Reply With QuoteTwo nest boxes ,feeding table with mealworms and wild bird food .Bird bath,magpies ,bluetits,blackbirds ,sparrows,thrushes ,these seem to be the most frequent wisitors.We stopped putting suet balls out as it attracted rats.
Well, do you?
Do you feed the birds in your garden, and if so do you try to limit the kind of birds you attract?
If you do, which kind of feeders do you find are the best? Also do you have nest boxes, and again for what types of birds?
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Two nest boxes ,feeding table with mealworms and wild bird food .Bird bath,magpies ,bluetits,blackbirds ,sparrows,thrushes ,these seem to be the most frequent wisitors.We stopped putting suet balls out as it attracted rats.
I use the feeders for nuts that prevent access from squirrels and larger birds like crows.
Crows, jackdaws and starlings learn very quickly how to hammer the hell out of feeders and pick up the debris that falls to the ground.
I hate starlings !
Yep, a few different feeders which attract the usual suspects, also put food out for hedgehogs and have a pond / the frogs are now back in residence.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
We used to feed birds, but gave up when we noticed a big increase in vermin being attracted to the garden.
Six feeders across two feeding stations, bird table, ground feeding station and multiple nests/nest boxed for Wrens and Tits. Feeders are the standard squirrel proof ones in the main, a flutter butter feeder and there's a cage over the ground feeding station to stop all but the Blackbirds and other smaller birds. It's quite fun to watch the stupid Wood Pigeons walking round and round the cage clearly not able to work out why they can't get to the food within.
We get many varieties regularly including Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Reed Buntings, Chaffinches, Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Wrens, Coward Doves and Wood Pigeons, the latter of which are a nuisance. Occasional visitors include Jays, Magpies, a Crow and Sparrow Hawks. Starlings are expected to 'invade' once the breeding season starts - then the other birds will hardly get a look in, sadly! Happens every spring, our reward for tolerating them being great murmuration displays.
We don't use fat balls, rather Flutter Butter, fat blocks and fat pellets in a peanut feeder. Other food includes peanuts, sunflower hearts, sunflower seeds, mixed seeds, dried mealworms and, during the breeding season, live maggots.
A tip to dissuade squirrels from feeding at the bird table or ground feeder station - smother the food in chilli powder, (the hotter the better), doesn't affect the birds in any way but the squirrels positively hate it!
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
No, because having spent quite some time removing pigeon waste from the patio slabs recently, the last thing I want is more of the same. They don't actually take the stuff from the feeder but they do like to visit to pick up the spilt bits.Originally Posted by oldoakknives
However - there's an 8ft hedge in front of the house so we've deployed one there. Don't know if it's the best kind, but it works (as you can see - need to go and fill it in a bit)
Last in the pecking order?
Middle of Manchester, one seed feeder + one titball holder, not a starling in sight, no sparrows, but most of the finches, dunnocks, usual garden birds (robin, blackbird, thrush, coal blue great and longtail tits, wren) but surprisingly a few pair of goldcrests. Frequent visits from a pied woodpecker, sparrowhawk, and daily sightings of buzzard, kestrel, peregrine (on pigeon-hunting trip out from city centre), cormorant, heron, usual assortment of gulls courtesy of Mount Shit (the local landfillhill) and a resident owl that we call Manchester Tawny in hommage to a long-ago TV advert for I think it was Laker Airlines ( Manchester to NY - read by a stereotypical cloth-capped Luddite as "Manchester Tony? Who's he when he's at home?").
Last edited by unclealec; 8th March 2024 at 15:09.
I usually buy mine for tuppence a bag...
Yes.
Starling are a bit of an issue but are also quite entertaining. So we feed them separately. I am also planning to have one for jackdaws overhanging the field at the back of the garden, so they don't interfere with smaller birds, whose seeds and peanuts are in the center of "cages, wide enough for them to get in, but out of reach of larger birds.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Always feed the birds as we can see them from our lounge and enjoy watching them.
The loose seeds etc is all eaten by dusk but I always bring in the fat balls etc to save rats getting them. That said, the squirrels have quite a good feed.
Cheers,
Neil.
I’d love a bird feeder as love watching birds & wildlife. Alas, I have an elite feline killing machine in the house and it feels unfair to the birds to lure them to their demise.
I know what you mean....
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
We did have that problem once, but with the present incarnation being Kevin, the birds treat him as a pussover. If he lies too near their bread on the lawn, the magpies just march up to him and peck his arse until he shifts. It's embarrassing.
Griswold, ours would be just the same. He sits on the shed next door and launches himself onto the grass at the poor birds.
Unclealec, that’s fantastic! Ours eats the bread if neighbours put it out. His (alas deceased) brother was a proper scrapper, he brought a love magpie in the house (my wife has a huge phobia of birds), so I had to drive home from work.
Arrive back to the house & he is outside with it, on his rear legs fighting the one he has injured and taking swipes at the other ones trying to protect their fellow magpie. Was amazing to watch & he was tiny at that age too!
Current one goes up against foxes and chases them off his land. He is a little less brave with the odd deer though. It’s our usual morning routine to see what wildlife he saw off in the waking hours after being let out.
These ones, they seem popular with a small selection of smaller birds. The male robin is quite happy to eat from my hand, the female, not so confident, yet,,
Last edited by notnowkato; 8th March 2024 at 17:13.
How can you tell robins apart, ours seem identical?
ISWYDT
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I am assuming the male is the more plucky, the female one wasn't much seen about last year but this year , is much more often seen this year
Again , I am assuming , but the male one seems to regularly take food to the other one, my old school manners making me think the recipient is the lady !!!!
Least ways, that seems to be the setup at home, much as I dislike cooking............
Yes, male feeding female makes sense. Could be when eggs are laid she won’t be about much again.
Yeah, Ive got a couple of hanging "fat ball" feeders that hold 3 fat balls in an a plastic holder.
Got a fairly big hanging feeder with a tray and a roof that I put mixed seeds in, and a big tray feeder that I put sunflower and chia seeds on.
Tend to attract sparrows bluetits and the occasional wood pigeon.
There is research emerging that suggests feeding birds might not be as beneficial for them as we always thought.
As people put out a wider range of food sources, it attracts a wider range of birds, increasing the risk of passing on diseases and parasites. This includes spreading avian flu.
There is also an element of common dominant species benefitting from feeders at the expense of smaller and less populous species, exacerbating their diminishing populations.
It's far better to feed birds by creating natural habitats where they have reliable natural food sources. So growing native plants to encourage invertebrates, letting seedheads develop and growing plants that produce berries will all lead to a functional ecosystem that is much better for the birds and also less likely to attract pests such as rats and pigeons.
That said, during the colder winter months, a few fat balls can't hurt, can they?
Our next door neighbour gets a green parakeet on hers sometimes. Must be bloody cold for it in Northumberland.
Yeah, we have a flock of ring-neck parakeets here. They are spreading like Red Kites.
I've got a Bird Buddy.... WiFi enabled smart bird feeder. Sends me postcards during the day to my phone with the various selfies, all categorised by breed.
On my phone so can't post up pictures easily, but here's some of the best pictures of the birds feeding.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jr2m1RMS66mgvMBk8
Excellent. I want one of those.
We have a variety of feeders and so get a variety of birds. Everything from gangs of starlings to crows and Jays and down to the tiny finches. I like to think that some of them are helped out by a snack from time to time. Haven't seen any vermin attracted by the food yet, I'm sure the resident spaniel's nose would soon be alerted to their visits.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
This has prompted me to start feeding them 👍
Used to.... But then the rats came.
My terrier found the rats very entertaining but not long lasting. Cats also avoid our garden so the birds are safe.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Meet Manchester Tawney...
Bought my mother this hummingbird feeder for her birthday yesterday. Had the first customer along for a sip this morning. Wonderful to watch.
Whereabouts is that? I set up this feeder outside our apartment in Bogotá. Beautiful visitors, tricky to photograph.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I’m guessing not Berkshire
Splendid! Lovely pictures - I haven't been quick enough to get any yet.
Ha no - Turks & Caicos Islands.
I enjoy feeding the garden birds all year round, feeding dish mix to attract tits and robins with a transparent dome adjusted heightwise to prevent larger birds gaining access to the mix, works well!
Almost the same feeder but you have much better photos! They start here in Texas end of May to September. Very territorial and they all disappear almost overnight seems to me.Whereabouts is that? I set up this feeder outside our apartment in Bogotá. Beautiful visitors, tricky to photograph.
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Often get Woddy in my garden:
Wow have never seen one in the garden. Are they common?Often get Woddy in my garden:
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
^^^ I would say fairly common, yes. We have one regularly, even though we are in the middle of Manchester. You can hear them drilling at this time of year; noisy buggers.
Never ever seen a Lesser Spotted; that is on my bucket list.
Same here - we don't have anything terribly unusual in our agri-desert, but got some great pics and vids of what we do have. Only small issue is that a lot of birds perch on the sides rather than front because the platform there is hard to grip for the littleuns. Must modify it next time the Mrs cleans it!
My neighbours are keen bird feeders and continue to do so despite being the cause of an ongoing & now chronic rat infestation in theirs and adjacent gardens.
Rentokill man “ As long as they keep feeding the birds, you’ll have problems with rats”.
They dont listen and keep on feeding the birds whilst at the same time complaining about the rats!
Neighbours have recently started taking down trees, which has reduced the number of bird-friendly roosts around the garden, so numbers are down. We tend to get sparrows, great, coal and blue tits, robin, wren, goldfinches, and the odd goldcrest. When the larger trees were up, they were home to the sparrows (which we continue to feed). On a couple of occasions, a sparrow hawk came in to take a pop at them. Fun to see (especially in Zone 2).
If you look through my Google image link above you'll see the 3d printed perch and side fences I made.
Have spares here so PM if you want one. Just cover postage.... Have stainless bolts that fit too.
We have three cameras focussed on the bird feeder as my wife likes to watch them as she finds it relaxing and the area around the feeders, Robins, Sparrows, finches, Black birds, thrush, Pidgeon, Jack Daws (hooligan's), Doves, Wood Pecker, Jays, Wag tail etc
We did have an Owl in the area but not seen it for a while.
Hi ,If you have kids this is a really fun way to get them involved in building a bird box ,honestly dead simple and cheap as chips to knock up in the shed .
https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...uild-a-birdbox
Not sure how I missed that - looks superb, just what's needed. I'll PM you, and will pop a few £ in the FR in due course - thank-you
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