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spring steel wire / music wire

djmonson

Plastic
Joined
Sep 17, 2018
I may be in the wrong forum. and this may be well off base, BUT... what i am looking for is a little information concerning guitar string/piano wire/spring steel properties. I have a hummingbird feeder that seems to attract far too many woodpeckers than the few hummingbirds that live around here in the Phoenix area. I would like to make a hummingbird resting stand that would hold the .11 to .14 oz hummingbirds, but bend below and restrict the larger woodpecker birds from reaching the feeding ports. Yet, when they do try (the woodpeckers) it would spring back up to hold the smaller hummingbirds.... Sounds crazy? well, that's me I guess. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what size wire I could use. The wire itself would be center point attached and 8 (eight) inches across with about a 1 - 1 1/2" right angle bend at the ends, allowing the little hummingbirds a resting spot.
Sound far fetched? ok, just let met know. I answer almost all emails and may not check this forum, unless an email comes in.
thanks much....
 
roll up a spring coil with the perch as a straight leg .

Any spring rate can be achieved by cutting coils.

Fold the "perch" wire back on it's self and twist the two together. Enough perch for a hummer, not enough for the WP.
 
I may be in the wrong forum. and this may be well off base, BUT... what i am looking for is a little information concerning guitar string/piano wire/spring steel properties. I have a hummingbird feeder that seems to attract far too many woodpeckers than the few hummingbirds that live around here in the Phoenix area. I would like to make a hummingbird resting stand that would hold the .11 to .14 oz hummingbirds, but bend below and restrict the larger woodpecker birds from reaching the feeding ports. Yet, when they do try (the woodpeckers) it would spring back up to hold the smaller hummingbirds.... Sounds crazy? well, that's me I guess. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on what size wire I could use. The wire itself would be center point attached and 8 (eight) inches across with about a 1 - 1 1/2" right angle bend at the ends, allowing the little hummingbirds a resting spot.
Sound far fetched? ok, just let met know. I answer almost all emails and may not check this forum, unless an email comes in.
thanks much....

Somehow your post reminded me of this short film. :)

Birds on a Wire - For the Birds - YouTube
 
...and just WHAT is so wrong about woodpeckers ?....:toetap:
:D

Besides the holes they make in the house and trees?

I wonder if the OP has tried the little plastic mesh caps that come with some hummingbird feeders? I put them on mostly to keep the hornets away.
 
Besides the holes they make in the house and trees?

I wonder if the OP has tried the little plastic mesh caps that come with some hummingbird feeders? I put them on mostly to keep the hornets away.

They are doing you a favor....:skep:

Your house is infested with carpenter bee's boring your house to bits.

The woodpeckers are eating them.

As far as trees go, I suspect the tree's are infected with whatever flavor
of insect (ash borer etc.), and are stemming the tide of an all out assault.

Plus, in the spring, they scare the bujeesus out of me, when they pound
on the steel roof of my shop, while I'm in it....:D
 
Hummingbirds don't need a perch at all. If the woodpeckers are using the hummingbird perch, I agree - just remove it.

There are lots of hummers in Scottsdale. Seen 'em.

metalmagpie
 
A Navy ship had the mandatory 5"-38 gun mounted on a turret with a floor covered with a non slip material glued on. The gun automatically ejected fired cases and sometimes they would land mouth down and cut an arc in the covering. A brand new ensign asked a sailor what caused the cuts and he explained that they were made by North Sea deckpeckers. The birds fed on mites that grew in the glue and would stand in one place pecking around in a circle. Reportedly the ensign believed it.

To be serious, which I sporadically am, I suggest making a trapeze like perch that pivots on the feeder with a stop that a spring holds the perch against. That will make a solid perch that will fall away under the weight of a woodpecker.

Bill
 
Yep. Hummingbirds don't need no stinking perch. My kids love going to Grandma's to see the hummingbirds - she has an army of them in her garden. Go there on any given day and you'll see 20 in an hour. There are no perches on her feeders and they come all day every day.
 
Agreed. Hummingbirds feed while flying.

Perches are a very common misconception. Bird houses are supposed to have a specific sized hole cut for the size of the bird intended for the house. Put a perch sticking out of the front and all that got accomplished is to provide a standing place for a much larger predator bird to be able to stick its head into the house.

No perches!

Steve
 
[Edit: this is for hummers who like to stand while feeding - maybe it's easier to pose for photos or something - I agree, they fly while feeding]
Just make a little balanced lever like a seesaw for the birds to perch on. Attached to the end of the lever on the inside would be a small springy piece of wire or flat stock. Mount a pin above this wire to contact it and hold the lever in position so that when hummingbird perches the lever stays horizontal and it can feed. If a heavier bird lights on it the spring will give way, the lever will drop and bird will fly off. Tricky part to make it reset itself. Mount a coil spring to the end of the lever on the outside that is weak enough to allow the woodpecker to make the lever drop but strong enough to pull the lever back into position. Maybe it would work.
 
Airgun setup shooting soft rubber pellets at the larger birds. Servo steered towards target by machine vision camera, optional squirrel pick-offs too.

And the bratty kid who keeps getting his wiffle ball in your yard...
 
The best you can really do is to get feeders without perch bars. Even then, the Gila woodpeckers are quite agile and can usually figure out a way to grab the bottom of the feeders and have at it. It's more trouble, though, for some percentage of the woodpecker population, so there is some benefit. The single hole feeders from Perky Pet are generally best for overall hummingbird usage. My wife has about 15 of them all over the place here.
 








 
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