What a thrill when a Hooded Oriole dropped by, attracted to an Arizona sliced orange. Hummingbirds might be the easiest birds to attract during a short-term stop, as long as you are in the range of hummingbird species. Even during a winter RV trip to the Southwest, winter hummingbirds can add a little excitement to any RV campground.

You probably haven’t seen an article like this before, but we want to reveal a secret we’ve been keeping: When we travel, we like set up a mini-feeding station to see what birds we can attract at stops along the way, and at our short-term destination. We take a small plastic hummingbird feeder, a small seed feeder, a suet cage, a shallow water dish, and a telescoping metal hanger. Sounds like a lot, but it all fits in a small duffle bag. We also take 2 small bottles of ready-made hummingbird nectar, a squeeze bottle of grape jelly and 2 oranges for orioles, and a 5 pound bag of shelled sunflower seeds that will attract all seed-eating birds from small finches to jays.

It all fits in the duffle bag and is placed in a convenient corner at one side of our SUV, although it easily fits into a handy spot of a car trunk, the floor of a backseat, or the bed of a pickup too. We usually arrive at a motel or the home of family and friends after sunset, so we set up our mini-feeding station outside our motel room window, or in our host’s yard under their direction. When planning our visit, we let our hosts know our interest, and it’s always warmly accepted.

In fact, by the end of our stay – usually 2 or 3 nights, our hosts are asking where they can shop for their own backyard feeders and foods. One time the birds were so active and our friends were so enthused with the newly attracted birds that we agreed to leave the feeding station equipment and foods so the avian action wasn’t disrupted – and so our friends had a good start in their new interest in birding.

Actually, this mobile feeding station idea is an especially good one for people who travel in their RVs, especially “snow birds” who travel south during winter months to spend time at a favorite location, or travel from state to state while it’s freezing cold up north. At one time, there was an infamous RV camping park in south Texas that catered to birders who set up a variety of feeders in their rented lots. In fact, it became so notorious among in-the-know birders that birders who were not short-term residents would check for such exciting birds Green Jays, Audubon’s Orioles, Altamira Orioles, Plain Chachalacas, and other borderland birds.

Of course, the birds that can be attracted to a mobile feeding station depends on where you are traveling to and what month of the year you are there. Spring migration is an excellent time to give this a try. Often times, birders are traveling to a birding hotspot to see throngs of waterfowl, cranes, or migrating songbirds such as warblers, tanagers, orioles, and others. If you are spending some nights on the road, give the mini-feeding station a try; and while you are there see what you can attract over the duration of your stay.

It’s not necessary to cover all the bases; maybe you will prefer to just offer hummingbird nectar in a small feeder when traveling in Southwestern states. Or perhaps you see orioles in an area – then get out the grape jelly and slice an orange for some added fun. Feeding shelled sunflower seeds in the south could attract species of doves and quail that you haven’t seen before, ranging from Inca Doves, White-winged Doves, and Common Ground Doves to Northern Bobwhites, Scaled Quail, Gambel’s Quail, or even Harlequin Quail if you are in the right area. A shallow clay dish with an inch or so of fresh water will also make any foods being offered even more attractive.

Keep in mind though, there will be times and places where birds don’t react to your foods quickly, but the chances to attract birds will increase the longer you stay in one area. Squirrel-proof feeders or using a predator guard on the feeder stand will help limit your food consumption to birds – not to say it isn’t interesting to see different kinds of squirrels and other animals as you travel.

We have had a lot of fun trying to attract birds at most of the locations we travel to and stops along the way. We even have a new list of “mobile feeder birds” with the locations the species visited our feeders and water dish, along with which foods they were attracted to. Since many birders are confirmed listers, this is another list to keep and grow. We hope you will give this novel angle of birding a try, and if you do, we bet you will keep your duffle bag in your vehicle permanently, just in case a feeding opportunity arises while you’re on the road or in the field. Good Luck!

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