What Feed for What Birds in Las Vegas
Greetings,
Occasionally, someone will send in a comment that in fact is the basis for a good blog post for all... Kathy sent just such a comment... It and my responses follow:
Hi Kathy,
Here is the way that I would approach your (or anyone else's similar) situation...
See you by those properly stocked and hopefully unmolested feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Occasionally, someone will send in a comment that in fact is the basis for a good blog post for all... Kathy sent just such a comment... It and my responses follow:
Hi Mr. and Mrs. CCA: We're new to the Las Vegas, NV area and have finally dug out the old birdfeeder. Now that our hummingbirds have migrated, who could/should we expect to see and what type of birdseed should we stock up on? Also, any way to discourage those pesky Mourning (Morning?) Doves -- or are they pigeons? -- other than siccing the dog on them? (She's actually cornered a couple of them and come away with a few feathers. That doesn't seem to deter them...) Thanks in advance.
Hi Kathy,
Here is the way that I would approach your (or anyone else's similar) situation...
- Now that you're starting to settle into your new digs, consider cleaning your feeder(s) first. (See: Clean Feeders.)
- If you need help mounting mounting them, see "Hanging/Mounting Your New Feeder", parts 1 and 2).
- Alright... With that stuff out of the way, what birds can you expect for a given location (in your case Las Vegas)? Well, to determine that, I used Yahoo's search engine (though Google or Dogpile would no doubt work just as well) and queried on ""Las Vegas" birding" (without the outer quotes). The results of the query were numerous, but two sites (Great Basin Bird Observatory and Wetlands Park) stuck out. From those sites, I'd guess that you can expect the frequent winter birds in your area to include grebes, mourning doves, flickers, kingbirds, wrens, warblers, sparrows, robins, gnatcatchers, etc.
- Ok... So now you have a rough idea of who's going to be at your feeder. But what to feed them? Well, let's take a look at a couple of charts and another post...
- Now what does that tell us? (Remember that you can use this technique and these tools for any of the birds in the continental U.S.) Well, it tells us that you can't go wrong with sunflower hearts and chips. Mourning doves like cracked corn and nyjer. Flickers should like the suet. In general, small billed birds like the wrens, warblers, gnatcatchers, and sparrows enjoy our "Finch Festival".
- But the bigger picture for everyone (not just Kathy in Las Vegas) is that information abounds for the new backyard birder as well as for the transplanted expert. Not only do you have access to me via the "Comment" button on this post (or any other post for that matter), you can also call us at 1-866-324-7373. Beyond eBirdseed.com, there are alternate sources such as: the Internet, your neighbors, local natural resource officers, wild birder clubs, etc.
- As for the mourning doves themselves... Yes, they are a type of pigeon, (they were once known as the "Carolina Pigeon"). But I'd think long and hard before trying to shoo them away. Mourning doves tend to be ground feeders, and they clean up the scatter caused by other birds. (If the mourning doves don't take care of the seed spillage, something else will.)
- Finally, "siccing" a domestic pet on an inconvenient wild animal (like a mourning dove) is just a terrible idea. Beyond the issues of sanitation and health lies something much more subtle. It trains the pet to attack wild animals, and that can be a very bad idea indeed.
See you by those properly stocked and hopefully unmolested feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Comments
Agree with your Mourning Dove comment. I complain about the numerous ones who visit my feeders, but they are good ground cleaners, non-aggressive, and sweet. They love the black oil sunflower and don't bother the nuts or suet. But, they are avid eaters :o), a little slow and are often the target of a hawk.
{CCA replies... Thank you Mary for your thoughts... And I absolutely agree that mourning doves are frequent targets for natural predators. It's sad but true. That's also one of the reasons that we have a dedicated squirrel feeder.}
Posted by: mary | October 16, 2007 7:44 PM
Thanks, CCA, for the great suggestions. BTW, I was just kidding about siccing the dog on the mourning doves. Would never do that. Her dna kicks in and she can't help herself. We have had several serious discussions about not attacking the birds. Sometimes she gets it, and sometimes, well...the good news is she has only caught feathers so far.
Posted by: Kathy | October 21, 2007 8:50 AM