Read about this a while back and took down our feeders for a while and have to check the status. If you do have them up they need to be cleaned very often.
In addition, many people don’t realize they shouldn’t have feeders out in mid-spring to mid-summer: 1) yummy nutritious insects, which are great for chicks, are plentiful; 2) young chicks can choke on some types of bird food; 3) predators often follow birds from feeders back to their nests.
To show you how attuned the predators can be to feeders, we had at least 3 attacks by Cooper’s Hawks (one I got video of devouring its prey) on birds that were feeding in the backyard. There’s a nearby park with plenty of prey but the hawks sought out feeders. Though these attacks were in colder months, it shows why researchers want folks to be extra careful during chick rearing season. In California I also saw two attacks by hawks right at feeders at other homes. I guess feeders can be feeders for song birds and hawks.
.
