Feed the wildlife.

creedp wrote: »

[...] the problem I increasingly have is crows. They attack the feeder with a vengeance to the point of damaging it. [...] Anyone any suggestions for effectively fending off the crows while allowing ready access for smaller birds as Im not so keen spending money feeding crows!!

Get some flowering baskets in a garden centre (2 for each feeder), plus some carbine hooks to keep'em together (them hooks will be the easiest to open the whole thing to top up a feeder), one basket upside down, one normal way, feeder inside. Problem sorted. :cool:

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Have a seed feeder installed since Sunday - no sign of any activity yet. Had a robin check it out but was nervous and flew off.

Just waiting for them to properly discover it.

First feeder I had here, and I was devastated - no birds presence at all! Took them approx 2 weeks to discover it, just be patient.

Graces7 wrote: »

Rats in the garden, taking advantage of all the food.

Once they're gone, will get a bird table that can't spill food onto the ground.

lolo62 wrote: »

I'm having great fun feeding the birds so far. There were some green finches to begin with but a whole mob of goldfinches have pretty much taken ownership of the sunflower hearts feeder. No green finches since. I've seen a blue tit once or twice, a couple of chaffinches and a Robin. Lots of starlings and crows too but they seem to prefer the fat balls so that's grand. A little Robin comes in and eats the seeds that have fallen.

If I add another feeder with different seed will that attract different birds? Have seen meal worm and suet blocks too but they seem kind of messy..

Different feed attracts different birds. It's a good idea to vary the feed you leave out because some of the 'bully' species can set up their territory to guard their favourite bird feed and this can prevent smaller birds from getting the food. If the feed changes regularly, these bigger or more aggressive birds won't always be guarding the same spots.

It's great to feed the wild birds at certain times of the year when their natural feed is scarce or weather conditions are poor, but you don't want them to become dependent on it either. This time of year when the birds are nesting and the first broods of chicks are starting to hatch, high protein feeds like peanuts and mealworm are great for birds feeding chicks

Don't forget the ground feeding birds either. Fruit and seeds are great for robins, blackbirds, thrushes, chaffinches, sparrows etc

I always throw out any leftover boiled rice for these birds onto some grass out in the open to keep them safer from cats in the area(I don't put salt in with the rice when I'm boiling it)

lolo62 wrote: »

Thanks I think the goldfinches are using mob mentality at the sunflower seed feeder. I'll put out some peanuts in a feeder too and leave the fat balls for next year.

How do you put out mealworm? Just on a saucer or is there a special holder that works for that?

I just put them in a standard wire mesh peanut feeder. Actually, I forgot, I needed to build a cage around my feeder to keep the crows off them. I got two wire hanging baskets and stuck them together to make a round cage that the small birds can fit through and the crows haven't yet figured how to reach yet.

John_Rambo wrote: »

All going well here with feeding except for one issue. Our resident robin (at least we think it's the same one) has a habit of flying in to the house! Our back door is open more than it's closed when it's not raining and this guy/girl is extremely relaxed. Flies in to the shed and the house, no panics, just sits on the counter top. It's not a big deal, but sometimes it gets confused between the open door and the closed window and we have to herd it out.

It seems to have complete trust in my 5 year old son, but is afraid of us adults. It's cute and nice and I'm guessing it's not a problem?? We were thinking it may have been a pet or a caged bird at some stage?

Anyone experienced similar situations, again, it's not a problem, he/she does tiny poo's, but that's ok... is it just one of those nice things that happen? I think it is.

Robins are lovely. Some of them are just naturally tame. The risk is that if they feel safe around you, they're not on the lookout for cats or dogs.