Feeding the "right" garden birds...
Discussion
Ive had a 4 way Squirrel proof feeder in the garden for a number of years and get a good range of birds in the garden.
Just lately, my feeder is getting gang raped by a mob of Crows - they rip the feeders of the stand and throw then to the floor - even if I have tied the feeders on.
Its costing me a fortune and the smaller birds dont come as often as the feeders are missing or empty.
I have a large ground feeder cage that I use as well and even the magpies cant quite move it.
Any ideas on what to do ?
Just lately, my feeder is getting gang raped by a mob of Crows - they rip the feeders of the stand and throw then to the floor - even if I have tied the feeders on.
Its costing me a fortune and the smaller birds dont come as often as the feeders are missing or empty.
I have a large ground feeder cage that I use as well and even the magpies cant quite move it.
Any ideas on what to do ?
It's not feeding that they need, it's nest boxes. If more people put up nest boxes on their house there would be a lot more starlings and house sparrows. It should be compulsory on new builds to include nesting boxes for various bird species. I currently have a starling, jackdaw and blue tit all nesting in boxes on my house. The most frequent visitors to the bird table are wood pigeons, seems to be plenty of them about and grey squirrels. They eat about 50% of the seed but so be it, they have to eat too.
bigpriest said:
I have a grass hill growing under my bird feeders due to the sparrows casually throwing most of the seed on the ground as they search for whatever is their favourite. They empty a full feeder in about 2 hours. Anyone know what type of seed they are trying to find?
Niger seed and sunflower hearts.
I'll experiment with one type of seed in each feeder and see what they do with it.stevensdrs said:
It's not feeding that they need, it's nest boxes. If more people put up nest boxes on their house there would be a lot more starlings and house sparrows. It should be compulsory on new builds to include nesting boxes for various bird species. I currently have a starling, jackdaw and blue tit all nesting in boxes on my house. The most frequent visitors to the bird table are wood pigeons, seems to be plenty of them about and grey squirrels. They eat about 50% of the seed but so be it, they have to eat too.
Also hedges, we need more hedges - sparrows use them as social clubs! mike74 said:
At this time of year you're generally doing more harm than good by feeding them, the birds need to be catching insects to provide protein for their young. Unless you want to feed them meal worms or suchlike.
I feed dried Mealworms, suet/insect mix pellets, sunflower hearts and a mixed seed..I haveconstant arguments with my worst half about this. I really like the smaller birds and hate watching crows, and pigeons in particular sitting their fat arses down and just eating everything in one go, it winds me up!
The little birds get very little, misses sees pigeons as just other birds, but to me all the expensive big bags of peanuts we buy are just wasted on them!
The little birds get very little, misses sees pigeons as just other birds, but to me all the expensive big bags of peanuts we buy are just wasted on them!
I've got quote a few feeders of various sorts. I've fixed upside down hanging basket cages to both of my bird tables and this helps massively in reducing the amount the bigger birds take (we get feral pigeons, magpies, jackdaws, wood pigeon etcetc).
The sparrows don't tend to eat much of the corn and cheap bird mixes are always full of it. So that is usually chucked on the ground and is growing all over the place
Hanging feeders under dense branch cover also stops the larger birds getting in and works much better for tits in particular.
I don't mind the bigger birds, magpies are fascinating, collared doves beautiful, jackdaws fun to watch and make the best noises. Buy all in moderation, it's still nice to get the smaller birds in too.
And definitely feed your starlings, they need it. We're lucky to live in an ex-council area where we still have healthy starling and sparrow populations because they have lota of nest sites, but where we lived before I barely ever saw either bird
The sparrows don't tend to eat much of the corn and cheap bird mixes are always full of it. So that is usually chucked on the ground and is growing all over the place
Hanging feeders under dense branch cover also stops the larger birds getting in and works much better for tits in particular.
I don't mind the bigger birds, magpies are fascinating, collared doves beautiful, jackdaws fun to watch and make the best noises. Buy all in moderation, it's still nice to get the smaller birds in too.
And definitely feed your starlings, they need it. We're lucky to live in an ex-council area where we still have healthy starling and sparrow populations because they have lota of nest sites, but where we lived before I barely ever saw either bird
We have a cherry tree at the end of the garden. It is a perfect feeding station for all small garden birds (inc starlings). It deters the bigger birds for the majority of the time though they do like the suet squares. I don't mind them having food as well as long as they don't take over.
The ground under the tree is left to grow nafurally. I have sown a lot of wild seed under the tree, to encourage bees, butterflies and to provide cover for the birds for when they land on the ground for insects etc, just waiting for them to start flowering!
I feed a variety of basic wild bird food, niger seeds (in a niger seed feeder), sunflower hearts, un netted fat balls, suet blocks and meal worms, I also have a water feeder. I don't feed peanuts. The photo just shows some of the feeders.
RSPB actually recommend year round feeding and not just winter because the birds get used to the food source.
We are lucky that our neighbour has lots of different types of hedges which garden birds like.
The ground under the tree is left to grow nafurally. I have sown a lot of wild seed under the tree, to encourage bees, butterflies and to provide cover for the birds for when they land on the ground for insects etc, just waiting for them to start flowering!
I feed a variety of basic wild bird food, niger seeds (in a niger seed feeder), sunflower hearts, un netted fat balls, suet blocks and meal worms, I also have a water feeder. I don't feed peanuts. The photo just shows some of the feeders.
RSPB actually recommend year round feeding and not just winter because the birds get used to the food source.
We are lucky that our neighbour has lots of different types of hedges which garden birds like.
I had feeders at my old house, but now living right on the shore I don’t have much going on except seagulls and swans (yes, on the sea!). 3 small cygnets at the mo too
What I noticed at the old gaff was that the smaller birds would get on the feeders and select what they wanted, dropping other stuff on the floor. The doves and wood pigeons sat under the feeders waiting for the stuff to fall and I never actually saw them on the feeders.
When I left the current house yesterday afternoon, there were a load of seagulls interested in someone’s chip wrapper except they were flying above it and not landing. The reason? There was a male mallard duck standing over it with a sort of “come on then if you think you’re hard enough” stance about it. I hadn’t realised they were so bold, or that they liked chips!
What I noticed at the old gaff was that the smaller birds would get on the feeders and select what they wanted, dropping other stuff on the floor. The doves and wood pigeons sat under the feeders waiting for the stuff to fall and I never actually saw them on the feeders.
When I left the current house yesterday afternoon, there were a load of seagulls interested in someone’s chip wrapper except they were flying above it and not landing. The reason? There was a male mallard duck standing over it with a sort of “come on then if you think you’re hard enough” stance about it. I hadn’t realised they were so bold, or that they liked chips!
One man's pest is another's wonderful wild life
As various times we have parrots stripping buds off of spring shrubs,starlings feasting on fat balls. ,squirrels raiding bird feeders, and foxes crapping all over garden despite a liberal dose of scoot repellent.
Worst thing is Fox muck ,our new pup takes an unsaved interest on it
As various times we have parrots stripping buds off of spring shrubs,starlings feasting on fat balls. ,squirrels raiding bird feeders, and foxes crapping all over garden despite a liberal dose of scoot repellent.
Worst thing is Fox muck ,our new pup takes an unsaved interest on it
Turn7 said:
Ive had a 4 way Squirrel proof feeder in the garden for a number of years and get a good range of birds in the garden.
Just lately, my feeder is getting gang raped by a mob of Crows - they rip the feeders of the stand and throw then to the floor - even if I have tied the feeders on.
Its costing me a fortune and the smaller birds dont come as often as the feeders are missing or empty.
I have a large ground feeder cage that I use as well and even the magpies cant quite move it.
Any ideas on what to do ?
What I've done is this:Just lately, my feeder is getting gang raped by a mob of Crows - they rip the feeders of the stand and throw then to the floor - even if I have tied the feeders on.
Its costing me a fortune and the smaller birds dont come as often as the feeders are missing or empty.
I have a large ground feeder cage that I use as well and even the magpies cant quite move it.
Any ideas on what to do ?
1 Buy a pair of large hanging baskets – the green metal basket bits, not the wooden thing with flowers in. They need to be large enough to go around the bird-feeder top to bottom, mine are about 18" diameter.
2 Fasten these around the feeder to form a globe, using cable ties at the top only. I just basically fastened them around the loop the bird feeders hang from. Don't fasten it all the way round, there's no need and you won't be able to get inside to top up the food or clean the feeder (obvious I'd have thought, but apparently not to someone else I gave this advice to
)3 Watch the little birds, up to about green woodpecker size, enter and exit the globe, sitting in the bars to wait their turn. Enjoy watching the corvids fail to get in, and the pigeons hop around below eating the sparrows' cast-offs.
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