Lonely Bird Feeder

Scotty Pro

Scotty Pro

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Paul
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Well I have put up a bird feeder in the garden to attract some of our little feathered friends and here it is (y)



The problem is I have never seen anything on it for the past three days since I put it up. How do you get the birds to feed,
has anyone else put one up and waited....... and waited ........ and waited :bang:

Would love to put up some shots of tits etc, but the little tinkers don't seem to want my seeds. :bonk:
 
Give them chance to get to used to it. Bit of a wrong time of year, there is plenty of food about for them, mine have not been to visit for a while.
 
Thanks Nicki
I thought they would have gone to it straight away with all those lovely fresh seeds in it. Maybe I should put a water feeder alongside it, might make them feel more comfy :)

I looked at some of your bird pics and they are great, such a nice variety, I do hope I can get some shots of a wide variety of birds and not just the blue tits that I see flittering about.
 
I have the same problem. All the neighbours have been feeding them for years so have to be patient till they find my 'foodstop'.
 
Scotty Pro said:
Well I have put up a bird feeder in the garden to attract some of our little feathered friends and here it is (y)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/canoncan/5571396743/

The problem is I have never seen anything on it for the past three days since I put it up. How do you get the birds to feed,
has anyone else put one up and waited....... and waited ........ and waited :bang:

Would love to put up some shots of tits etc, but the little tinkers don't seem to want my seeds. :bonk:
Click to expand...

If you want shots of tits,the bird variety of course,then you would be better with something like Niger seed,as looking at your feeder it has got wild bird seed in it. That tends to get sparrows and starlings.
 
Jazzmonkey said:
If you want shots of tits,the bird variety of course,then you would be better with something like Niger seed,as looking at your feeder it has got wild bird seed in it. That tends to get sparrows and starlings.
Click to expand...

I was just about to say something along those lines...........Niger seeds will attract goldfinches amongst others, peanuts & fat balls will attract blue, great, and long tailed tits etc. Robins love mealworms (live or dried). The list goes on. Apples etc will attract blackbirds/thrushes.

You also need to remember that not all birds like to feed from feeders, some are ground feeders.

You really need to read up on what birds may be local to your area, then check which foods they like and go from there. Be patient though, it could be weeks before you get regular visitors!


I'm certainly no expert, just stuff I've picked up from feeding the birds in my own garden:) Hope this helps.
 
first of all get rid of that food in there, get sun heart seeds in there and you will get all sorts, goldfinches included.
also weight a month.
just some on one of my sunheart feeders
greenfinch1.jpg

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The birds just need some time to find the feeder - three days is nothing, but they will find it and if you keep it topped up they will return.

We have fed birds for ages and every day there are loads of great tits, blue tits, sparrows and, since the bad weather in December, anything up to 20 goldfinches.

The black seeds are sunflowers seeds which the birds will eat readily, some of the other seeds will not be so attractive and the birds may throw them away.

Best seeds I've found are sunflower hearts - not cheap but the birds really go for them.

Dave
 
Wow
thanks a lot guys & girls. I never knew I had to get a certain type of seed, I just bought the biggest bag on the shelf :bonk::bonk:

Seems like I have a lot to learn, and here is me thinking that it was just a case of buying a feeder and seeds.

Will I get the Niger and Sunheart seeds at the local garden centre or are they a specialist seed ?

@ scottthehat, cracking photo's there (y) I see you have some peanuts out also as well as the black seeds, I presume they are also good or you wouldn't be using them.
 
Scotty Pro said:
Wow
thanks a lot guys & girls. I never knew I had to get a certain type of seed, I just bought the biggest bag on the shelf :bonk::bonk:

Seems like I have a lot to learn, and here is me thinking that it was just a case of buying a feeder and seeds.

Will I get the Niger and Sunheart seeds at the local garden centre or are they a specialist seed ?

@ scottthehat, cracking photo's there (y) I see you have some peanuts out also as well as the black seeds, I presume they are also good or you wouldn't be using them.
Click to expand...

The sunflower hearts are basically what's inside the black sunflower seeds,the black part being the casing.
Most garden centres and pet shops sell this stuff. Niger may be a bit harder to get hold of.If you buy the Niger seed you will need a seed feeder.It is only small seed and will fall out of a wild bird feeder. And yes sunflower hearts have rocketed up in price in the last six months or so.
 
Agree with above, ditch the mixed seed and get some sunflower hearts instead. Almost no waste just some fluffy husks left over from the finches who nibble them.

Any that fall on the floor will be mopped up by ground feeders.

Can also put some (black) sunflower seeds down that the Coal Tits love as they stash them for later as they last longer.
 
Birds like to settle briefly on a perch a little way from the feeder before going to the feeder perch. My feeders hang from a tree and the birds always hop on to it from a branch, never fly straight on to it out of the sky. Also they like cover nearby.

It is difficult to tell from your picture but maybe you can find a better place to hang it? I use a seed mix just like yours - the first time I hung the feeder up I thought it would take several days to be discovered but the bluetits were on it as soon as I closed the back door!

I still have lots of birds coming to mine - I don't think there is much food available to them yet, not seeds, anyway.
 
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Tracer said:
Birds like to settle briefly on a perch a little way from the feeder before going to the feeder perch. My feeders hang from a tree and the birds always hop on to it from a branch, never fly straight on to it out of the sky. Also they like cover nearby.

It is difficult to tell from your picture but maybe you can find a better place to hang it? I use a seed mix just like yours - the first time I hung the feeder up I thought it would take several days to be discovered but the bluetits were on it as soon as I closed the back door!

I still have lots of birds coming to mine - I don't think there is much food available to them yet, not seeds, anyway.
Click to expand...

there is not a lot of choice when it comes to hanging places, I have a 6 foot high fence all around my patio, the position it is in is just next to a couple of trees behind the fence. I'm going to sprinkle a few seeds and breadcrumbs on the patio to see if I can attract them into the area. Next doors garden has a feeder and the tits etc go on her feeder so I should think they will eventually move over to mine :)
 
A lesson I learned some time ago is that cheap seeds dont work as well as the better quality ones, if at all. I bought Bill Oddie stuff from a pound store, and fat balls etc from various stores. I got no interest at all. As an experiment I bought some RSPB seed and almost overnight I was getting interest, the daily visitors grew quite well and the seed was taken rapidly. Since then I only buy RSPB seeds etc. the price is reasonable and on line they offer a good service. No doubt there are other quality suppliers, I just havent bothered to look around now that I am happy with this one make. Hope this helps.

After a busy autumn and winter though, they have slowed down a lot this spring, as has been said, there is a lot of natural feeds around but I still make sure the feeders are clean and topped up for the ones that do come.
 
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