In message , djhughes
writes

p.mc Wrote:
I find black sunflower seeds are fantastic, I buy it by the sackfull
from my
local pet shop, I also had a slow start, but as Phil said they need to
pluck
up the courage first.

--

Regards
p.mc



Hello,

Yes, I found that the sunflower seeds are much more popular. When I
first put a bird table up I used a mixed seed but it was not very
popular; but when I put sunflower seed up they came in droves. Once
they started coming, I then put the mixed seed down as well and they
ate this as well.

A lot of basic mixed bird seeds have lot of wheat grains in them
(cheap) but most birds don't like this and ignore it - seems to mostly
pigeons who eat it. You can get better mixes from people like CJ
Birdfoods that don't contain wheat.

I mostly use sunflower kernels now, so much less mess than those with
the shells, last a bit longer in the feeder.

They also take a while to find the hanging 'fat' balls every winter
when I start putting them out.

I suppose it depends on the type of birds you have around. We get
mainly coal tits and some other little birds I cant name on the table.
I only once saw our local woodpecker having a go at the fat ball. The
robins only go on the table when there are no other birds on there,
they dont seem to like the company. Sometimes blackbirds go rooting for
the seeds that fall on the floor but never on the table.

It's good to put down ground food as well, some birds such as blackbirds
and robins prefer to feed there.
--
Chris French