Using Capsaicin to Deter Squirrels – Yes or No?

Capsaicin is a pepper substance, akin to jalapeno peppers, a natural substance, used in bird seed to deter squirrels from feasting at your bird feeders. While squirrels are mammals and have taste buds, birds do not, therefore, the use of capsaicin supposedly benefits both backyard birders and...

Birdhouse Guidelines

Birdhouse Building Guidelines Species Dimensions Hole Placement Color Notes Eastern bluebird 5″x 5″ x 8″h. 1-1/2″centered 6″ above floor 5-10′ high in open; sunny area light earth tones likes open areas,especially facing a field Tree swallow 5″ x 5″ x...

Hummingbird Migration

The southbound migration of the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is beginning! Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds leave their northern breeding grounds during the second half of August and the first week of September. The males migrate first, followed by the females and the juveniles. They return in the same order in...

Introducing Kids to Bird Watching

Do you remember when you first showed an interest in the great outdoors and the wildlife around you? I remember as a young child, my mom being excited that there was a nest of cardinals in the forsythia at the back end of the yard. No pruning that year. There were so many birds that she didn’t know....

Bully Birds Are Back

With Spring in full bloom came an abundance of bully birds: grackles, starling, crows and their offspring. But with the summer holidays in full swing, they seemed to follow the vacationers and there was peace and quiet at the feeders and no excessive bird droppings to clean from the waterfall and pond edges....