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hand feed...



I was just wondering if anyone on the list has had much experience with
handfeeding wild birds.  I got a good book about it recently written by
Alfred G. Martin called Hand-Taming Wild Birds at the Feeder, here's a link
to it:
http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=17024D2RPK&;
mscssid=GK48UCHRK8LV9PWQTMBF4KANNWL40E10&isbn=0911469079

Pretty good book, very simple writing with interesting stories.  I haven't
gone about hand feeding in the same manner as Alfred, but for the most part
it's taking your feeders down and standing there with seed in your hand.
There is much to be learned from his book though, the advice not to swallow
if a bird is looking at your as well as to talk to the birds the whole time
and way more.

The other day a white breasted nuthatch finally perched on the tips of my
fingers.  He would come climbing down the large ash tree by our feeders
staring at me the whole time, he really wanted the seed I was holding.  Then
he would do fly-bys, either trying to scare me away so I'd put the feeders
back up or maybe to get a glimpse at the seed in my hand?  And then he would
perch on the cedar branch that our feeders normally hang from and work his
way as close to the seed in my hand as possible, glancing back and forth
between the seed and my eyes and trying to stretch his beak close enough to
snag a seed without having to jump to my palm.  Cute little guy, then he
finally worked up the gusto to hop off the cedar branch and land right on my
fingers.  He didn't take any seed (weird), just sat there and looked at it,
then at me, and back to the seed before he flew off back to his perch on the
ash and eventually out of sight into the woods.  Was a pretty amazing
feeling, his small cold feet on the tips of my fingers, and he was sooo
incredible light you could barely feel him there at all.  A red breasted
kept coming to the cedar log to check things out too but never took the risk
to go for the seed.  Same with the titmice and chickadees.  All in time
though, I just have to earn their trust.

--Craig