[raylo32]

We got some of these ornamental critters made of bird seed from Wild Birds Unlimited for the holidays. Mine is a Preston the Penguin. I hung him next to my regular bird feeder off the rail of my rear deck. Now, not only are no birds eating Preston, they are avoiding my deck and conventional feeder altogether. I am thinking they are mistaking Preston for an owl or somesuch and are scared to come around. Anyone here tried one of these before and had any luck? I'd hate to just throw it away.

 

[de-nagorg]

It may take a few days for the wild birds to get used to Preston, and come back.

Or : take a hammer to him, and smash it into bits, and dispense the parts as normal, in a feeder, or a pan of some kind.


ED

 

[Nik333]

That is funny! In Child Development, they taught ( I'm not quite sure why) that baby geese instinctually hid when the silhouette of a raptor came over vs the silhouette of a goose. So I guess your little guy has the wrong shape.:wink2:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawk/goose_effect


"In ethology and cognitive ethology, the hawk/goose effect refers to a behavior observed in some young birds when another bird flies above them: if the flying bird is a goose, the young birds show no reaction, but if the flying bird is a hawk, the young birds either become more agitated or cower to reduce the danger. The observation that short-necked and long-tailed birds flying overheard caused alarm was noted by Oskar Heinroth."

 

[DoomsDave]

We got some of these ornamental critters made of bird seed from Wild Birds Unlimited for the holidays. Mine is a Preston the Penguin. I hung him next to my regular bird feeder off the rail of my rear deck. Now, not only are no birds eating Preston, they are avoiding my deck and conventional feeder altogether. I am thinking they are mistaking Preston for an owl or somesuch and are scared to come around. Anyone here tried one of these before and had any luck? I'd hate to just throw it away.

I'm curious to see further.

For now, just wait. Maybe the birds in your 'hood will realize it's seed and not some predatory monster.

Though I must say, if I were driving by, I wouldn't think it was bird seed either.

 

[raylo32]

LOL... yes, the Wild Bird store is selling stuff to people! They need to have a bird murder board to try out their products before they decide to stock them!

I will give it a few days then maybe follow Ed's suggestion and bust him up, but that isn't ideal. It will just attract the darned squirrels.

I'm curious to see further.

For now, just wait. Maybe the birds in your 'hood will realize it's seed and not some predatory monster.

Though I must say, if I were driving by, I wouldn't think it was bird seed either.

 

[Nik333]

Try giving him a long neck. :biggrin2:

 

[ChuckF.]

Remove the orange features.

 

[chandler48]

If it were at my house, it would be gone overnight. Bears love these little things. It's compact, easy to carry and will provide snacks for an entire day for him. Same thing with suet feeders. I find the little cages all over the property when wifey forgets to bring them in at night.

 

[Startingover]

Something new made birds nervous. Takes my songvbirds a couple of weeks to adapt. Big woodpeckers are braver.

 

[Nik333]

It does look like an owl from the front. I looked him up.

What's that word for things doing the opposite of what they were intended for?

 

[raylo32]

Bud Light, you think?? ;-)

Try giving him a long neck. :biggrin2:

 

[de-nagorg]

It does look like an owl from the front. I looked him up.

What's that word for things doing the opposite of what they were intended for?

Reverse Psychology?

ED

 

[raylo32]

I believe it is simpler than that. Pure profit motive... and selling a product not fit for purpose. The manufacturers make Preston and his buddy the birdseed snowman and customers say, "Oh, that's cute" and buy him as a gift. But when birds see it they say: "damn, that thing is gonna eat me!" Manufacturers and store don't care since the sale is already made and profit banked.

Reverse Psychology?

ED

 

[Nik333]

You could probably make a lot of money making this a youtube video.
Make sure 'long neck' is in the title.:wink2:

 

[raylo32]

Yeah, that could be fun. I could sit there with a case of long necks and drink a whole case and pan back from that to Preston and see nary a bird. It wouldn't exactly be must see TV! But I think I will find a place to post an online review instead. And I will make sure to tell my gifter to not get fooled by this again.

You could probably make a lot of money making this a youtube video.
Make sure 'long neck' is in the title.:wink2:

 

[Nik333]

Yeah, that could be fun. I could sit there with a case of long necks and drink a whole case and pan back from that to Preston and see nary a bird. It wouldn't exactly be must see TV! But I think I will find a place to post an online review instead. And I will make sure to tell my gifter to not get fooled by this again.

No, I meant a real DIY scientific study. Film before & after you gave him a long neck. Honestly, I'd find that more interesting than some of the videos on there.

 

[raylo32]

If I were an ornithologist I might give it a go... but I'm not... so I won't. Besides, the stores would never be able to sell mutant figures like that since they wouldn't look like cute little penguins or snowmen.

I have another friend who got the "Snowman" and they were also wondering where all the birds went. LOL.

 

[raylo32]

Well, at least the squirrels figured out that Preston was food and not an owl. I saw one perched on the end of the hanger this morning trying to figure out how to get down to him. I went to get my phone for a pic but before I could get a shot Mr. Squirrel lost his footing and did a twisting windmilling pirouetting squirrel version of Wile-E Coyote falling off a cliff as he dropped the 15 feet to the ground below. It was pretty funny to watch... and the squirrel was unharmed.

 

[DoomsDave]

If I were an ornithologist I might give it a go... but I'm not... so I won't. Besides, the stores would never be able to sell mutant figures like that since they wouldn't look like cute little penguins or snowmen.

I have another friend who got the "Snowman" and they were also wondering where all the birds went. LOL.

Birds don't buy. People do.

Been there done that with bird feeding up north. Oh yeah.

 

[raylo32]

Well, the squirrels kept trying and were ultimately successful in eating Preston's head off. Now that he doesn't look like a bird of prey the other birds are having at it, too. Alls well that ends well.