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My Way: A Natural Log Bird Feeder

Several years ago I asked my Amish neighbor to hitch his team of workhorses to a large log in my woods and drag it to the edge of my yard, just 20 feet from a bay window in my house. The farmer had received other odd requests from his "English" neighbor in the past, so this was nothing out of the ordinary. He waited until a winter day when heavy snow coated the ground--which would make the dragging easier--and arrived with the designated log in tow, his two horses blowing steam out of their noses like fire-breathing dragons.

"Where you want it?" he asked, as I opened my front door.

I showed him the location, and he and the horses jockeyed the log into position. I thanked him, but honestly don't remember whether I told him that I was planning to use the log as a wild bird feeder. After all, he is a very practical man with a large family to feed and has little time for what he might term nonsense.

That afternoon I spread the first of what would be many buckets of sunflower seed on that log, and ever since it has attracted the attention of thousands of birds and been a source of hundreds of hours of enjoyment for my wife and me. No bird-feeding concept could be more simple or natural. And the advantages are several: no man-made feeders to purchase, put up, clean, maintain, or take down. The log simply lies there, year after year. During the summer, when we cut back on our bird feeding, the log blends into the wooded landscape surrounding our house and none of our human visitors are any the wiser.

Things to Remember

Even though a natural log bird feeder is simple, a few pointers will make it even more bird friendly. For instance, be careful how you orient the log in relation to the viewing window in your house. Placing the log at a 90-degree angle to your house--instead of parallel to it--will encourage most birds to fly away from dangerous windows when startled rather than into them.

Selection of a log is also important. If you have a choice, hardwoods will outlast softwoods when in contact with the ground. Tree species such as tulip poplar, maple, oak, ash, cherry, beech, and others will last longer than pines, aspens, and cottonwoods. How long will the log be around before rotting away? It depends on your climate and the size of the log, but a good 10 to 20 years is not unreasonable. And as the log deteriorates it will naturally attract a variety of woodpeckers.

Adding Another Bird to Our List

Besides attracting the usual birds found in Ohio during winter, we recently added another bird species to our natural log feeder list--wild turkey! A flock of nine of the large birds spent time on or around our log during the past winter. And one of the turkeys was a bearded hen. Usually only gobblers sport a beard, but a small percentage of hens do, too. So drag up a log, put out some seed, and see what happens. No wild bird-feeding scheme is simpler or more enjoyable.