – for free.

The next required piece of equipment is a tripod. The tripod is necessary to stabilize even moderate telephoto lenses if you want sharp images. Holding the camera to your eye for some period of time will tire your arms, and lifting the camera to point it out of the blind will scatter the birds. Make certain you get one that will solidly support your camera, the largest lens you anticipate using, and possibly a flash unit. The tripod head (the part that attaches to the camera) should allow the camera to be aimed and re aimed without making any adjustments to the head itself. Tripods come in all sizes and prices, and the better ones do not come with a head. Your best bet is to consult a good, professional photo shop.

Using flash can help a bird’s natural colors “pop,” even in bright daylight. The purpose of flash is not so much to supply the light, as it is to reduce contrast by “opening up” shadow areas. Most entry level and “prosumer” DSLRs come with a built in flash, but an external flash will provide better results. They have more power, and are less likely to cause shadows in the image from long lenses and lens shades. Good flash units are expensive, so the built in flash is certainly worth a try.

Many books have been written about photographing birds, and there’s a huge amount of information on the Internet. While it’s not possible to cover the entire topic in one article, these tips should get you off and shooting. Bird photography is challenging, but with the right equipment, technique, and some practice, you can produce wonderful images.

On this page, you’ll discover how to attract many different kinds of birds to your feeders and why you need several different types of feeders to do the job, why some birds may be avoiding your feeders and what you can do about it, what you should or shouldn’t have in the area around your feeder, how to prevent window collisions and what to do when you find a stunned bird, what you use as bird food, what you must never feed birds so you don’t kill them, what you absolutely must know about bird baths and water troughs, which feeders to use for which birds, and why you should even have a bird feeder at all and how long you can expect it to last.

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In Cody Lotts’ book entitled, “Bird Man Secrets”, you will also learn all about the six best places to shop for your bird feeders if you want store bought convenience, the vital steps to keep feeders out of the reach of predators and thieves, special considerations for hummingbirds and Orioles, fighting and winning the battle against squirrels, the picky feeding habits of some of the most sought-after birds and how playing to their habits will attract them by the dozens to your feeders, the steps you absolutely must take to protect you and your family from diseases and ailments, the exact food and feeder to use for each type of bird you want to attract, discouraging the large birds, getting your kids involved in bird feeding, the sneaky ways to create your bird feeders for very little expense, and the facts about Bird Flu.

This guide spells out every step you need to attract birds to your setup like crazy.

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In Cody Lotts’ book entitled, “Bird Man Secrets”, you will learn how to attract all of the birds you’ve ever dreamed of to your yard, patio, or balcony in record time, for minimal expense, and with very little work. It is filled with tips and trick to attract, nourish, and protect your birds; you can even watch in stunned amazement as the birds descend on your feeders like magic.

Here, you will learn how to prevent window collisions and what to do when you find a stunned bird, why some birds may be avoiding your feeders and what you can do about it, what you absolutely must know about bird baths and water troughs, what you should or shouldn’t have in the area around your feeder, which feeders to use for which birds, what you use as bird food, what you must never feed birds so you don’t kill them, and why you should even have a bird feeder at all and how long you can expect it to last.

You will also discover the vital steps to keep feeders out of the reach of predators and thieves, the steps you absolutely must take to protect you and your family from diseases and ailments, the sneaky ways to create your bird feeders for very little expense, the six best places to shop for your bird feeders if you want store bought convenience, the picky feeding habits of some of the most sought-after birds and how playing to their habits will attract them by the dozens to your feeders, and  the exact food and feeder to use for each type of bird you want to attract.

Cody Lotts’ Bird Feeding Wild Birds is the ultimate everything-you-want-to-know-about bird-feeders guide!

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If the bird use the bird-bath, will they fly away and slowly freeze their wings, etc. ???

Some wild birds, including thrushes and chaffinches are more likely to search beneath bird tables for food. If your garden borders on woods you may have woodpeckers, marsh tits, coal tits and nuthatches visiting your bird feeders. Wild birds belonging to the thrush species such as fieldfares, mistle thrushes, song thrushes and redwings love fruits and berries so add these to your bird table to attract them.

Some wild birds, such as treecreepers and wrens are insect feeders so will not be interested in the foods you provide on your bird table or feeder. To attract these birds let an area of your garden grow wild with native plants and flowers. These will then attract the insects that are insect eating birds food.

Attracting Finches To Your Garden

Many people love to see finches in their gardens and it is easy to attract these lovely birds if you provide their favorite food. Finches love thistle seeds which are best placed in a specialised thistle feeder. The seeds are tiny and thistle feeders enclose the seeds in a mesh which finches, with their long beaks, can easily reach through.

These types of feeder also prevent the tiny seeds from dropping to the ground which would be a problem if you placed thistle seeds in a conventional feeder designed for larger seeds. Seeds spilled ion the ground will also attract predators such as squirrels. Commercially prepared thistle seeds have been treated to prevent germination. You could also put out some sunflower or millet seeds on your bird table as finches also enjoy these.

Provide Fresh Water for The Birds

You can also attract wild birds by giving them a source of fresh water or bathing and drinking. This can be as simple as a shallow pan of water on the ground but make sure you replace it regularly. A bird bath is an attractive alternative and if you incorporate a dripper or other means to agitate the water the sound will attract the birds. This is particularly valuable in the winter months when water can be a problem for the birds.

If you place a small heater or agitator in the bird bath to keep it ice free the birds will have a source of fresh water all year round. Place the bird bath in a quiet area of the garden away from your bird feeders as wild birds need quiet when they bath. They also prefer a place underneath branches or other perches for a quick escape route from any lurking cats or other predators.

Feeding Wild Birds in Throughout the Year

Wild birds require different nutrients depending on the season. In the winter feeding is especially helpful as natural food sources may be scarce. They need high energy foods during this time with high fat content. Feed them twice a day and remove any uneaten food regularly.

In the spring and summer they will need high protein foods such as raisins, seeds, mealworms, sunflower seeds etc. You can also buy specially prepared summer mixes for insect eating wild birds. Fruit can also be put out for the fruit loving birds. They will enjoy chopped up apples and pears, grapes and bananas.

During the summer do not put out fat, bread or peanuts as they can be taken back to the nest and harm the baby birds. Home made fat balls are also a bad idea in the hotter months as they will become rancid very quickly.

Feeders: Bird feeders can supply seeds to many species of birds, but keep the squirrels at bay. There are also feeders for humming birds to gather nectar from and suet feeders for birds that prefer this type of food. These can hold a large amount of seed, supplying the local birds with plenty of food for a couple of days at a time. The materials feeders are constructed from are weather resistant and made to stay looking new for many years.

Feeders: The evolution of the standard bird feeder has come a long way. There are now feeders which allow only a certain type of bird to feed from them, as well as thwarting off other animals or bugs. Many bird feeders are now squirrel-proof, keeping the food levels from diminishing too quickly. Not only are there feeders which hold seeds, but also suet feeders and ones that hold nectar for hummingbirds.

Bird Baths: Many styles of bird baths are available for adding to the landscape of any home. Pedestal baths are great for positioning around the garden or in the middle of a patch of flowers.

The plastic versions are light enough for one person to easily move whenever desired and they are generally weatherproof. There are even heated bird baths for keeping fresh water supplied to the birds during the winter months.

Additional Accessories: Besides the products described above, there are additional items that can be purchased for wild birds, such as water wigglers. These are great for keeping mosquitoes out of the bird bath, where they like to lay their eggs. The movement also tends to attract more birds to the bath as well. There are heating elements that can be placed in bird baths, instead of going out and purchasing an entirely new bird bath for the winter months.

Investing in wild bird supplies can not only keep the insect population under control, but attract a larger variety of birds to your yard or garden for your enjoyment.

The “conventional wisdom” has always been that you should feed wild birds in winter because their normal source of food – small seeds and insects – has dramatically diminished. But is the conventional wisdom correct? By attracting birds to our feeders, are we making them too dependent on a free source of food, and weakening their ability to find food on their own? Do we actually put birds at greater risk because of cats and flying into windows?

These are not easy questions to answer because there has been little research into the subject. However a three-year study of chickadees by the University of Wisconsin found that winter survival rates were highest among chickadee populations that were fed – but only during the harshest winters. During more moderate winters (and lower latitudes) there were no significant differences in survival rates and spring hatching rates between chickadees that were fed and those that foraged for themselves.

What if the feeders are removed? Can chickadees “remember” how to find food on their own? In a similar study, feeders were suddenly removed after conditioning the birds to feeders for many years. The birds immediately resumed feeding on their own. Again, survival rates were the same as for chickadees that were not used to feeders. While more research needs to be done, these studies indicate that feeding chickadees – and presumably, other wild birds – does not result in feeder dependency.

Some argue that feeders put birds at risk because of the presumed greater risk of predation. However, birds that eat from feeders eat more in less time than if they forage in the wild, giving them more time to watch for predators. You can minimize the risk to birds at your feeder by placing feeders where they are inaccessible by cats, and by adding tape or decals to your windows so birds won’t fly into them.

That’s the research. Now, if you do want to feed wild birds this winter, here are some specific things you can do to keep your wild birds well fed.

Birdscape your yard. Both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs provide seeds and shelter. In the spring, they provide nesting places. Ornamental grasses also provide food and shelter for ground birds. Perennial flowers that have been allowed to go to seed can also provide food over the winter.

Provide a source of water. Wild birds need water, even in winter. Obviously, freezing is an issue, so a heater is a necessity. Also, birds like moving water, and water jigglers are available as well. Locate your bird bath where you can see it so you can enjoy watching the birds frolic in the water.

Selecting a Feeder. There is a huge variety of feeders on the market, but some are better than others. Steel, aluminum, plastic or glass feeders have an advantage over wood because they are easier to keep clean and will probably last longer. Look for feeders with metal components and feeding ports, as they will last longer than plastic.

The feeder should keep the food dry in wet weather. Feeders are available with domes or roofs that will help keep the food dry. If the feeder is a platform style (as opposed to a tube style) make sure there are drain holes in the bottom.

Squirrels and Raccoons are a constant problem, as they will empty a feeder, denying your wild birds their food. They will destroy a wood or plastic feeder by chewing though it, so the additional cost of a well-made feeder is money well spent. Some squirrel-proof feeders are quite effective, but proper installation is the real key to keeping moochers off your feeders.

Maintaining your feeder. The most important part of maintaining your feeder is ensuring that the food is fresh and clean. A huge feeder with a “ten pound capacity” is not necessary or even desirable because it is likely the food will spoil before it is eaten. Some very good tube feeders will hold a lot of food, but the purpose of the long tube is to prevent squirrels from hanging from the top, not for huge food capacity.

After a rain or period of damp weather, inspect your feeders and discard any food that has gotten wet. Wet food will coagulate in the feeder, blocking food from naturally dropping to the feeding ports. Also, wet food is a breeding ground for algae and mold that will discourage birds from eating and may make them sick.

Set up more than one feeder with different types of food – perhaps sunflower seeds in one, and finch food in another.

Your feeders should be installed to minimize the chances of predation. The primary preditors are cats, so the feeder must be installed so that cats cannot climb or jump to the feeding area.

Bottom line – don’t feel you are doing your birds harm by feeding them during the winter. Follow the above suggestions, and you can enjoy your wild birds all winter long.