"Cat(h)" writes

Sacha Hubbard wrote:
Interesting you say that. I have a seed feeder hanging from my study window,
which is upstairs and today, I watched a coal tit worrying away at it and
apparently hurling unwanted seed to the ground. He finally found a sunflower
seed and flew away with it triumphantly. The feeder full of niger seed
appears to attract everything but not, yet, the green finches we were assured
would go mad for it.

I can confirm that they do - they form the majority of visiting birds
in my garden, and that's what I feed them - when I feed them...
Which brings me to a maybe slightly off topic question: should one
still feed birds this time of year? I haven't refilled the feeders in
over a month, on the basis that grubs and caterpillars are now supposed
to be reasonably plentiful?

They're struggling to feed youngsters at this time of year, and seeds
aren't that plentiful yet. September seems to be when demand for bird
feeders is least.

The birds that come to a seed feeder aren't always the ones that can
take grubs and caterpillars - roughly, spiky beaks (many tits) seem to
be good for going after insects, tough beaks (eg greenfinch) are good
for cracking seeds but not so good at insects.

This is not authoritative, but I wonder whether it might be OK to cut
back on the fat balls at this time of year? - they are a more direct
replacement for insect food.
--
Kay