Date:         Wed, 14 Aug 2002 18:57:20 -0400
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         "Derek C. Richardson" <dcr@ASTRO.UMD.EDU>
Subject:      advice sought: bird feeders in apartment complex
In-Reply-To:  <76.20bfb2e5.2a8bcd67@aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Hi! I have a Duncraft platform feeder outside my apartment (ground floor)
that attracts a variety of birds. I recently received the following
message from the management of the apartments: "As a preventative measure
regarding pest control, we kindly ask that residents refrain from feeding
birds, squirrels or any wildlife on the property." I was hoping to solicit
opinions from this knowledgable group about whether this is a reasonable
request.

Admittedly my feeder is dominated by house sparrows, but titmice,
chickadees, house finches, cardinals, mourning doves, and blue jays are
regular visitors, and other birds like juncos and mockingbirds (on the
ground) happen by now and then. It would be a shame to abandon them. I
would argue that the house sparrows could be discouraged by better
maintenance (they nest mostly in the building vents whose screens are in
bad need of repair). The other birds are hardly what I would call "pests".
And the Duncraft model prevents squirrels from taking seeds.

Have any other apartment dwellers run into this problem as well?

Thanks for your help,

Derek

--
Derek C. Richardson -- dcr@astro.umd.edu -- dcr_wyvin@yahoo.com
Dept of Astronomy, Univ of Maryland, College Park MD 20742-2421
Tel W 301-405-8786 H 301-477-4495 F 301-314-9067 C 240-472-3702
_____ visit my home page @ http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/ _____

=======================================================================
To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com
with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey
=======================================================================
=========================================================================