My finches just left all of a sudden 2 days ago. I just added new seed. Combination of thistle and ground sunflower. Thank you! Jeanne from Holmen, WI

I wish I could feed this way in our yard. I have a caged meal worm feeder because too many other birds would a field day if I didn’t do that. Thanks for sharing 🪺

Are there any birds who are unsuccessful in finding a mate?

so handsome!

Red-shouldered hawks are so amazing! Really enjoy your in-depth species presentations!

Excellent video, Mark! I planted some Green Giants against a wooded section of my yard. Green Giants like full sun, so I decided to girdle three, big Sweetgum Trees to help bring some sunshine to the giants in the future. The birds will have a field day for years to come.

Can a bee sting kill a hummingbird?

Yes!!!! Mine looks like a grey cardinal! I thought it may have been a blue Jay. When he comes to my window feeder he’s the only one that sounds like he’s tapping on my window 😊😊😊

I put out some cracked wheat or steel cut outs I had in the pantry for a few years and Sparrows are eating it but leaving quickly so I fear they are feeding their hatchlings the dry ground grain instead of insects! Insects are the only source of water!

To piggyback off this subject, I noticed most people around 45 years old and younger tend to rip out all landscaping around there homes now, especially if buying a home. I assume it's because they don't want the work or a lack of time. But my neighborhood has much less cover to offer and nesting places than 10+ years ago due the change. I don't mean to overstep you here Mark, but I would also add: if a person does want to cut a tree down, wait until fall or winter, if possible. They may take away the birds home but at least nesting season is over then. Defiantly a good and important message on this video.

If birds are locked on a tree limb when they sleep, wouldn’t that keep an owl from snatching them?

Thank you! Looks like good products except for 1 thing. I would like to mount on the top the Squirrel-Be-Gone II Country House Bird Feeder, which is my favorite squirrel-proof bird feeder. AND I need some sturdy hooks for other bird feeders or even hanging baskets. However, it looks like this pole system only allows sturdy hooks at the top as a topper, and there's no room for a bird house or feeder at the top of the pole. I've run into this problem a lot, and can't find a sturdy system. This feeder is really heavy, so I can't use the cheaper, smaller poles that allow putting hooks anywhere. If you have any recommendations, I would appreciate it.

...because bird seed is expensive and they take over the entire feeder. I have invasive collard doves I need to deter. Plenty black birds but they've been beneficial in getting rid of carpenter ant infestation & for that I'm glad. I couldn't even sit in my yard without the black carpenter ants crawling all over me & one day saw a whole bunch of black birds feasting up a storm in my yard & became very happy to see the black ants gone.

Big Year is one of my top 5 favorite movies. Great casting, great story line.

Aren’t flamingos wading birds?

Never heard of the term "snags" for dead trees. Learn something new every day.

Hi Mark. Great video. What are your thoughts on still water in a bird bath? I don’t see a lot of birds at the bird bath but a lot at my bubbler fountains. Plus when cleaning the bird bath water seems cloudy. Thank you… Dawn from Langhorne Pennsylvania.

Thank you so much for this information

I enjoyed learning from this video. Im retired and sit on my back porch a lot and just enjoy the peace and quiet. Just to make it a little more interesting, for the first time in my life, a few weeks ago I hung up a bird feeder. Im not a bird watcher or any of that, but since hanging up the feeder, I have discovered several species of birds that I didn't even know made their homes around here, or even existed for that matter. The tufted titmouse is one of them. I had never seen one before, or even heard of them that I remember, but apparently, they are all over the place! They are so small and quick, I guess I just never seen em before. There are several of them at my bird feeder every day. Cute little buggers! It's very enjoyable to see them come visit me and my bird feeder.

I’m in Ky. I had an abundance of gold finches and purple finches, emptying the feeders quickly. They’ve suddenly disappeared. 😩

We have a rescue dark-eyed junco. (Oregon) Suggest any resources available for care & keeping? (great video)

Another great PSA; Thank you, Mark! Our land has lots of snags. An extra piece of advice if you MUST cut down a tree is to make sure it's not during nesting season 🤗💕

Don’t nest boxes attract squirrels?

If I recall correctly, they are also known as "rain doves".

good tips. thank you so much.

I'm reaching out to you on behalf of Hwishare, a provider of premium rifle scopes and binoculars for bird observation. We're excited about the possibility of collaborating with you to offer an exclusive discount to your audience.

Maybe this why I have so many different woodpeckers in my yard. ❤

I certainly leave my dead trees in my backyard for the birds. I feed the birds and daily clean water.

We have a couple of snags next to our property and the Red Bellies have turned them into homes. We also had some trees taken down, kinda. Had the company leave 25-30 feet of the base and have added holes, notches, and arms for squirrel proof feeders. The Hot Peper suet logs, that we order from you, are added to those holes the birds love it! We also add peanuts to the cavities…. Great topic, Mark!

Very important . I leave plenty of dead trees for the good of many creatures.

La Crosse WI

Thanks for the tips, will incorporate these for the summer months. Love your channel!

Thanks for pointing out the bill size and shape of the guilded flickers. (And the lack of the mark on back of their heads) . I regularly see a family of flickers here in north Texas that closely resemble the guilded....but we're out of range for them here. They are the hybrid red/yellow / intergrade northern flickers you speak of. They have features of both the red and yellow shafted. They had me really confused for awhile. Many closely resemble the guilded (but they DO have the mark on the back of the head! And they also do not have the bill shape of the guilded in your great id pic either. ) Great video !

What about roasted unsalted peanuts?

What is it about a dove or a pigeons wings that makes them whistle when they fly?

Is it easy to tell the difference between a blackbird and a crow?

On long island new York I have alot of orioles

We have a pair of Pileated woodpeckers in our yard ,eating their share of cicadas! They are fun to watch

I am still pretty much a beginner birder, and I have to agree with you that those "Birds of (State Name)" guides are really good for a beginner. A beginner sees a bird, wonders what it is, and wants to look it up. But how? With guides like Sibley's, you have to know what general kind of bird it is, and then you can use the guide to distinguish which sparrow or titmouse or cardinal you're looking at. But if you can't tell the differnence between a titmouse, a wood-pewee, and a chickadee, then you're sunk. . . all you really know is the color, and that is why those state guides are good. They give you a starting point from which to look them up, and then you can go to a Sibley-like guide to help confiirm or differentiate or whatever. The Hoffman guide also has a color lookup function. The advanced guides teach you about recognizing field marks, which is useful except that once you recognize a field mark, then what? If you don't know what kind of bird it is, you are still stuck with color. I wish there were a guide where you could look up birds by field marks in an index - say, tufted birds, birds with eyebands, and so on. Maybe there is such a guide. Anyway, love your stuff. Thanks!!

When a male enters another birds territory, they would be chased away. What if its a female?

In your video on owls, you did not mention the tawny owl.

How well can birds hear?

I have a window in my door. I noticed a couple of times that birds will come up to the window and look in. What does that mean?

Hello, I live in Northern California and I’m just started backyard birding. What seed mix would be best for my region/area. Thank you so much!

It's interesting that you mention the nest boxes and starlings. This year we had a pair of Northern flickers starting to nest in our screech owl box. We saw them going in and out for a few days but then they suddenly were gone. Turns out starlings had taken over the box. I promptly cleaned out the box and chased off the starlings. But the flickers didn't come back.

I built a bat house 2 years ago and have hundreds of them now but I don't think their eating the Leaf Footed Bugs since they are probably in branches at night. Do martins get inside the tree branches and chase down bugs or do they only catch bugs as they fly? Can they eat all the honey bees which I need to pollinate my fruit trees on the one acre I have? Thanks.

Thank you Mark! I was ready to give up cuz of those darn ants. I appreciate your insight and sharing with me. I can hang up my hummingbird feeder again and enjoy these special birds.❤️.

I've identified their song via Merlin in the woods behind our house. But I've yet to see them or have them come to our feeders. They seem to be shy, or maybe intimidated by the large population of Starlings living in our barn.

Do birds generally roost at their nests?

Have you seen any cuckoo birds at your feeders?