Tempting the right Birds into the garden....

Tempting the right Birds into the garden....

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Turn7

Original Poster:

23,504 posts

220 months

Sunday 23rd April 2017
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Have had a variety of garden feeders out for years and nver really see anything spectacular.

Of late, Im spending a fortune to feed:
Pigeons
Squirrels
Rooks

The little Robin and Dunnock are allowed to have what they leave and the Blackies scrounge around.

I have a squirrel proof feeder with RSPB Feeder mix , broken up fatballs.

I have a ground cage that stops the bigger birds getting to the food but doesnt stop the squirrells, and I feed RSPB tale mix here.

I also sprinkle handfulls around under bushes and in different spots, but I swear the Pigeons take notes....

We have a large ish hedgerow to the back of us so are reasonably secluded, but I see harldy any sparrows at all, very very occasional Goldie and thats about it.
Also have a wildlife pond so drinking and bathing opportunities are here.

Any help or advice appreciated to get more birds and a wider variety into the garden.....

Japveesix

4,477 posts

167 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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Bird feeding is a lot about luck and location has a big part and also luck.

Making the garden as a whole more wildlife friendly always helps. Plants that offer berries and seed heads to attract finches. Next boxes to encourage things to stick around. Log piles are always good and will definitely encourage wrens, robins, dunnocks and others.

Pigeons are hard to avoid and can dominate a bit, if you feed on a table put a cage over it (old hanging baskets work) and don't use hanging feeders they can grip on. They'll still land on the floor but might leave room for smaller birds on feeders.

Position the feeders well, and then LEAVE them there for a LONG TIME and keep them topped up. A lot of species will repsond better to reliable constant food source and often take forever to acclimatise to new feeders etc. Try niger seed if you have goldfinches, I spotted we had them in our work carpark and put up a feeder and they used it within the first 24 hours and then ate so much seed over a year that I eventually gave up aain because it cost so much (they were on it all day).

Mealworms, live are great but dead work too, are good at this time of year. Fatballs, and suet blocks seem in general more popular in the winter.

Put the feeders in the open but with pretty good cover close by for birds to hide in.

We have a very wildlife friendly garden with badgers, slow worms, sparrowhawks, foxes, loads of butterflies etc but we still struggle with getting a good variety of birds. Our problem is the huge sparrow flocks which just dominate anything I put out (tables, feeders, hidden piles etc) and so the tits and other small birds have to pick their moments very carefully. We also get no chaffinches, or other finches (goldfinches very rarely), no woodpeckers, no nuthatch, etc etc. Even though we have hedgerows around the back of the garden and farmland in view some birds just aren't here. It just seems to be a bit random really.

Log piles and 'rough' areas of the garden have worked best for keeping the dunnock, wrens, robins, black caps etc around though.

Boosted LS1

21,167 posts

259 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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I find the Wilko square fat peckers work well, hung under some cover. I'll sprinkle seed on the ground every few days and that stops the pigeons getting a habit. They can be a real pain. Niger will be great for goldfinches. I think birds like a safe approach to the feed, in case a sparrowhawk comes head hunting at the table.

Mobile Chicane

20,740 posts

211 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Try hanging netted fatballs in various locations around the garden where only the most agile birds can reach them.

I use these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O51673O/ref...

hab1966

1,094 posts

211 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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We are very lucky where we live for wildlife. Theres a lake out the back of the house, lots of trees and grassland beyond.

We have a garden pole with three hangers off it. On two of the hangers we have large seed feeders hanging and fill them with No mess seed and on the other we put Suet Cake. On a nearby fence we fasten Flutter Peanut Butter

We have grey squirrels so we have a squirrel baffle on the pole, a trap for when things get out of hand and a dog that likes to chase. Any mess from the feeds is generally hoovered up off the floor by moorhens, wood pigeons and robins.

As to the birds we get - woodpecker (loves the Suet cake), robins (will use the feeders), blackbirds, sparrows, tits, finches, thrushes. At feeding time its mad with lots of birds flying around and great to watch.

With the lake out back, we also get the occasional Kingfisher, heron, ducks and geese. Also the occasional fox, deer, hedgehog, rat and mice.

I spend a fortune on bird food and feeders, but we really enjoy watching the birds.

monoloco

289 posts

191 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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ditto everything said above -provide lots of variety with sunflower kernels, mixed seed, fat-balls, niger seed and mealworms (dried are easiest) and a bird bath of some sort so they can drink too. Use Squirrel-proof hanging feeders and also place some of each food (apart from the fat balls) on the ground but try to place a cage of some sort over it to keep the pigeons off. Constant supply is essential -no good letting the feeders or birdbath go empty for days/weeks.

The other thing is look properly at what comes down -it is easy to overlook something interesting because at a casual glance you assume that as its small and brown therefore must be a sparrow etc. We've been feeding the birds for a long time now and now get loads of different species -we keep a record of what we get. Literally last weekend we clocked up a milestone when we got our 70th variety -a Blackcap that we first noticed due to the intense singing.

vsonix

3,858 posts

162 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Japveesix said:
We have a very wildlife friendly garden with badgers, slow worms, sparrowhawks, foxes, loads of butterflies etc but we still struggle with getting a good variety of birds.


funny that... silly

Mezzanine

9,149 posts

218 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Mobile Chicane said:
Try hanging netted fatballs in various locations around the garden where only the most agile birds can reach them.

I use these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O51673O/ref...
I would avoid netted fat balls as the small holes can be problematic with small bird legs getting caught up.

A decent metal fat ball holder for a few pounds is much friendlier. Not to mention less plastic waste with loose fat balls.

The variety of species into your garden can be dependant on where you live. My previous house was near to lots of crop fields and plenty of wild hedges and trees so had a lot of gold and green finches and blue/great/longtailed tits.

I am more urban based now so far less finches and tits but many more sparrows and starlings.

I would second placing the feeders well and leaving them until word spreads, it took me a few months to build up a new local 'following' in the new place but now I am filling my feeders daily and have gone from a few sparrows every few days to robins, dunnocks, black cap, wren, gold/green/chaff finches and even the odd sparrowhawk. I only use fatballs and sunflower hearts.

Although the pigeons can vacuum food up in quick time, they do clean up the mess the others drop so they have their place.

You might see more variety at dawn/dusk too, I have much better spots during rush hour smile



Edited by Mezzanine on Wednesday 26th April 15:57

Mobile Chicane

20,740 posts

211 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Mezzanine said:
Mobile Chicane said:
Try hanging netted fatballs in various locations around the garden where only the most agile birds can reach them.

I use these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O51673O/ref...
I would avoid netted fat balls as the small holes can be problematic with small bird legs getting caught up.

A decent metal fat ball holder for a few pounds is much friendlier. Not to mention less plastic waste with loose fat balls.
I've been using these for a while and not had a problem as yet.

The rationale for hanging balls around the garden is that it encourages natural foraging behaviour, rather than everything congregating in one place.

There is also the consideration of avian flu which is presently keeping the nation's chickens indoors being spread by feeders.

The second I see a dead bird I will remove all the feeders, just in the chilly weather we're currently having it doesn't seem right to do that.

Yipper

5,964 posts

89 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Exotic garden birds have become much rarer in the past ~5 years. Gardens are becoming over-managed, while predators / rivals, like buzzards, have soared. You may struggle to attract non-brown birds, whatever food you put out.

Turn7

Original Poster:

23,504 posts

220 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Thanks guys, I'll try to answer the above.....

JV6
SMallish garden thats had feeders in for years, all planted for birds and bees above all else. Reasonable cover coming into the garden and nice buddleia that they use to scope it all out.

Boosted
I used the Wilko slabs all winter, but then the Rooks discovered them - one a day they ate until I stopped feeding them

MC
Plan to add more feeders where I can protect them from the tree rats

Mono
I love all the birds, and enjoy seeing new faces. One thing we seem to not have at all is Sparrows. I had a Blackcap for a day or two and he left.

The pond has been in place for about 6 years and is as natural as it can be. The birds do love to use it for bathing and drinking as well.

Stuart70

3,910 posts

182 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Boosted LS1 said:
I find the Wilko square fat peckers work well, hung under some cover.
I can't say I ever knew him that well, although I did always like Dr Feelgood...smile

Mr GrimNasty

8,172 posts

169 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Turn7 said:
The pond has been in place for about 6 years and is as natural as it can be. The birds do love to use it for bathing and drinking as well.
I just ripped out my pond as I was sick of it being a magnet for foxes, squirrels, wood pigeons and corvids.

I put out a seed tray filled with water and stones instead, and that has certainly discouraged a lot of the vermin in favour of the smaller birds.

Mobile Chicane

20,740 posts

211 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Mr GrimNasty said:
I put out a seed tray filled with water and stones instead, and that has certainly discouraged a lot of the vermin in favour of the smaller birds.
We do this as well. IBees / butterfiles also use it.

Mr Tom

618 posts

140 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Depends what sort of birds your after... running around naked doing the windmill may get you a certain type of bird that may or may not be favourable. However setting up a posh market with artisan bread and olives may get you a more classy bird.

Depends what your into. HTH

Japveesix

4,477 posts

167 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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I bought a window feeder yesterday, stuck it in the lounge window today and our robins and sparrows started using it in less than 5 minutes. Suet pellets and mealworms and it's great because now I can sit on my laptop and not even bother to look out into the garden, I can just listen for the banging as they hit the feeder and glance up vaguely every now and then. Lazy sod bird watching.

Turn7

Original Poster:

23,504 posts

220 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Japveesix said:
I bought a window feeder yesterday, stuck it in the lounge window today and our robins and sparrows started using it in less than 5 minutes. Suet pellets and mealworms and it's great because now I can sit on my laptop and not even bother to look out into the garden, I can just listen for the banging as they hit the feeder and glance up vaguely every now and then. Lazy sod bird watching.
Yep, we had one.
Batsard tree rats jumped onto the windowsill and pulled it to the floor.....

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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We have a few window feeders.

Funniest was when a flock of starlings tried to get in it. I think it was one or two adults then seven or eight nippers. Lots of shouting going on.

Cannot seem to get the right mix. One food and I get a few birds at it, then they leave it alone. Then try another mix, same thing or nothing. Might be the location, the starlings were off out learning in the world with parents and the feeder was easy.

Edited by jmorgan on Thursday 27th April 18:54

silentbrown

8,793 posts

115 months

Friday 28th April 2017
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We use feeders like this mostly, which do a good job keeping squirrels and corvids out.

Location plays a huge part, though. We're lucky to have oak woodland close by the house on one side, and mix of pasture and arable fields nearby. Swallows starting to nest on the verandah and pooping all over the brickwork at present smile


VGTICE

1,003 posts

86 months

Saturday 29th April 2017
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Mobile Chicane said:
Try hanging netted fatballs
This works every time for me, better yet if you have a fat sausage to match fat balls. Birds love a good fat sausage.