I have noticed for many years that the chickadees like to drink water out of the ant barrier cups I put up for the hummingbird feeders. It doesn't matter how much water is available in bird baths, they just seem to love to drink out of small dishes.
Finally, a light bulb went off in my brain and I decided to take the bottom portion of a hummer feeder that wasn't in current use and fill it with water and hang it up just for the chickadees.
Not surprisingly, the curious birds discovered their new water source almost immediately.
There was even some wild winging around it as more than one bird tried to get a drink at the same time. Mostly, they waited patiently for their turn.
It was fun to see them approach the dish from different angles.
I loved the completely upside-down drinking posture, though. If you have chickadees, I highly recommend giving them a dish like this to drink from. It's much more popular than the bird bath that I have hanging nearby.
I'm a little slow on the draw sometimes, but I did finally figure it out. I told my sister about how popular this was and she put a dish out for her birds, too.
3 comments:
I have seen them at my ant moats too!!!
I have also seen downy woodpeckers at my hummer feeders.........not the moats. (that was my old ones that I couldn't keep the bees away, even with guards)
Sheila
Sheila, the bees don't seem to bother the kind of hummer feeders I've been using (knocking on wood right now...), but my sister has had really good luck putting a little bit of deet bug repellent under her feeders, where the hummingbirds have no chance of touching it to help deter the yellow jackets. It seems to work really well for her.
I like the idea of a "hidden" protective deterrent to keep the yellow jackets away. thanks.
Sheila
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