Although you can expect to attract orioles at an oriole feeder stocked with fruit and grape jelly, you may see other visitors at the feeder too. This particular feeder takes a level of balance and dexterity to use – easy for orioles, harder for some other birds. You may even find you need a larger jelly jar, or a second one – all part of summer experimenting.

Aside from providing fresh water daily, a feeding station tends to be less of a requirement for many birds during summer’s time of plenty. Summer feeding can be more of a matter of bringing birds closer for you to observe and enjoy than a necessity, considering the abundance of food for birds with the flush of insects, spiders, caterpillars, earthworms, flower nectar, plant seeds, and other naturally occurring foods. Nonetheless, summer is a good time to try to specialize on attracting birds that may not be around past September.

First, do what works best for you. While a feeding station can be all-inclusive, providing a variety of foods to welcome all potential birds, summer is the best time to emphasize certain foods as the nesting season winds down and fledglings become more of the neighborhood mix. Focus on such species as hummingbirds, orioles, goldfinches, bluebirds, and many others that begin to flock, feed in earnest, and move to locales with better food resources – like your property. Also try stocking your feeding station with new foods to see what will attract new birds.

Feeding selectively can mean experimenting with some new foods to see what birds are attracted; and to assess if there are any downsides to providing the new items. Start with fruits; try an assortment of cut oranges, grapes, and even sliced banana – these fruits are popular with orioles, tanagers, thrushes, and some warblers when birds are wintering in Latin America. Of course, if you’re not already offering grape jelly for orioles, that’s the best way to attract orioles, and it’s interesting to see what other birds jelly will attract to summer feeding stations. Many species will begin moving soon after they finish nesting, so you may attract a new species or two, along with some fledglings in the mix.

Of course, keep your nectar feeders fresh and clean, as post-nesting hummingbirds and orioles search for a reliable nectar source. Even if you attracted these exciting birds to nectar feeders during spring migration, July and August will probably bring even more hummers to your nectar feeders through September.

Potential Problem Solvers

Part of summer experimenting may become trying to rid your feeders of problem birds. One option is to try to specialize during mid-summer, which is a good time to make some feeding changes. During the summer feeding season, problems may arise with certain birds that can dominate your feeding station and even repel some birds you most want to attract. Perhaps it’s the loud and aggressive behavior of European Starlings or Common Grackles, or sheer numbers of House Sparrows or Red-winged Blackbirds. Maybe you don’t like aggressive jays, or crows, or another group of birds you find to be a problem.

The simple answer to problem birds is: Stop feeding whatever is attracting the particular birds you wish to un-invite. The best bet is to consider and weigh what such an action may have; for each action, there tends to be a secondary, or even opposite reaction. For instance, if you decide to discontinue offering sunflower seeds, you may get rid of the “bad guys,” but you may lose other valued visitors.

Assess and Re-assess what’s working and what’s contributing to any problem; then consider some seasonal options. Remember, any changes you make can be short-term – a couple days, or a couple weeks. There’s also an element of “give and take.” Maybe you can get problem birds to back off a while by eliminating their preferred food; then ease back into re-attracting a species or 2 you may have unintentionally deterred in the process.

For example, take a look at your seed offerings. Consider eliminating the food the “problem birds” eat, which tend to be millet and sunflower seeds or a grocery store mix of seeds and cracked corn. Often, it’s the seeds that fall to the ground or that you feed from an open platform feeder that create a problem. If eliminating that portion of your feeding station takes care of it, wait a few days, or a week or so before you reintroduce specific seeds that attract birds you prefer.

If the problem birds simply switch to your thistle seeds, you may have a bigger choice to make. Do you remove your thistle feeder, and probably displace your favored goldfinches? Now that’s a serious choice to make. Perhaps that fix can be addressed by using a specialized caged feeder that will allow small birds to enter but restricts larger birds from accessing the seeds.

Next, consider your suet feeder. Suet tends to attract some of the “bad guys,” but it’s tough to remove your best magnet for woodpeckers, nuthatches, and others. Again, a caged suet feeder may be the best bet, but it may restrict access for larger woodpeckers too, including Hairy or Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Some birders turn to using an upside-down style of suet feeder that requires birds to cling upside down to access the suet. It works for some, not for others, but that’s part of the experimental process – species act differently in different locations, even just across town. Focus on what works best for you.

As noted above, during the warm days of summer, providing fresh water in a shallow basin, shallow bird bath, or another water feature is the best way to keep attracting the most interesting birds to your yard. Keep your water fresh, and think about improving your birdbath or water feature with a mister, dripper, bubbler, mini-fountain, or mini-waterfall. The sound of moving water attracts new birds that may be on the move after the nesting season, and the tranquil sound of moving water can be another nice addition to your yard for you and your guests.

Summer can be the most exciting time of the year at your feeding station, so don’t hesitate to make some changes as warranted, and do a little experimenting – just for fun. You never know what birds might react and become new feeding station favorites.

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