Getting Wild Birds to Eat out of your Hands
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Hand feeding wild birds
by Diane Porter.
Your backyard birds can be landing on your shoulder and taking food from your hand this winter. With a little encouragement, some birds will accept you as a natural part of their environment-perhaps even as a friend. It's not difficult to win the trust of the guests at your feeders. Here's how to do it.
Begin by filling your feeders at the same time every day, preferably in the early morning, when birds actively seek food. Include a few chopped walnuts or pecans, which many birds relish, where the birds can get at them immediately. Certain birds will catch on and show up soon after you visit the feeder.
On a cold morning, stand or sit quietly for a few minutes about 10 to 15 feet away from the feeder after you put out the food. It's OK to talk, and in fact the birds will learn to associate your voice with food, but avoid sudden movements. After a bit of scolding and a few false starts, a bird will come to the feeder. Wow! Jackpot! The first bird gets the treats all to itself. Most likely a chickadee, nuthatch, or titmouse will be your first taker. It's the nature of these inquisitive species to investigate novel food opportunities. Soon others also will come.
Be consistent. Do the same thing on the following days, but stand a foot closer each time. If you don't try to close the gap too quickly, the birds will accept your presence. It's OK to skip a day, or even a week, but the oftener you repeat, the faster the birds will get used to you.
Once the birds are coming to the feeder while you stand right next to it, put your open hand on or next to the feeder. It's OK to wear gloves, provided they're always the same color.
When the birds have become comfortable eating near your hand, remove all the food from the feeder and offer the nut pieces on your palm. Be patient. One of the birds will land on the feeder and take a piece of nut from your hand. It may even hop onto your fingers.
The first bird that I won over in this way was a female red-breasted nuthatch. She landed as easily as if my bare hand were part of a tree. I will never forget how delightfully her tiny toes prickled my skin. The little bird looked up at my eyes. Pregnant seconds passed, the two of us gauging one another. Then she turned her attention to the nuts on my palm. She picked up and dropped several pieces, until she found the one that pleased her best and flew off with it. She tucked it under some loose bark of a tree for safekeeping and came back for another.
The thrill of success: Moments after the female accepted food from my hand, a male red-breasted nuthatch did the same thing. Before winter's end, I also hand fed a tufted titmouse, several black-capped chickadees, and a downy woodpecker.
When I went outside, birds would often come near in the trees and watch me. If I held out a hand, usually a nuthatch or chickadee would land on it to see what I had to offer. Gradually I expanded the area in which the birds would come to me, until it included most of the backyard.
The best time for making progress in this project is early on a cold, sunny morning, especially after an ice storm, which seals away much natural food. Birds will be especially eager at those times to get what you're offering. So bundle up, put on warm socks and boots, and go outside. It's a pleasant exercise.
As you wait peacefully, you may see the birds in new ways and observe things you never noticed before. Start as early as possible in winter, but realize that it may be January or February before the birds come to your hand. When it happens, it will be summer in your heart.
This story appeared in Backyard Bird Newsletter, December, 2004. Copyright 2004 by Diane Porter.
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