About 2 weeks ago, in a spirit of goodwill to all men and wild birds, I
bought a bird-table and a large tub of mixed bird seed. I also bought a
dozen or so of those suet balls. I've put a handful of seed on the
bird-table, along with a suet ball, and sat back to watch flocks of
grateful birds arrive to feed.

But from what I can see, nothing has been touched.

Any reason for this?

The bird-table is on a patio, about 10 feet from the back door of the
house.

Cheers

Will

wrote:
About 2 weeks ago, in a spirit of goodwill to all men and wild birds,
I bought a bird-table and a large tub of mixed bird seed. I also
bought a dozen or so of those suet balls. I've put a handful of seed
on the bird-table, along with a suet ball, and sat back to watch
flocks of grateful birds arrive to feed.

But from what I can see, nothing has been touched.

Any reason for this?

The bird-table is on a patio, about 10 feet from the back door of the
house.

Cheers

Will

They usually take a few days to a week to build up courage to feed there,
even when I reposition mine due to interference from the local cat / rat /
squirell populations, they don't go near it for a while afterwards, but once
they start, they are there in numbers!

The message .com
from contains these words:

About 2 weeks ago, in a spirit of goodwill to all men and wild birds, I
bought a bird-table and a large tub of mixed bird seed. I also bought a
dozen or so of those suet balls. I've put a handful of seed on the
bird-table, along with a suet ball, and sat back to watch flocks of
grateful birds arrive to feed.

But from what I can see, nothing has been touched.

Any reason for this?

Birds are creatures of habit. The habit hasn't formed yet.

The bird-table is on a patio, about 10 feet from the back door of the
house.


Ideal place - you can make rude gestures at cats, etc.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

wrote in message
oups.com...
About 2 weeks ago, in a spirit of goodwill to all men and wild
birds, I
bought a bird-table and a large tub of mixed bird seed. I also
bought a
dozen or so of those suet balls. I've put a handful of seed on the
bird-table, along with a suet ball, and sat back to watch flocks of
grateful birds arrive to feed.

But from what I can see, nothing has been touched.

Any reason for this?

The bird-table is on a patio, about 10 feet from the back door of
the
house.

10 feet from the backdoor might be the clue.
If there is a lot of traffic out that backdoor or at the overlooking
window, that could well put them off.
Also, basic stuff, are there any birds in the neighbourhood?
I have periods when the local sparrowhawks patrol the area and that
certainly causes the locals to take off for safer pastures for a
while.
I should place the bird table further away from the house for a while
and see if that helps. Once they realise that easy safe pickings are
available, then they will get braver.

--
ned

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
last update 09.01.2006

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


"ned" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
About 2 weeks ago, in a spirit of goodwill to all men and wild
birds, I
bought a bird-table and a large tub of mixed bird seed. I also
bought a
dozen or so of those suet balls. I've put a handful of seed on the
bird-table, along with a suet ball, and sat back to watch flocks of
grateful birds arrive to feed.

But from what I can see, nothing has been touched.

Any reason for this?

The bird-table is on a patio, about 10 feet from the back door of
the
house.

10 feet from the backdoor might be the clue.
If there is a lot of traffic out that backdoor or at the overlooking
window, that could well put them off.
Also, basic stuff, are there any birds in the neighbourhood?
I have periods when the local sparrowhawks patrol the area and that
certainly causes the locals to take off for safer pastures for a
while.
I should place the bird table further away from the house for a while
and see if that helps. Once they realise that easy safe pickings are
available, then they will get braver.

--
ned

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
last update 09.01.2006

All our bird feeders used to hang from an apple tree some way from our back
windows. We've now moved them nearer so we can watch the birds in the
morning whilst eating breakfast.

The blue and great tits "grab and run" black sunflowers all day. The
dunnock furtively sneaks in through the undergrowth and then snacks on the
millet sprays. Robin is so bolshy I've had to shoo him out of the kitchen
more than once, presumably because he thought I should have been outside
digging up some more small insects for him.

However, the sparrows won't "bite". They flit around the apple tree
apparently oblivious to the fact that the food has moved down the garden and
they're missing out. I can't help wondering whether a new timmidness or
stupidity isn't the real reason behind the decline of sparrows in urbad area
;-).

Paul DS.

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.

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.

Good luck,

Darren

wrote:

About 2 weeks ago, in a spirit of goodwill to all men and wild birds, I
bought a bird-table and a large tub of mixed bird seed. I also bought a
dozen or so of those suet balls. I've put a handful of seed on the
bird-table, along with a suet ball, and sat back to watch flocks of
grateful birds arrive to feed.

But from what I can see, nothing has been touched.

Any reason for this?

They haven't got used to it yet.

The bird-table is on a patio, about 10 feet from the back door of the
house.

I prefer the vertical birdfeeders that keep the bulk grain dry in a
plastic cylinder and require the birds to perch and peck to get at the
food. You get many more tits and finches with that sort of feeder.

Our local sparrows have learnt to access it, as has one robin and a
couple of starlings! They show a lot more interest in cold weather. All
the hedgerows are bare round here not a wild berry to be had.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Following up to "p.mc" :

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.


I've tried black sunflower seeds, but the don't work here. It seems the
usual food is the striped sort, and they haven't learnt to recognise them.
They'll pick out the striped ones and leave the all blacks. Stupid birds!
--
Tim C.

wrote in message
oups.com...
About 2 weeks ago, in a spirit of goodwill to all men and wild birds, I
bought a bird-table and a large tub of mixed bird seed. I also bought a
dozen or so of those suet balls. I've put a handful of seed on the
bird-table, along with a suet ball, and sat back to watch flocks of
grateful birds arrive to feed.

But from what I can see, nothing has been touched.

Any reason for this?

The bird-table is on a patio, about 10 feet from the back door of the
house.

Cheers

Will


Location location location.

My seed feeder has hardly been touched for weeks, until I noticed from an
upstairs window that it had a restricted view, and was next to a wall that a
passing sparrowhawk could use to ambush anything feeding there. I moved the
feeder 3ft further from the wall on Friday, and had goldfinches on it
yesterday. Before, they would flit through the nearby trees but not visit.
Adjacent cover is admittedly rather sparse, but I reckon in about 2
years...(then I'll be complaining about damage to buds and loss of fruit,
probably)

A very successful feeding site in a previous garden was near a hedge which
the local birds were using as a staging-post when flying from one tree to
another along the length of the street, so watch out for regular perches and
flight-paths.

All remains of apples and pears left by my children are consumed by the
local pair of blackbirds.

I don't like to encourage feral pigeons as they trample the soil to a
disgusting claggy goo, but sometimes I think the sight of conspicuous birds
like pigeons or starlings feeding attracts other species and so I usually
chuck a bit of wheat or bread on top of the wall


Duncan

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

The message
from chris French contains these words:

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.


House sparrows like wheat.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

[quote=chris French]In message , djhughes
writes[color=blue]

p.mc Wrote:[color=green]
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



I find robins will feed from the fat balls ('boules' as they are called here in France) if they are firmly tied to a tree branch, its just that they don't like hanging from them. Also, thoroughly spoilt as they all are, I put out on the terrace some crushed walnuts each day (not though during the breeding season), - there are loads of walnut trees in our area - which they all seem to love: chaffinches, nuthatches (naturally), robins (who wait their turn) and lots of tits) I'm going to try the black sunflower seeds aswell.

jay jay

In message , ned writes
I have periods when the local sparrowhawks patrol the area and that
certainly causes the locals to take off for safer pastures for a while.
--
ned

We have a 20-cm seed feeder in which we have sunflower hearts. This time
last year daily consumption was two full feeders a day - 40 cm of seeds.
In the summer the sparrowhawk turned up, and now daily consumption is
generally no more than 2-3 cm a day!

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

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

CJ warn that the feed doesn't flow so well in the feeder and is
satisfactory only where you have a high turnover. Have you found this to
be a problem in practice?

--
Kay