What Seeds for ground feeding birds

cubix

Had to take down hanging feeders and make a large cage feeder as we have alot of starlings in our area who it would seem will eat anything and run a muck when they are up
Was hoping to start putting select seeds out on the ground for blackbirds/wrens/chaffinchs that would not appeal to starlings. Any suggestions, have hear black sunflower seed are good as starlings cannot/wont bother taking the shells off. Has anyone ever used safflower seed.

Thanks

Half-cocked

Lidl sell bags of fat coated oats with some other stuff mixed in for birds. Ground feeders love it. The starlings will eat anything, so you might have to live with them. A large cage on the ground that they can't fit throught the mesh but will let the smaller birds through is the answer. But Blackbirds, Collard Doves, Thrushes etc will also be excluded.

cubix

Thanks HC, yeah the Lidl stuff goes down well but as you mentioned the starlings like it to

wicorthered

Poor old starlings need to eat too!!

swifts need our help!

At work this week a customer bought £30 of grated cheese for birds in her garden.

Mark

thebishop

You could get a large sack of chicken food for less than €10. The black birds will eat it as they are not seed eaters,so will the starlings and sparrows and most other birds.

siledee

wicorthered wrote: »

Poor old starlings need to eat too!!

Don't they just !!

A bag of porridge oats and a block of cheap lard can keep them going for ages.

siledee

thebishop wrote: »

You could get a large sack of chicken food for less than €10. The black birds will eat it as they are not seed eaters,so will the starlings and sparrows and most other birds.

Bishop, where would you get this ?
Its not something I've looked for or seen in any shop.

thebishop

It can be got from farm co-op stores or any farm centre. If you know anyone that keeps chickens in your area, they should be able to advise you who their supplier is. The local pet shop here sells an organic version , but thats more expensive.

magicbastarder

saw something today which i hadn't seen before - a blackbird, which had up till now been happy with the apples we'd been leaving out, and some spill from the bird feeders, was hovering and pecking hard at the fat ball feeders, which dislodged a couple of chunks which he then dropped to the ground to eat.