Bird Suet What is the best type of bird feeder for Blue Jays & Cardinals?

Question by atg28: What is the best type of bird feeder for Blue Jays & Cardinals?
My father loves feeding birds and has several bird feeders. We seem to attract enough of all types of birds, but the larger birds (Blue Jays & Cardinals) have a tough time feeding as compared to finches and other smaller ones. We provide a wide-variety mix of bird feed and black oil sunflowers.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Best answer:

Answer by dances_with_unicorns1955
Blue jays are seldom attracted to seed, as their primary diet is bugs, but you might try a suet feeder to attract them. They can’t use the tail-paddle type feeder that a woodpecker can use; you’ll need to put the blocks next to something they can perch on. Cardinals, on the other hand, LOVE sunflower seed, and will come to just about any kind of feeder that has them. I prefer the hopper-type feeders simply because you can put lots of seed in them. Many blue jays like peanuts – it seems to depend on their mood; I managed to accustom one to me to the point that he would take them from my hand, although he’d never *quite* sit on my finger. Be sure not to feed peanuts during breeding season, however; adults can handle them with no problem, but they have a bad way of stuffing the babies’ crops full with these, and the young blue jays have a VERY tough time digesting them.

Be sure to put water out for all the birds; while they won’t all eat seed or suet, they all need water, and you might well be the only place in the neighborhood that has water avilable to them. If you can find a drip nozzle or sprayer, that will help attract them, as they will come to the sound of the running water. I even got the occasional hawk at my birdbath when I lived in Colorado!

Whatever kind of feeder you choose to use, be sure to keep it clean. Here in western Washington state, we’re having a bit of a problem with birds dying of salmonella, so we are being encouraged to use the tube-type feeders for finches and similar small birds. Your feeders should be cleaned once a week with a solution of bleach and water so that there’s less chance of disease transmission from sick birds to healthy ones.

Enjoy

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