Page 8 - Backyard Bird Photography: How to Attract Birds to Your Home and Create Beautiful Photographs

seed) for these birds, and for a few other species that have learned to use these feeders and

that have bills that are adapted for it, such as the Pine Siskin and House Finch in Los
Angeles, and the Black-capped Chickadee and Purple Finch in Vermont.

The Lesser Goldfinch is a tiny bird and he is very wary, but once he becomes used to
using the Nyjer feeder in my Los Angeles garden, he is virtually tame. Even if I am not
photographing, I can stand a few feet away from this feeder and the goldfinch just looks up
at me and then goes back to his feeding. Similarly, when I am photographing the

hummingbird from close range, the goldfinch will drop down to the birdbath right next to
me, as if I weren’t even there. He’s a delightful little bird and he makes high-pitched
whistles and chirps all the time, so you always know he’s there. It may take him a few days
to find your Nyjer feeder, but once he does, he’ll stay in your yard and he won’t stop
eating. (Nyjer seed is also very tasty to the Fox Sparrow, which eats this seed off the ground
in Los Angeles when I set up a ground feeder.)

California Quail on patio

One day in Vermont, I put an assortment of birdfeeders in a row, in order to present the
types of feeders you can use in your own garden. From left to right, in the photo on page
32: green platform feeder on a pole, with mixed birdseed; tube feeder with Nyjer seed;
wood platform feeder with unshelled, unsalted, roasted peanuts; wood platform feeder

with black oil sunflower seed; metal platform feeder with mixed birdseed; green platform
feeder on a pole, with peanuts; ground feeder tray with mixed birdseed, to the right in the
shade; and on a tripod behind the feeders, my Canon EOS 7D camera body with a Canon
100–400mm lens.