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Thank you so much for taking the time to write me. It is nerve wracking speaking at council!

Oh I hear you! I know my days are numbered before starlings finally get this far into my city instead of just the outskirts. I'll make a video abut that when I have to deal with it! lol

@@habitatYEG I stay in Scotland. In my garden its starlings, sparrows, magpie's, crows, seagulls and a few pigeons!!! All crap birds i tells ya! I want budgies n parrots but its to cold here! kkk

Thank you! And I'm so glad to hear you started when I did!! Sloping can always be tough. I think the biggest thing is cutting away more ground to find a flat area because it is so important to be level so it doesn't flood into your yard. Maybe another option is a raised one instead of cutting away more ground? Build up with a retaining wall? I lucked out that the only place mine could go was already level ground.

@@habitatYEG Thank you. I think an above ground feature is the way to go, since our yard is directly beside a small stream, and the water table is rather high.

Oh you're so lucky to have a nearby stream!@@purplepumpkinMD

Thank you Brenda! The biggest thing is not to feed them. I have a video on here on how not to feed house sparrows. I've been really diligent at making sure they can't access any food and they have mostly moved on. Some come for a bath but it's only a handful. Normally in the mid winter I feed more liberally but this year I had enough food out for most of my birds, but not House Sparrows. That also meant House Finches could not access it, but I still have House Finches because they love to eat the seeds on my trees and plants. The House Sparrows are not that hard working and have moved to easier food sources.

@@habitatYEG Thank you, Melissa, for your response. I will try to find that video.

Here is the link! ruclips.net/video/H6mFE53KBQ8/видео.html@@brendapullen7797

Thanks, Melissa, watched it. Some great but, I think, simple ideas When the winter is over, we will try to implement those ideas!

It definitely makes a difference and the sooner you start the better it will get! Our native birds are so good at finding food despite this 3rd or 4th (i've lost track) winter. lol @@brendapullen7797

Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking a moment to say so!! :)

Thank you Colleen! I can't wait to see what this year brings!

Thank you so much Tracy! <3

Thank you! I'm so glad you found it useful!!

I agree! I always watch them more than once. I wish she posted RUclips videos more. Such great content!

Aw thanks Kevin!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

That's so flattering Grant. Thank you! Honestly sometimes I just can't think of what to post about! So if there is anything you're interested in please let me know! @@grantwest7942

@@habitatYEG I think an actual complete garden tour of your property and all the plants would be great if you ever got a chance!

@@grantwest7942 HAHA my family is opposed to the garden tour idea lol

Thank you! For the grey bath in the video to have enough water to run a pump a chickadee can still stand up without floating away (lol). I keep another bath without a pump close by and fill it half the amount and this is where even smaller birds like Wilson's Warblers and Kinglets gravitate to. Basically a puddle and they love it!

Weirdly last year this was everywhere...Can Tire, Home Depot, Lowes...Every year is different. No idea where it's going to pop up, or not at all. That's happened to me before too!

@@habitatYEG thank you!!!

You're welcome! If you're interested I'm speaking at the Muttart on Monday night for the Edmonton Horticultural Society. All the details are on their website under Speaker Series @@kerripomerleau6810

So awesome! I love success stories!

Thank you so much! Sending lots of love to your little carolinas <3 <3

You will not regret upping your bird bath game. Start keeping your eyes peeled for good sticks!

Definitely!!Chickadees are a bit funny. They roost when it's really cold...but not often otherwise. That said a friend of mine occasionally has them roosting when it's mild. Silly birds, can't they be consistent for us?? Bonus is that nesting season is upon us and they might roost for a bit then stay and nest in it!

@@habitatYEG I am very fortunate to have chickadees nest in my yard every spring! Last spring my sweet Dee laid 13 eggs!! & 11 hatched and fledged!! They nest in a custom built bluebird box that I had made for them with a reduced hole, monitoring camera and wren guard! I got a solar panel for the camera this past Christmas so that will be a new project for spring! LOL! I've been worried about them as I haven't seen chickadees in my yard most of the winter, I believe, due to all the house sparrows that have been hanging around. But I'm reconfiguring my feeders, using many of your suggestions, and today while I was hanging a small, single duncraft globe feeder with safflower for them, the chickadee couple was in the tree next to the feeders dee deeing at me until I left the feeder and was able to watch them feed from a distance I was so happy to see them!!

Oh! Okay...so if they are nesting why are you putting up a roost box? They are already probably using the nest box for roosting! :)@@joannes8485

I'm just amazed we were all duped for so long with a common thing that had no observed data to support it!

You're so welcome!

Thank you! I'm so glad I could help <3

We don't have eastern bluebirds here, and mountain bluebird stay outside of the city! But, I did a quick search and they do like a bit of pine or aspen shavings at the bottom of the box like chickadees and nuthatches do. What you definitely don't want is saw DUST, but if you go to a pet store you can find 100% pine or aspen shavings that guinea pigs etc would use. But not the paper bedding that will be in the same area. Is the box actually hanging or is it secured?

I guess it depends on who you would rather be feeding. If you have a large flock, sometimes just taking the food down for a couple of weeks disperses it. If it's a tray feeder than there is nothing you can do. House Finches do not enjoy suet, so switching to suet feeder will make a difference too!

Do you mean the one with loose seed or the suet ball holder? The suet ball holder I bought from a bird store that is no longer in business, but the seed holder mesh ball is easily found. Search for Perky Pet seed ball feeder.

Obviously cannot get the mesh feeder you show here, but did get the round ball feeders from amazon. I have a red and green ball. They have been a real hit here for goldfinches and house finches. Once winter is over the ball feeders will come down and I will only use the upside down tube feeders for goldfinches. Before when I used the sock feeders the house finches took that over and kept the goldfinches away so thats why I had to go to the upside down feeders.

@@yes350yes If I ever find it I will post here!!

I'm so happy to hear that!! I feel pretty lucky I haven't had to deal with starlings (yet). They can be persistent. If they keep it up maybe put some plain suet in there for a couple of weeks.

@@habitatYEG Yes, same issue here! I just took down my double suet feeder that I put up for the woodpeckers because the house sparrows had no problem hanging upside down on it and having a feast. I will be getting the hardware cloth as well and giving it another try, and change to pure suet. Thank you for all the suggestions!!

it really does help! Just make sure that feeder gets boiling water on it to get all scent of suet nuts/grains off of it. That goes a long way too. :)@@joannes8485

@@habitatYEG So doing the update and the regular winter starlings have arrived and tried to use the double suet with the added plastic cases and hardware cloth and did not stay long. They seemed quite confused , so very happy that this worked out for me. HS have not even attempted for many weeks. You may have seen the cage I use , it has 2 suet cages inside of a larger outside cage, smaller birds can go inside of the outer cage , but larger birds like starlings cannot.

AMAZING! I am so happy for you!!@@yes350yes

That is ADORABLE! You're so lucky to have been a part of that!

You're too kind. Thank you!

Hello! I use ARLO security cameras.

Hello! Sorry for the confusion. The Flicker box is a totally different box with different dimensions and a 2.5 inch entrance. The downy boxes have a 1.5 inch entrance and the box overall is quite a bit smaller, blue bird box sized.

@@habitatYEG Awesome, thank you! What I would not give to get a flicker hanging around out here...

I hope you get one!! This is a good time of year to attract them with a possible nesting site and some suet! @@limitedassurance

Hi! Yes, no perches. Unless they are guarding the hole they prefer sleeping on the floor of the box. If they are guarding the hole you can just do some grooves on the inside under the hole.

You must live somewhere warmer than us! With our freeze thaw the trerracotta would crack in our winter. So glad you're offering water for birds year round!

Yes they are very smart! I've had to deploy a whole bunch of new tactics since I made this video. To keep them away you have to always keep it fresh!

Sorry to hear that! Mine are all going strong after 5 years, but since it's still early season I'm using my regular bird bath with a de icer before I do the big switch as I still have so much traffic and big birds like Northern Flickers bathing. I did try another brand from what I showed in this video and that one was definitely garbage! I think there are also a lot of knock offs that have copied the one I have in this video. As always...buyer beware!

You're welcome!

Hi! House Sparrows are an non native invasive species in Canada that are a big problem for our native birds, and farmers too. If we feed an house invasive species, it makes it more and more difficult for our native cavity nesting species like: chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, owls....etc to find a nesting cavity. House Sparrows are more aggressive, nest earlier and multiple times per year so there is nothing left for our native birds. When you feed squirrels in your yard, it sends them the signal this is an area to protect for themselves. They raid a lot of birds nests, and become more aggressive defending a food source which creates an unsafe environment for birds visiting your yard or trying to nest there. Hope that explains things!

Thank you! I have used similar techniques to the halo but on my nest boxes. I don't use them around feeders because then they will be less effective for my nest boxes when spring comes around and that is more important to me than feeding if that makes sense. So far it has been very effective on my boxes and I just make sure to take them down right after nesting season.

So good to know. I also read to take them down before the babes are out in the spring. The babes will figure it out and pass on the info. Thanks again.

That's exactly right!@@nancydormer9616

How fun! There isn't quite anything as special as watching a hummingbird take a bath!!

It's from Wildbirds Unlimited!

HAHAHA! yes! That does put it in perspective doesn't it?! lol

You're very welcome! :)

I guess it is! A friend sent me a msg this morning about it. I wish I would have caught the segment!

Thank you! I love Saw whets so much! Sorry no, I don't have any videos on that topic.

Hello! I would agree with you for anything soap based, but for the weak bleach solution you don't have to. Wildlife rehabs don't, vets don't and Cornell Lab doesn't have that as the directions either. The only thing that should be being used is bleach or vinegar too, not soaps, especially for hummingbird feeders!

@@habitatYEG Thanks for the info.

Thank you!

Thank you! It's from Wildbirds Unlimited.

@@habitatYEG Okay thank you! I’ll need in invest in one of them, I got most of my Feeders and bird pole systems from them. They are expensive but it’s good quality materials. We also have the same waterfall rock in our birdbath, and I had gotten mine from them as well. I’m glad I asked you because I don’t see the Wood Peckers going to my ground birdbaths or my birdbaths on pedestals and I get concerned why they are not drinking or taking a bath. 😊 Thank you again for your information you provided in your video. And it’s lovely the way you have your birdbaths setup.

@@MsQueensheena Oh yes, there are quite a few birds who would rather drink up high. The bigger woodpeckers absolutely do, and I also find the White Breasted Nuthatches. Several of the finches as well.

Alos! I post a lot of videos from my instagram @habitat_yeg of the birds using my bird baths.

@@habitatYEG I am going to get one this weekend and then I’ll feel happy for the birds that like to drink up high. Thank you so much.

Thank you!

Thank you! I use 9 parts water and 1 part bleach. I hope you get lots of winged visitors!