Hello bird lovers, I am a new enthusiast hoping for a bit of advice.
I live near farmland in a small village and have recently placed various feeders in a tree outside of my kitchen window only three feet away from the house. I have had a variety of birds and it's been lovely but have recently attracted the interest of pheasants - 6 at times in my very narrow front garden. They are very nice but the position is next to a road and I am a wee bit worried they will get squashed. I am also concerned about mice getting in the house. I am loath to move the feeders as I love to watch the birds from this distance but I'm thinking I should move to the larger back garden for the safety of the pheasants and to prevent mice in my home. Perhaps it is just the fatballs they like and I could just put out seeds and sunflower hearts?
Thanks for any help/ suggestions.
Hello Wee Dunnock, the pheasants are greedy things. I have a few coming and they will not eat the corn if there is premium bird seed out for the ground feeding birds. I also live near the road and they pop over the road, two females were having a spat in the middle of the road yesterday. So far no casualties. If you could move the feeders further away, it will help the pheasants be further away from the road and the mice will also be further away, mind you they will travel and get in through a hole that a pencil will fit through! You could just put out the sunflower hearts at the front, they make little mess and will attract different types of finches. You could also attach special trays under the feeders on the pole, so that the seed is caught and not so much will land on the ground. Good luck, let us know how you get on. Welcome by the way from me up in Caithness, at the very top of Scotland.
Hello there, Wee Dunnock. Watching birds is my favorite hobby too :)
If you're still there I would recommend you moving the feeders closer to your garden indeed. As for mice prevention, I advise you to check this article and pick something between good old mouse traps and something more advanced like zappers, live traps and ultrasonic repellents. The last two are a perfect humane solution of your problem.