Write to us at hellobeakfeeder@gmail.com.
It is one person reading, so replies take a few days rather than a few minutes. Everything gets read.
What we are glad to hear about
- Corrections. Genuinely — if something here is wrong, or has gone out of date, we want to know. Say which page and what is wrong with it and it gets fixed
- Questions an article did not answer. These are useful. A question that comes in more than once usually becomes a new article
- Regional guidance we have missed. The country is large and state agencies differ. If your state advises something different from what we have written, tell us and point us at the source
- Suggestions for what to cover next
- Copyright or permissions requests
What we cannot help with
Not to be unhelpful — these are things we would do badly, and there is a better answer for each.
A sick, injured or orphaned bird
Please do not email us and wait. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in your state, or your state wildlife agency. Searching for “wildlife rehabilitator” with your state and county will normally find one within a few miles. They will give you a better answer in five minutes than we could in three days, and in these situations the delay is the problem.
Handling most native birds without a permit is unlawful under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, including when you are trying to help.
Several dead birds in one place
Report it to your state wildlife or natural resources agency rather than to us. Unusual die-offs are how outbreaks get detected, and the agencies rely on the public to notice them. Take your feeders down and disinfect them while you wait to hear back. Our guide on sick birds at your feeder covers what to do in the meantime.
Identifying a bird from a photo
We do not do photo identification, because doing it badly is worse than not doing it — plumage varies by age, sex, season and region, and a confident wrong answer is genuinely unhelpful.
Two free tools do this far better than any inbox can. Merlin Bird ID, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, identifies birds from a photo, a sound recording or a short set of questions. eBird will show you what has actually been reported near you this week, which narrows things quickly. Both are free and neither shows you advertising.
Our common backyard birds guide also walks through the four-step method — size, bill shape, color, behavior — which settles most feeder birds without any app at all.
Individual advice on your specific yard
We cannot tell you where to put your feeder or why the birds left your yard in particular. What we can do is write the general answer well: why birds are not coming to your feeder works through the causes in the order they are worth checking.
Guest posts, link exchanges and paid placements
We do not accept guest posts, sponsored articles, link exchanges, paid link insertions, or products sent in return for coverage. This is not negotiable and there is no rate card, so there is no need to follow up.
Emails offering these are deleted unread where the subject line makes the offer obvious. If you are a manufacturer with a genuine correction about your own product’s specifications, say so plainly in the subject line and it will be read and acted on.
Before you write
These four cover most of what arrives:
- When to feed backyard birds — including whether to stop over summer, and no, feeding does not stop migration
- Why aren’t birds coming to my feeder?
- Hummingbird nectar recipe — and how often to change it in hot weather
- How to clean bird feeders