Birds not feeding in our back garden!

Fittle

I stuck a post here a few months ago - had just bought two new birdfeeders (the clear plastic with the tray at the bottom) and mentioned that we hadn't seen a bird near them at the time. To date, about 2 months later, we STILL haven't seen a bird near them and they are both practically full!! I remember this day last year, as I had a wedding to go to and it was the start of the snow - and before we left the house, I filled the feeders as they had been empty a few days..what am I doing wrong this year???

I didn't put fresh seeds in them, but I'll do that today..should I spread a few seeds around the grass in the hope of attracting some of them? Although I did that a few weeks ago and all we got were magpies:mad:

Any advice appreciated as the little fella is dying to see the return of the finches, thanks.

Mickeroo

Is it just seed feeders you have? You could try getting a peanut feeder, it seems to attract most birds more than a seed feeder in my case anyway. I have one seed feeder, a peanut feeder and another peanut feeder with fat balls in it and it seems to do the trick. The peanuts draw them in and they spill over onto the other feeders then.

littlebug

Try peanuts Fittle (and a peanut feeder). '"My" birds never come to those mixed seeds, the little fusspots, and even when the peanuts are finished very few will go go the seed feeders. I've never had an empty seed feeder and that's with having tried different types, more expensive etc.

Mickeroo

littlebug wrote: »

Try peanuts Fittle (and a peanut feeder). '"My" birds never come to those mixed seeds, the little fusspots, and even when the peanuts are finished very few will go go the seed feeders. I've never had an empty seed feeder and that's with having tried different types, more expensive etc.

My seed feeder hardly ever emptied last year, I tried a different mix this year, can't remember the brand but i tink its calld a "high energy mix" and it goes a lot quicker.

Birdnuts

This Novemeber has been breaking records for mildness so many birds are still getting food out in the countryside - once we get some more seasonable weather in terms of frost etc. then they should start heading for the garden feeders etc.:)

googsy

You could try 2 or 3 slices of bread broken up into 20 cent sized pieces... I think it takes time sometimes to lure the local bird population into a confined area.... If you are only getting magpies it's a start, ( magpies & crow behaviour can be very enteraining to watch )... I actually think they are a good attractor to get other birds coming along to see what all the commotion is about even though they bully other birds away ( magpies ) rooks are more placid creatures... also if you are only going to use hanging bird feeders then you may not get the likes of thrushes, robins, dunnocks, blackbirds etc... from watching them they seem to rather feeding on the ground where there is close cover to retreat... if you get a few in after that just sprinkle around a bit of pin head porridge... some birds take a while to get used to the specialized bird seed.. in my experience anyway

Fittle

Thanks all :-)

I had never thought that it might be the seeds I'm using - it's a new brand I got in Woodies - to be honest, I assumed all brands are the same, so I'll have a look at that. Yes, it's only the seed feeders I have, I'll get a couple of the peanut ones too - I'll also try that bread tip.

Yeah, I agree that the magpies and crows can be quite fun to watch, but not as incredible as the finches at the feeders. On another note, we've started going down to the coast on sunday mornings with bread and feeding the seagulls - we continue to be amazed that so many of them catch the bread 'in flight' and get great fun (and pictures) out of the experience:D

cscook

googsy wrote: »

You could try 2 or 3 slices of bread broken up into 20 cent sized pieces... I think it takes time sometimes to lure the local bird population into a confined area.... If you are only getting magpies it's a start, ( magpies & crow behaviour can be very enteraining to watch )... I actually think they are a good attractor to get other birds coming along to see what all the commotion is about even though they bully other birds away ( magpies ) rooks are more placid creatures... also if you are only going to use hanging bird feeders then you may not get the likes of thrushes, robins, dunnocks, blackbirds etc... from watching them they seem to rather feeding on the ground where there is close cover to retreat... if you get a few in after that just sprinkle around a bit of pin head porridge... some birds take a while to get used to the specialized bird seed.. in my experience anyway

We have a nitwit of a robin who prefers the feeder even though he's absolutely hopeless at landing on it - not even for mealworms will he land on the ground, though he'll take them from the wall behind the feeders. I sometimes see dunnocks on the feeder too, as well as foraging underneath.
For what it's worth I usually get my seed in Woodies as being the most convenient for me.

swifts need our help!

Birds in my garden, House sparrows and Goldfinches mainly, are emptying my 2 seed feeders twice a week. In them are chopped sunflower hearts. The peanut feeder can take 10 days to go down.

Never lets seeds stay in feeders for weeks with birds feeding. It can go off very quick.

Always have double the amount of seed feeders. One set is out with the birds and the other set is cleaned, washed and sterilised ready for the next fill.

Mark

Fittle

Seed feeders washed, sterlised and fresh seeds done this morning..will get some peanut feeders 2day! Thanks again, and I'll keep ye posted:)

swifts need our help!

What seeds Fittle?

Mark

Fittle

Wild Bird Seed.

We spent a good part of the day in the park and walking along the coast (as the weather was so good), and I brought the remainder of the seed with us to see if other birds might like it.

Not a hope!! We saw some finches in the park and threw some seed - they ignored it! We saw some other smaller birds along the coast and threw some seeds - they ignored it too!! So it was obviously the seeds we were using - as I said, it was just a bag of wild bird seed bought in woodies..so I've emptied the feeder and will buy new feed tomorrow!

swifts need our help!

Fittle, wild birds wont come to seed that is randomly set out for them. Feral pigeons might.

All you need tomorrow is a mesh peanut feeder and peanuts. Red skins in my garden go down better than pink/pale skins. Choose nice looking whole nuts. My local pet shop has rubbish broken nuts just now. That just allows the nut oils to go off.

In your seed feeder put in sunflower hearts either whole or chopped.

Because you have no birds coming only 1/3rd or 1/4 fill the feeders. Damp food goes off quickly.

A friend who has a tree nursery feeds various seeds in individual feeders ie sunflower in one, groats in one, millet in another ... He has 100s of birds coming every day.

Mark