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Avian Perspective

Battling Squirrels at Birdfeeders

I have written about this topic before, but customers never seem to tire of hearing about new and old methods of preventing those long-tailed furry creatures from robbing all of the birdfeed.

The gray squirrel (its name can be traced to the Greek, skiouros which means “he who sits in the shadow of his tail”) is the most common type of tree squirrel in the United States. It is one of the few wild animals that has adapted to humans and has learned to coexist with man. It can live on both natural foods and handouts. The average gray squirrel is 15” long and weighs about one pound; and, as anyone who has fed the birds knows, a squirrel requires about one pound of food per week to maintain an active life.

Although the squirrel’s brain is only about the size of a walnut, many people who feed the birds, believe that 90% of the squirrel’s brain is devoted to dreaming up ways to steal food from squirrel-proof birdfeeders.

Aside from owning a Doberman, there are several very effective ways to keep squirrels away from birdfeeders. As I describe these methods, I will rate each on an effectiveness scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being most effective. My ratings are purely subjective but are based on my own experiences as well as those of many customers.

If you are looking for squirrel-proof feeders we recommend the following: the economical Noel 301 Squirrel-less (8), the large capacity Avian AV1M (8), the Bird’s Choice (7), the Absolute II (8), the Droll Yankees Big Top (8) and the Super-Stop-A-Squirrel (8). The ultimate in squirrel-proof feeders is the brand new large capacity Droll Yankees Yankee Flipper (10). This feeder is powered by a rechargeable battery (the charge lasts about two months). When a squirrel lands on this feeder, the feeder begins to spin and “flings” the squirrel from the feeder. It is perfectly safe for the birds and does not shock squirrels. Another ultimate squirrel-proof feeder is the SDI Solar Powered feeder (10). This feeder uses

sunlight to generate an electrical shock when the squirrel attempts to steal food. It does not shock the birds. You can see all of these feeders on our website under "squirrel-proof" feeders.

Squirrels also love suet, but the new Duncraft Suet Haven (8) has proven very effective against these daylight robbers. The use of pure suet (6) and hot pepper suet (8) in conventional suet feeders has also proven to be highly effective.

If you already have a full complement of feeders and are not in the market for a new feeder, the following methods may also be used to ward off the squirrels. The best of these methods is the use of a pole mounted squirrel baffle. If you have a feeder sitting on top of a straight pole and away from squirrel launchers, the ERVA SB1 baffle is most effective and we rate this baffle a perfect “10”. The Woodlink baffle (9) is also highly effective and can be used on either straight poles or shepherd hook poles. If your feeders are hanging from tree limbs, try the ERVA SB5(7) or Mandarin Baffle (7). These baffles are very effective for tube feeders but quickly lose their effectiveness with larger wooden feeders.
Another way to fight the squirrels is to use red pepper (3) mixed with the seed. This will not affect the birds but will be a deterrent to squirrels until they acquire a taste for hot spicy southern dishes. I have had very good luck with safflower seed (8). It not only keeps the squirrels away, it does not appeal to grackles or starlings.

Some people have offered squirrels a table of their own in the form of squirrel feeders. These feeders are 100% effective in keeping the long-tailed chiselers away from bird feeders during the time they spend at their own table.

This year seems to have produced a bumper crop of nuts (1). Perhaps this readily available food source will keep the squirrels away from the bird feeders. And perhaps the price of gasoline will fall below $1.00 per gallon.

Droll Yankees Flipper Feeder - $109.00
The Droll Yankee Flipper was voted the best new porduct at the 2000 Birdwatch America Show. The Yankee Flipper is the definitive squirrel-proof bird feeder. Birds love to eat from it, but squirrels are prevented from eating from it in a way that will make you smile. The weight activated feeding perch is calibrated to react to a squirrel's weight. When a squirrel steps on the perch, a connection is made with a motor that makes the perch spin, and the squirrel is flipped off the feeder. The unit comes equipped with rechargeable nicad batteries and a battery recharger. The large one gallon capacity tube is 21" long. This feeder is highly functional - allowing songbirds to eat, including cardinals - NOT squirrels.

A Bird's Eye View

Imagine a nesting adult female bald eagle near the top of a tall pine tree located two hundred yards from the lakeshore intently watching the water. Suddenly she leaves the nest and after a few strokes of her powerful wings is over the water. She swoops down, snatches a fish from just below the surface with her talons and then returns to the nest to consume her prey.

Such an event would not be possible were it not for the bald eagle’s remarkable eyesight. Sight is a bird's most important sense, and scientists believe that an eagle’s vision is as much as six times sharper than a human’s even though the eyes are approximately the same size. The relatively large eye to head size is not obvious because most of the eye socket is surrounded by the skull. In fact the eye consumes so much of the skull that there is little room left for the muscles that move the eye. The eagle can compensate for the lack of eye mobility by rotating its neck. The large number of cervical vertebrae in the neck enables it to sweep a 270 degree arc.

To survive, to eat, to mate and to live, a bird relies heavily on its sense of vision. Because sight is so important to them, birds have highly developed eyes. The eyes of most birds are on the sides of their head. This placement allows them to be able to see the things on each side at the same time as well as in front of them. This type of vision is called monocular vision. Birds with eyes placed like this get a wide area of vision to be able to see danger as quickly as possible. For instance, pigeons can see 300 degrees without turning their head. Some birds. Like woodcocks, have their eyes placed far back on the sides of their heads, allowing them even to see danger behind them. However, with monocular vision, birds have a harder time judging distances and have worse depth perception.

The vision that occurs when the field of vision from each eye overlaps is called binocular vision. Birds, like raptors, have their eyes placed far to the front giving them binocular vision as people have. These birds may have a 180-degree field of overall vision with much of that binocular. They have much sharper vision to the front than their monocular cousins. For instance, the pigeon may only have 30 degrees of binocular vision.

Even though an eagle’s eyes are located on the sides of the skull, they protrude outward and their position is far enough forward to provide an overlapping field of view. This allows a degree of binocular vision associated with depth perception. The ability to accurately perceive distances is critical when diving for prey and snatching it with talons.

The structure of the bird’s eye is similar to humans. However, there are some very important differences. Most birds’ have eyes that are flatter than

human eyes. This flatness allows birds to have a larger area in focus at one time while we focus one smaller area at a time.

The extremely soft lens of the eye allows for rapid accommodation. This ability to quickly refocus between near and far assists in prey identification and self-protection. In addition, the eyes are partially autonomous which allows some independent monocular vision to the sides.

At the back of the eye is an area called the retina. It is made up of several different types of cells. Rod cells are sensitive to small amounts of light. Nocturnal birds that spend the night hunting, such as owls, have many more rods than humans or than birds that find food during the day. There are almost a million rods per square millimeter in some owls while we have only around 200,000 per square millimeter. That certainly explains why owls can see so much better at night than we can. Another reason nocturnal birds see better at night than humans is that these birds’ pupils are larger. These huge pupils allow more light to come into the eyes than our smaller pupils do.

Cells called cones are also present in eyes. Cones allow the brain to perceive colors. A human may have 10,000 cones per square millimeter while some birds may have up to 120,000 per square millimeter. Nocturnal birds who have the extremely high concentration of rods will have very few cones – it is much more important to be able to see in low light and not very important to distinguish colors. On the other hand, birds that forage and feed in the daylight see colors very clearly from far off. It’s been said that a hummingbird can spot red flowers from over a half-mile away.

An eagle’s retina contains rods for faint light perception and cones for color perception just like a human’s. However, the eagle retina has many more cones than rods. When there is ample light an eagle can distinguish well-hidden prey from its surroundings. In low light conditions, the ability to differentiate color diminishes and the eagle sees objects in varying shades of gray. The reduced number or rods limits the eagle’s night vision and explains why the eagle normally hunts after first light or during the day.

The role of natural selection has resulted in two very different visual patterns in birds. The predator birds have evolved with binocular visions that give them a depth perception advantage which increases their hunting success. Birds that are generally considered prey evolved with monocular vision, a visual pattern that gives them a broader visual field and an advantage when it comes to escaping from predators.

The next time you go bird watching take notice of where the eyes are located on the head and whether or not the bird is a predator or a prey.

Duncraft Suet Haven with 3 Suet Cakes - $28.70
Are squirrels stealing all of the birds' suet? Are grackles and starlings preventing the woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, wrens and titmice from getting suet? The Duncraft Suet Haven was designed to be squirrel-proof and to minimize access to large black birds. Now, through November 30th, save $3.75 on the purchase of a combination pack of the Duncraft Suet Haven and three cakes of Hi-Energy Suet.

Bird Jokes

A duck walks into a convenience store and walks up to the counter. The duck asks, "Got any grapes?" "No", said the puzzled store clerk. The duck smiles and walks out the door. A little while later the duck returns and askes, "Got any grapes?" The clerk replies, "No! Like I alreadly told you 15 minutes ago, I don't have any grapes!" The duck smiles and walks out. A little while later the duck returns and again asks "Got any grapes?" The irate clerk yells, "No! We didn't have any, we don't have any, and we are not going to have any. If you come back in here again, I'll nail your webbed feet to the floor!" The duck smiles and walks out. Later the duck returns and asks the clerk, "Got

any nails?" The clerk says "NO!" The duck replies, "Good! Got any grapes?"

A magician was performing on a cruise ship and each night while performing, his pet parrot kept saying "it's up his sleeve", "it's in his pocket", "it's in his shoe", "it's in his pants", etc. and the magician was losing his patience. One night while performing his tricks, the ship's boilers blew and the ship sank. The lucky magician was able to grab onto a ship's table and float on the sea for a few days. The parrot in the meantime was looking quizzically at the magician for a few days while drifting. On the 4th day, the parrot looked at his master and said "I give up...what did you do with the ship?"