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Great Tit emptying my feeder!

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  • 23-05-2010 4:18pm
    #1
    Trotter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,362 ✭✭✭


    Hi all,

    Just a quick question about Elvis, the Great Tit who comes to my garden looking to be fed, acts obnoxiously and leaves again.

    114761.JPG

    Elvis arrives and sits on the bird feeder thats in my garden. Its a plastic feeder with a small green tray under it thats gravity fed so that theres always a full try of seed. I bought a mix thats suitable for tits and sparrows and thats whats been arriving so far.

    However. When Elvis arrives and stands on the feeder (The one in the picture is a table underneath it), he/she is simply putting his head into the seed and sweeping all of it out onto the ground. He's not eating any of it, except for the sunflower seeds. The result is about 3 kgs of seed is now all over the lawn and the sparrows that are arriving are wondering why the seed feeder is empty again.

    Elvis is ruining the good will for everyone now, and is cheeky enough to keep sweeping the feeder empty with his head until a human is 2 or 3 metres from the feeder.

    Any idea why he/she is doing this?! I cant keep buying bags of the stuff!
    Tagged:


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    #2
    Kess73
    Registered Users Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Just wait until you have a Great Tit who has figured out to tap on the window when he wants you to feed him.


    Or if you had the window open, will just venture inside and chatter until you go to him.

    And if you are too slow in bringing him his mealworm, he literally starts to pull the petals off of the smaller flowers in the window that he is standing on.:D


    Or when he spots you giving the regular bluetit a waxworm, will stand his ground and refuse to take any mealworm from your hand until he gets a waxworm.:D


    That's what I put up with from Olly the Great Tit in my garden. But unlike your Elvis, Olly will not budge when I come close and like my robins, he thinks nothing of hitching a ride on my arm or back.


    Great tits are quite intelligent, and I have found a lot of the males to be temperamental when a food source that they have gotten used to is not quite as they want it.

    Could you have changed brands in terms of your seeds of late, or maybe the brand you are using have changed the quantities of some of the seeds in the pack?


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    #3
    Trotter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,362 ✭✭✭Trotter


    Kess73 wrote: »
    Just wait until you have a Great Tit who has figured out to tap on the window when he wants you to feed him.
    Or if you had the window open, will just venture inside and chatter until you go to him.

    And if you are too slow in bringing him his mealworm, he literally starts to pull the petals off of the smaller flowers in the window that he is standing on.:D

    Or when he spots you giving the regular bluetit a waxworm, will stand his ground and refuse to take any mealworm from your hand until he gets a waxworm.:D

    That's what I put up with from Olly the Great Tit in my garden. But unlike your Elvis, Olly will not budge when I come close and like my robins, he thinks nothing of hitching a ride on my arm or back.

    Great tits are quite intelligent, and I have found a lot of the males to be temperamental when a food source that they have gotten used to is not quite as they want it.

    Could you have changed brands in terms of your seeds of late, or maybe the brand you are using have changed the quantities of some of the seeds in the pack?

    Good God. :D

    I didnt know I had such a problem on my hands.
    I suspect he's going through the feeder looking for Sunflower seeds.

    If I buy sunflower seeds though am I just giving in? Next it'll be live worms.. then mobile phones... etc.


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    #4
    Kess73
    Registered Users Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Trotter wrote: »
    Good God. :D

    I didnt know I had such a problem on my hands.
    I suspect he's going through the feeder looking for Sunflower seeds.

    If I buy sunflower seeds though am I just giving in? Next it'll be live worms.. then mobile phones... etc.



    My guys tend to prefer sunflower hearts rather than sunflower seeds. Less mess with hearts as there is no shell to break off and get left behind.


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