Bird feeded and attrcting birds to the garden

billyhead

Folks,

I go a hanging bird feeder station yesterday and filled it with nuts and I was wondering how long does it take for birds to start feeding from it. I noticed that some of the nuts scattered on the ground when I was filling it and they ony ate them and flew off. i presume its only a matter of time until they start using it.

magicbastarder

different birds like feeding in different ways. some species will prefer to feed off the ground.
it can take weeks or even months for the birds to start using the feeder - they may take time noticing it, and then might be shy of it at first. patience may be required, and placing can be an issue. if it's in an area frequented by cats, you may not see much activity.

bmaxi

Some birds are not welcome at the feeders. I put up the ones with the balls of fat and starlings emptied them in half a day it was like watching flying piranha fish. I'm going to replace them with sunflower seeds as I'm told starlings don't like them. Starlings will also keep a lot of other birds away, they are aggressive and intimidating so choose the type of food and feeder carefully.

billyhead

Thanks folks,

Its one of these bird feeders i got. I filled it with mixed nuts from the hardware store. I did notice the starling birds taking the nuts that fell on the ground, and they maybe intimidating the smaller ones. How long do the nuts last outside i.e I presume I will have to change them every few days.

http://sunriseseeds.com/images/minimag2.jpg

Cabaal

Took my feeder a good few months before birds went near it, now any time I put food out and stuff they are surrounding it within seconds

lucylu

It took 2 days for the birds to spot our feeder, however that was in during the cold spell in January. Birds are currently busy building their nests and their is ample food around at the moment so juicy worms and insects might be more appealing than nuts.

HardyEustace

One thing that will get birds flocking to your garden is a bird bath. It doesn't have to be fancy, just a large bowl with water in it will do.

My Mum has two or three in the garden and during the summer it's used more than the feeders. The blackbird has a wash in it at least a few times a day.

Obviously locate it in as safe a place as possible. My mum tends to put hers right in the middle of the lawn as far away from trees, shrubs and walls as possible.

drifty

Hi there, just came across this post and since you refer to bird baths I was wondering where your mum got one?
I would like one that stands alone in the garden preferable made of stone. any help would be appreciated thanks.

looksee

Wer got great entertainment from a pair of blackbirds that were in our garden last year. They were called Herbert and Mrs Herbert. Mrs loved to have a bath in a little water feature (which split over the winter ) but Herbert was more concerned about looking for the cats - he would spot one through the glass door and stand outside cursing and swearing.

He was supposed to be collecting grubs one day but he got sidetracked with a mouthful of grubs to stand and swear at the cats - who weren't even remotely interested. Eventually the missus came looking for him and chivvied him along the wall to next door where the nest was in a huge clematis. He was still complaining as he hopped off home.

HardyEustace

drifty wrote: »

Hi there, just came across this post and since you refer to bird baths I was wondering where your mum got one?
I would like one that stands alone in the garden preferable made of stone. any help would be appreciated thanks.

She actually just uses two big bowls with a stone in them. She just had one to start with but the blackbird was such a bully none of the other birds could get near it. So the blackbird got his own bath. It's just a bowl that's about 12 inches in diameter and about 6 inches deep.

Just make sure that it's not near anywhere that cats had hid or pounce from.

Mothman

I've tagged some threads in nature forum,
so if you want extra reading
Bird food
Bird Feeders

HardyEustace

Know I'm kind of resurrecting an older post but given the post today on water features, it made me think about what I would like in my garden (under construction).

I've just put out bird feeders so am waiting for the birds to figure out that they're there and hopefully arrive soon.

I'll get an old bowl over the weekend for a temporary bird bath.

However, I came across this very cool link for making a bird bath from a large leaf (here she uses rhubarb). I thought it was gorgeous and just wanted to share.

wildlifeboy

I spray myself with Lynx and walk around the back garden naked..it takes about 3 minutes for hot birds to start scrambling over the fence and jumping through the hedge...

On a serious note. I have planted native tree's such as Hazel and the Rowan and encourage areas to go wild. I have one section of wall i let the ivy take over and I have a Wildlife pond with no fish.

HardyEustace

wildlifeboy wrote: »

On a serious note. I have planted native tree's such as Hazel and the Rowan and encourage areas to go wild. I have one section of wall i let the ivy take over and I have a Wildlife pond with no fish.

How large an area are the Hazel and Rowan taking up?

I'd love to do this but have a very small garden so space is rather precious.

wildlifeboy

rowan or mountain ash can grow quite successfully in a small area as they are not overbearing and their maximum size wouldnt be much highter than 6 metres if even. the hazel on the otherhand could cause problems due to height but again. this wont be an issue for close to twenty tears.

HardyEustace

wildlifeboy wrote: »

rowan or mountain ash can grow quite successfully in a small area as they are not overbearing and their maximum size wouldnt be much highter than 6 metres if even. the hazel on the otherhand could cause problems due to height but again. this wont be an issue for close to twenty tears.

My garden is only 5x10m2 and I'm surrounded by other gardens. I'd hate to cut off people's sunlight. Ideally I'd like something that would grow to about 2m. I'd like to use native irish trees, in particular birch and ash (absolutely LOVE mountain ash) but the size is really distracting me.

My parents are next to someone who planted ridiculously large trees for the garden size and have to make numerous pleas and calls (house is rented) to house owner to get the garden under control. It's made me very conscious of planting appropriate plants in the garden. I don't want something that I have to hack every year in order to control it. Equally would be worried about the root area of a large plant even if it is pruned every year.

HardyEustace

To answer the original question - I put up my bird feeders last Saturday, hung them on Sunday. I saw one bird on it on Monday, two on Tuesday. Yesterday evening, I came home to find six birds on the four feeders. I also noticed that they were more "used" to the environment - didn't fly away when the kitchen window or the back door were opened.

This morning there was about five when I had left. I've left one bowl of water with rocks out and will put out another one today. From four feeders there's a good few little birds.

I'm going to try and set up some kind of bench with nuts in a bowl as I notice that there seems to be a preference amongst some for eating from the ground. I've a cement foundation for a wall under one of the feeders and there were two little linnets (I think) feeding from the ground.

JuliusCaesar

HardyEustace wrote: »

I'm going to try and set up some kind of bench with nuts in a bowl as I notice that there seems to be a preference amongst some for eating from the ground.

I've had a bird feeder out since the ice spell. Very few birds have used it, but every now and again I see a lot of seeds on the ground, and I've seen a pidgeon eating the fallen seeds. I wonder if he's learnt to shake the feeder.

I'd really like a small native tree - I was given an acer but don't really want it. I don't want to block my own light, but I'm in the middle of the city and there are very few trees around. We could do with more greenery especially as so many people have tarmacked their front gardens so they can park their cars there.

dfbemt

HardyEustace wrote: »

My garden is only 5x10m2 and I'm surrounded by other gardens. I'd hate to cut off people's sunlight. Ideally I'd like something that would grow to about 2m. I'd like to use native irish trees, in particular birch and ash (absolutely LOVE mountain ash) but the size is really distracting me.

My parents are next to someone who planted ridiculously large trees for the garden size and have to make numerous pleas and calls (house is rented) to house owner to get the garden under control. It's made me very conscious of planting appropriate plants in the garden. I don't want something that I have to hack every year in order to control it. Equally would be worried about the root area of a large plant even if it is pruned every year.

Don't forget to consider the root spread when thinking of planting a tree, especially if you are in a 'modern' garden.

A healthy birch, planted in the right soil, can have a root system twice as wide as the tree is high !!!!!

HardyEustace

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

I'd really like a small native tree - I was given an acer but don't really want it. I don't want to block my own light, but I'm in the middle of the city and there are very few trees around. We could do with more greenery especially as so many people have tarmacked their front gardens so they can park their cars there.

I was thinking of maybe a mini-birch if I could get my hands on it.

Over the weekend, a little baby bird was in the garden. He looked like a baby thrush. I think that he'd been attacked by a magpie or something as he had a nasty neck wound and didn't seem able to fly. I noticed him scurrying around the place so I put out feed and water at ground level.

I looked for him yesterday but there's no sign of him so I'm hopping that he recovered and is now better and little wiser. He ate loads, so I think he was still in shock a little but completely unable to fly away. I kept an eye out for any cats but hopefully they didn't discover him.

Since the garden is still "under construction" there is a good few corners with grassy weeds. He was able to hid out there when I went to and from the garden. It was a valuable lesson in making me think about low shrubs for some birds when planning out the garden. I do notice from my Mum's garden that some of the birds like to hid out at ground level rather than fly away.