I’m not sure what forum to put this in since it’s not exactly ‘pets’ but also not ‘travel’.
I have lots of birds coming by my garden lately and I’d like to set something up to attract more of them (and someday also get one of those automatic bird-identifying cameras aimed at it). However searching on shopee and momo for ‘bird feeders’ or 喂鳥 as well as going to pet stores has turned up pretty much nothing. So I’m asking here if anyone has a bird feeder, where they got it, and how to avoid mold, rats, and roaches in the feeder.
I swear those weren’t there when I searched earlier today I must have had a typo in my query.
Okay, so ‘how to get one’ is solved. But I am still concerned about pests. I have a good place to hang one which will avoid rats, but is it possible to avoid cockroaches and mold? I would like to attract birds, not… other things with wings.
Yes especially with the gambling that goes with it, A fast bird will sell for good money. Also another way to launder money, as with all “specialist bread” animal husbandry, think a mini version of race horses but with a quicker turn around on stock.
Yes regular cleaning and change the feed, wash the feeder its self every now and then. Make sure to clean the stuff off the floor give it a good sweep around, maybe in the evening when the birds have eaten before the roaches come out. If it’s over grass think about having something below that will make it easier to clean or plant rosemary under it cockroaches hate it.
Thanks. This is the main sticking point with my neighbors and housemates - they really don’t want me putting anything out that will attract pests, which I understand. I could definitely put a big planter of rosemary underneath it to catch any stray food, or just rig something to hang the whole feeder off my balcony (sorry, downstairs neighbors).
Do you have a bird feeder in Taiwan? Any other tips? I am also wondering what size is best… I don’t really care about feeding the 3kg pigeons that hang around my neighborhood, but I’d like it sturdy enough to handle the Scops-owl and Blue Magpies I’ve heard nearby. At some point I’ll probably also get a hummingbird feeder.
Maybe someone seen your search and thought there might be a big market for them, lots of the usual Taiwanese “business men” seen their listing and suddenly everyone’s in the lucrative new business!
No need really, it’s not like it’s a harsh winter and the birds have limited access to natural sources.
You can put “traps” on the arms that hold them. Ants, rats etc are a big issue! But you can work around those with water and barriers. Especially useful for nectar feeders rather than seed feeders.
Mold, good luck. Just don’t put too kuch in at one time like you would in drier countries. Tuings are going to go funky eventually outdoors, so take it as being normal.
For rodents, post styles (they need to climb up, rather than down) and huge round hood like things under it will help. Keeping other birds out is really just going to be species specific on what you want to feed and what you want to keep away. The tropics isn’t so simple as just “bird feeder”. “Which species of bird feeder” is more accurate
Well, some birds do migrate through Taiwan, but that’s beside the point - I’m doing this because I like birds and I want to see more of them, not because I think that putting birdseed on my balcony will help with wildlife conservation.
Yeah, thanks for the reminder to actually have plants that attract birds in the first place - it will probably be better for attracting birds and I won’t have to worry about mold and such. I’d still like a birdfeeder (or maybe birdbath?) so that I have a specific place to aim a motion-sensing camera.
This is very helpful, thank you. I was thinking of using a small rope or chain to hang it off a long thin horizontal pole, but it would probably be easier and a lot more stable to have it be upright and add some extra protection. I would have assumed that nectar feeders would be easier to protect due to the feeding hole itself being less accessible. You mentioned using water to block pests, do you mean like planting the support pole for the feeder in one of those pots that has lotus flowers and guppies and stuff? Please do share any more ideas or details if you have your own feeder set up!
Can check hummingbird feeder designs if interested in the top down water traps for ants and such. Basically a cup with a center hook and it fills with water. Great for small insects, but wont work for rodents and the like
To keep aways rats and other furry critters you can try stir frying your seed in chili oil before putting out for the birds. Here in GA my TW wife loves all the birds that come to our feeder, but the squirrels, opossums, and raccoons will demolished everything if she leaves seed out. The birds don’t mind the heat, but the others can’t tolerate it so she spends one day a month stir-frying buckets of seed with chili oil that she brought back from Taiwan.
I can’t help with the insects though, we don’t mind them too much because they don’t piss on all our chairs and tables. I suppose they do, but it doesn’t smell like wild animals.
Chili oil is a pretty good idea. I will add that in Taiwan many rodent species will eat Capsicum fruit readily. Including the white membrane around the seeds, of many species and heat levels. The mammal theory I don’t think quite holds true, at least here
Sorry to break it to you but there are no hummingbirds in Taiwan. I just learned that this year after also considering getting a nectar feeder. Hummingbird moths are the closest visual thing though, little hovering things that I’ve seen drink from flowers at night.
Oh, I learned something new today! I had to go and check because I swear I’ve seen one here - it looks like there are some sunbirds in Taiwan which feed on nectar and are capable of hovering (wikipedia), but more likely is that I’ve never actually seen one here and am getting confused. I’ve definitely seen a few hummingbird hawk moths around, but I don’t really care enough to get a whole feeder just for them. Guess I’ll just go fry a bunch of birdseed in chili oil for now.
I must have had a typo in my query.
