Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid. Can the birds really tell a difference?

Thanks very much!

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

In reply to Char Kenny ) who wrote
this in , I, Marvo, say :

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking
about buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local
garden centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share
your thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should
avoid. Can the birds really tell a difference?

I buy the sacks from the RSPB because

o they should know what they're doing
o they make some money for themselves selling it
o it is delivered in an enormous bag
o the birds eat a feederful in a day

Careful of storing it. Rats love it.

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

In message , Uncle Marvo
writes
In reply to Char Kenny ) who wrote
this in , I, Marvo, say :

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking
about buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local
garden centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share
your thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should
avoid. Can the birds really tell a difference?

I buy the sacks from the RSPB because

o they should know what they're doing
o they make some money for themselves selling it
o it is delivered in an enormous bag
o the birds eat a feederful in a day

Careful of storing it. Rats love it.


I wouldn't even think about bird feeders that aren't squirrel-proof,
with a good sturdy cage - not only do they eat all the food, they
destroy the bird feeders as well!
We also had one of those long ones where a cover comes down over the
tube when the squirrel tries to get on it. Worked perfectly until the
fox managed somehow to detach the bit with the peanuts in it - we
haven't seen it since. :-((
--
Klara, Gatwick basin

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

"Char Kenny" wrote in message
...

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about
buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden
centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your
thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid.
Can the birds really tell a difference?

Thanks very much!




--
Char Kenny

I use C J Wildbird food and/or Haiths both of whom provide me with good
service. As to what to buy when we lived in the Thames Valley squirrels
were a nuisance. You can adopt three methods of dealing with them (1)
ignore and just accept they will steal food (2) use "squirrel proof" feeders
but nothing is squirrel proof (3) feed the squirrels. I found a mixture of
2/3 effective for peanuts and found that if I used unprotected tube seed
feeders the losses were minimal. It was almost as if the squirrels
appreciated the sport of defeating the squirrel proof peanut feeders along
with a free supply of peanuts and left the seed alone.

As to which feed to use I have found that the most expensive does seem to
actually be good value. When you feed the cheaper feeds you watch the
birds discarding some seed and eating the rest. What they discard then
tries to germinate and what doesn't germinate turns into a mess. Somehow,
the expensive feeds get all eaten and the little they miss doesn't
germinate.

Trays beneath your feeder are a 2 edged sword. They increase the range of
birds visiting but they can become messy very quickly.

Here in Somerset we use simple tube feeders with no squirrel protection.e.g.
http://www.haiths.com/product-Birdlo...FJACOSEEDPLAS/

I've had a bird house (for feeding) but I've never been happy with them and
they get messy. If you mean a nesting box I use Schwegler with some
success.

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

Klara writes


I wouldn't even think about bird feeders that aren't squirrel-proof,
with a good sturdy cage - not only do they eat all the food, they
destroy the bird feeders as well!
We also had one of those long ones where a cover comes down over the
tube when the squirrel tries to get on it. Worked perfectly until the
fox managed somehow to detach the bit with the peanuts in it - we
haven't seen it since. :-((

I'd wait to see if squirrels are a problem before buying a squirrel
proof feeder.

I use CJ Birdfoods - recommended by BTO. Theory is that cheaper foods
are bulked out with cheaper ingredients which a) are less energy rich
(and small birds in winter need all they can get) and b) aren't liked by
the birds as much so they just drop them so they heap up beneath the
feeder.

In winter and spring I also use a fat feeder - I use the big cylindrical
blocks that CJ Birdfoods do - my birds don't seem to like the round
balls, or the little square ones that sit in cages. You can get the big
blocks with different additions, eg berries, insects, which is fun for
me but I don't know whether the birds care.

It takes several weeks for birds to get used to a feeder and start
visiting it. And BTO are saying that the biggest influence on your bird
visitors is what's around you rather than what you have in your garden.
So if you're in an urban desert you have to learn to love starlings and
sparrows.


--
Kay

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

If you just use hanging feeders you don't attract the ground feeders
(robins, blackbirds, dunnocks), but if you scatter food on the ground,
move it around a lot so you don't accumulate mess and the possibility of
disease.

--
Kay

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

"Char Kenny" wrote...

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about
buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden
centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your
thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid.
Can the birds really tell a difference?


After a lot of trial and error we have found "Mayfield Premium" seed to be
the best. A lot of places stock the Mayfield Standard seed but like most of
the others it contains too much corn so ask them to order in some Premium
for you. Check the price though. :-)
We had the same problem when we moved here but now we get lots of birds,
from Sparrows to Parakeets.
You may find that there are not many trees and large shrubs around your
area, it was the problem we had originally. Now trees have grown the bird
situation has improved.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:58:38 +0100, K wrote:

Klara writes


So if you're in an urban desert you have to learn to love starlings and
sparrows.

Or goldfinches and parakeets in Ardwick, Manchester.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

My feeders a standard metal mesh ones for peanuts, perspex ones with 6 feeders stations for grain and an open mesh one for fat balls. Mine hang from the lower branches of a blackthorn tree which gives them plenty of cover to queue up and wait while the bigger birds are on the feeders.

If you suffer from large birds using them then the ones with extra wires set away from the mesh would be better.

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

"Graham Harrison" wrote in
message ...

"Char Kenny" wrote in message
...

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about
buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden
centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your
thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid.
Can the birds really tell a difference?

Thanks very much!




--
Char Kenny

I use C J Wildbird food and/or Haiths both of whom provide me with good
service. As to what to buy when we lived in the Thames Valley squirrels
were a nuisance. You can adopt three methods of dealing with them (1)
ignore and just accept they will steal food (2) use "squirrel proof"
feeders but nothing is squirrel proof (3) feed the squirrels.

(4) catch and kill the treee rats!

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:24:13 +0100, Char Kenny
wrote:


Can the birds really tell a difference?

I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.

JD

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On 11/10/07 22:22, in article ,
"JakeD" wrote:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:24:13 +0100, Char Kenny
wrote:


Can the birds really tell a difference?

I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.

JD

Just get a good mixture, as in varied. I add sunflower hearts to ours and
sometimes niger seed in a separate feeder. The latter goes almost overnight
but we suspect squirrels there! I'm going to experiment with it outside a
window on the second storey of the house where squirrels can't get to it.
In the garden and all the greenhouses we put fat balls, mixed seed and
peanuts, crumbs and some niger seed. Bird numbers are down, most
definitely but we get blackbirds, some thrushes, chaffinches, blue tits and
on the second storey seed feeder, I see coal tits and green finches, too.
During the fledging season this year, we put meal worms here and there and
they were like a 4* restaurant to 'our' birds.
It takes some time for birds to find the food source and to trust it as not
hiding some lurking predator. While we were away for two weeks, the second
storey seed feeder outside my study emptied. After we got back I re-filled
it but it took the birds a good 3 days to come back to it, even though they
were used to it and had used it frequently before we went away. It is now
nearly empty and will need re-filling tomorrow! The Tawny Owls are flying
again and I heard them at 6am today in the garden. Just a few nights ago we
went to our local for supper and could hear a parent in a nearby tree
calling the young. I think that's all part of the training them to feed and
to maintain a territory. Whatever it is, it's wonderful! Having lost two
trees in the neighbouring churchyard in which they both roosted and nested,
the rooks are now noisily sorting out new territory for themselves in our
garden. The main hub of their activity has always been the Atlantic cedar
at the end of our main lawn but we think they're now going to colonise a
copper beech even more heavily - thus inevitably hastening its demise - and
are taking over another conifer that they have, so far, ignored.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:28:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 11/10/07 22:22, in article ,
"JakeD" wrote:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:24:13 +0100, Char Kenny
wrote:


Can the birds really tell a difference?

I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.

JD

Just get a good mixture, as in varied. I add sunflower hearts to ours and
sometimes niger seed in a separate feeder. The latter goes almost overnight
but we suspect squirrels there! I'm going to experiment with it outside a
window on the second storey of the house where squirrels can't get to it.
In the garden and all the greenhouses we put fat balls, mixed seed and
peanuts, crumbs and some niger seed. Bird numbers are down, most
definitely but we get blackbirds, some thrushes, chaffinches, blue tits and
on the second storey seed feeder, I see coal tits and green finches, too.
During the fledging season this year, we put meal worms here and there and
they were like a 4* restaurant to 'our' birds.
It takes some time for birds to find the food source and to trust it as not
hiding some lurking predator. While we were away for two weeks, the second
storey seed feeder outside my study emptied. After we got back I re-filled
it but it took the birds a good 3 days to come back to it, even though they
were used to it and had used it frequently before we went away. It is now
nearly empty and will need re-filling tomorrow! The Tawny Owls are flying
again and I heard them at 6am today in the garden. Just a few nights ago we
went to our local for supper and could hear a parent in a nearby tree
calling the young. I think that's all part of the training them to feed and
to maintain a territory. Whatever it is, it's wonderful! Having lost two
trees in the neighbouring churchyard in which they both roosted and nested,
the rooks are now noisily sorting out new territory for themselves in our
garden. The main hub of their activity has always been the Atlantic cedar
at the end of our main lawn but we think they're now going to colonise a
copper beech even more heavily - thus inevitably hastening its demise - and
are taking over another conifer that they have, so far, ignored.

Thank you for the response and advice. Yes, tawny owls are wonderful
to hear, aren't they? Each one seems to have a different call. Last
Summer I went off hiking and camping on my own in the wilds. Soon
after I was bedded down, the silence was broken by a tawny owl up in a
tree, directly overhead. Gorgeous sound. So much more musical than the
call of the crow which you also mentioned... They sound almost
ominous to me. Where I live, they seem to throng in the big trees
surrounding a big spooky old dilapidated country house near here, the
spooky inhabitant of which no-one ever quite sees...

JD

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

"Granity" wrote
My feeders a standard metal mesh ones for peanuts, perspex ones with
6 feeders stations for grain and an open mesh one for fat balls. Mine
hang from the lower branches of a blackthorn tree which gives them
plenty of cover to queue up and wait while the bigger birds are on the
feeders.

If you suffer from large birds using them then the ones with extra
wires set away from the mesh would be better.
Granity

I have to anchor my 'fat balls' with extra strong wire to tree branches etc
because otherwise the magpies fly away with the whole ball !

Jenny

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

"JakeD" wrote
I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.
JD


Just in time for the RSPB "Feed the Birds Day" - 27-10-07 :~))))
http://www.rspb.org.uk/feedthebirds/index.asp
Also has 'what to feed'
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...ding/index.asp


Somewhat irrelevant American site - but it has wonderful pictures of
hummingbirds :~)
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Abo.../BirdFoods.htm

jenny

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On 12/10/07 07:04, in article ,
"JakeD" wrote:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:28:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:
snip
The Tawny Owls are flying
again and I heard them at 6am today in the garden. Just a few nights ago we
went to our local for supper and could hear a parent in a nearby tree
calling the young. I think that's all part of the training them to feed and
to maintain a territory. Whatever it is, it's wonderful! Having lost two
trees in the neighbouring churchyard in which they both roosted and nested,
the rooks are now noisily sorting out new territory for themselves in our
garden. The main hub of their activity has always been the Atlantic cedar
at the end of our main lawn but we think they're now going to colonise a
copper beech even more heavily - thus inevitably hastening its demise - and
are taking over another conifer that they have, so far, ignored.

Thank you for the response and advice. Yes, tawny owls are wonderful
to hear, aren't they? Each one seems to have a different call. Last
Summer I went off hiking and camping on my own in the wilds. Soon
after I was bedded down, the silence was broken by a tawny owl up in a
tree, directly overhead. Gorgeous sound. So much more musical than the
call of the crow which you also mentioned... They sound almost
ominous to me. Where I live, they seem to throng in the big trees
surrounding a big spooky old dilapidated country house near here, the
spooky inhabitant of which no-one ever quite sees...

JD

Then those are rooks. Three crows together are rooks, one rook alone is a
crow. ;-) Rooks are extremely sociable creatures and some colonies remain
in situ for hundreds of years. They're also supposed to bring good luck!
I'm so used to their noise now that I miss them if they're silent. The
tawnies do seem to have different calls, yes. Certainly there's a
territorial one and then a high pitched one on a single note which is
parents and young communicating.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

In message , JennyC
writes

"JakeD" wrote
I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.
JD


Just in time for the RSPB "Feed the Birds Day" - 27-10-07 :~))))
http://www.rspb.org.uk/feedthebirds/index.asp
Also has 'what to feed'
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...ding/index.asp


Somewhat irrelevant American site - but it has wonderful pictures of
hummingbirds :~)
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Abo.../BirdFoods.htm

jenny

The downside of feeding birds, though, is that they come to rely on it,
and while they are fine in summer and autumn, I feel really bad about
going away in winter and early spring, thinking about all those empty
little stomachs.

We have also been adopted by a flock of doves. The flock has resided
four doors from us for some 30 years, but the dovecot-maker who was
raising them presumably fed them. Recently he has had health issues, and
also I imagine the dovecote business is suffering due to bird flu, so we
have been discovered by two dozen hungry doves, from various sides of
the blanket (most of them white, but some interesting spotty variants,
or pigeon in front, dove in back. The downside to the variation is that
those can be recognised, and invariably they are the ones taken by the
sparrow hawk...). Unfortunately this means that even though we buy seed
etc. in huge bags, it is impossible to feed the ground feeders, as every
grain is immediately scoffed by doves.

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

* JakeD wrote, On 11/10/2007 22:22:
On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:24:13 +0100, Char Kenny
wrote:


Can the birds really tell a difference?

I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.

What other birds do you know are in the area and that you particularly
want to attract?

I find that by far the most popular food is sunflower seeds; when I've
fed seed mixes, of any kind, there's a huge amount of waste, as the
birds pick out the sunflower seeds and leave most of the rest! The
only exception to this is the mix I get for the ground feeders, which
is pretty much like muesli.

Nowadays I feed sunflower hearts, peanuts and ground feeders' muesli
throughout the year and add fat balls in the winter. That attracts a
pretty wide range of birds. As well as what to feed, it's well worth
considering where. The birds will feel a lot more confident if
there's cover close to hand, along with perches to use before and
after feeding.



--
Cheers, Serena
If you are going through hell, keep going. (Winston Churchill)

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

"Serena Blanchflower" wrote
What other birds do you know are in the area and that you particularly
want to attract?

I find that by far the most popular food is sunflower seeds; when I've fed
seed mixes, of any kind, there's a huge amount of waste, as the birds pick
out the sunflower seeds and leave most of the rest! The only exception to
this is the mix I get for the ground feeders, which is pretty much like
muesli.

Nowadays I feed sunflower hearts, peanuts and ground feeders' muesli
throughout the year and add fat balls in the winter. That attracts a
pretty wide range of birds. As well as what to feed, it's well worth
considering where. The birds will feel a lot more confident if there's
cover close to hand, along with perches to use before and after feeding.
Cheers, Serena

I have some photo's of the birds we get here in the city (Rotterdam)
I have fat balls, peanuts, a bird table for bread, cake, rice, old
cornflakes, muesli etc :~))
There's a link at the bottom over the page about feeding:
http://www.ljconline.nl/garden/Plant...onth/Birds.htm
Jenny

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

In reply to K ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

If you just use hanging feeders you don't attract the ground feeders
(robins, blackbirds, dunnocks), but if you scatter food on the ground,
move it around a lot so you don't accumulate mess and the possibility
of disease.

I've got great tits.

You know what I mean.

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:36:28 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:

Just in time for the RSPB "Feed the Birds Day" - 27-10-07 :~))))
http://www.rspb.org.uk/feedthebirds/index.asp
Also has 'what to feed'
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...ding/index.asp

Ah - thank you! What an appropriate and useful site! Looks like it has
the answers! Funny; I'm an RSPB member, but I had not seen that site
before...

JD

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:02:05 +0100, Serena Blanchflower
wrote:

What other birds do you know are in the area and that you particularly
want to attract?

Hi Serena,

From a practical POV, I would like to attract anything that will be
beneficial to my vegetable patch. That is to say, particularly
anything that also likes slugs and snails!

From a purely visula/auditory pleasure POV, I'd be interested in
attracting anything that is colourful, with a pleasant musical song. I
have seen wrens, robins, cahaffinches, magpies, spotted flycatchers
(?) blue tits (?) and a few others I would be even more hesitant
hesitate to identify, along with the very very occasional, but much
appreciated kingfisher (there's a river nearby). A neigbour claims to
have seen buzzards circling nearby (there's an RSPB bird sanctuary
about half a mile away)!

I find that by far the most popular food is sunflower seeds; when I've
fed seed mixes, of any kind, there's a huge amount of waste, as the
birds pick out the sunflower seeds and leave most of the rest! The
only exception to this is the mix I get for the ground feeders, which
is pretty much like muesli.

I didnl;t realise there were specifically ground-feeder birds. Perhaps
that's why I'm only seeing great tits at the moment.

Nowadays I feed sunflower hearts, peanuts and ground feeders' muesli
throughout the year and add fat balls in the winter. That attracts a
pretty wide range of birds. As well as what to feed, it's well worth
considering where. The birds will feel a lot more confident if
there's cover close to hand, along with perches to use before and
after feeding.

Thanks for the tip. There is a large spruce tree ouside my window. I
'll try moving the feeders back onto that. I'll still be able to see
the show from my window there.

Thanks again...

JD

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:12:05 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:


There's a link at the bottom over the page about feeding:
http://www.ljconline.nl/garden/Plant...onth/Birds.htm

That's interesting - thanks for that. Two of the birds in your photos
are also common in my garden: sparrows and wood pigeons. I rather like
the sound wood pigeons make.

JD

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

* JakeD wrote, On 12/10/2007 12:08:

That's interesting - thanks for that. Two of the birds in your photos
are also common in my garden: sparrows and wood pigeons. I rather like
the sound wood pigeons make.

Both of those are largely ground feeders, although the sparrows will
sometimes use a seed feeder. In my garden they do a good job of
clearing up any sunflower seeds which are dropped from the feeder.


--
Cheers, Serena
People are forever calling me a hypochondriac and, let me tell you,
that makes me sick.

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

* JakeD wrote, On 12/10/2007 12:05:
On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:02:05 +0100, Serena Blanchflower
wrote:

What other birds do you know are in the area and that you particularly
want to attract?

Hi Serena,

From a practical POV, I would like to attract anything that will be
beneficial to my vegetable patch. That is to say, particularly
anything that also likes slugs and snails!

From a purely visula/auditory pleasure POV, I'd be interested in
attracting anything that is colourful, with a pleasant musical song. I
have seen wrens, robins, cahaffinches, magpies, spotted flycatchers
(?) blue tits (?) and a few others I would be even more hesitant
hesitate to identify, along with the very very occasional, but much
appreciated kingfisher (there's a river nearby). A neigbour claims to
have seen buzzards circling nearby (there's an RSPB bird sanctuary
about half a mile away)!

The finches and tits are likely to use a seed feeder as well as
picking up any seeds which fall to the ground. The wrens and robins
are both ground feeders but will take sunflower hearts (but probably
not whole sunflowers) from the ground. They also love the ground
feeders' muesli that I put down. Wrens are fairly shy birds, so are
most likely to take food if it's near cover. Magpies along with
other, larger, birds are more likely to take food from the ground or
from a table (without a roof), although I have seen some large birds,
such as the Jay and the Greater Spotted Woodpecker using both peanut
and seed feeders.

I don't know what, if any, birdfood would encourage the spotted
flycatcher and I don't think that any birdseed is going to interest
either the kingfisher or the buzzard!

I get my seed from http://www.vinehousefarm.co.uk/, who are very
good but Haith's, in particular, do a wide range of softbill mixes
(see http://www.haiths.com/category-Softbill-Foods-WBFSOFT/), to
attract the birds like robins, wrens, blackbirds and thrushes. I've
found these birds seem to do pretty well on Vine House Farm's ground
feeder mix though.

I find that by far the most popular food is sunflower seeds; when I've
fed seed mixes, of any kind, there's a huge amount of waste, as the
birds pick out the sunflower seeds and leave most of the rest! The
only exception to this is the mix I get for the ground feeders, which
is pretty much like muesli.

I didnl;t realise there were specifically ground-feeder birds. Perhaps
that's why I'm only seeing great tits at the moment.

Yes, different birds have different diets and feeding habits. Not all
of them are able to cling onto peanut feeders, for example and others
have problems opening hard seeds, preferring nice soft insectlife.
Some are also shyer than others and are unlikely to join a scrum at a
feeder.

Nowadays I feed sunflower hearts, peanuts and ground feeders' muesli
throughout the year and add fat balls in the winter. That attracts a
pretty wide range of birds. As well as what to feed, it's well worth
considering where. The birds will feel a lot more confident if
there's cover close to hand, along with perches to use before and
after feeding.

Thanks for the tip. There is a large spruce tree ouside my window. I
'll try moving the feeders back onto that. I'll still be able to see
the show from my window there.

Thanks again...


Good luck!

--
Cheers, Serena
Nothing right in my left brain. Nothing left in my right brain (anon)

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On 12/10/07 12:08, in article ,
"JakeD" wrote:

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:12:05 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:


There's a link at the bottom over the page about feeding:
http://www.ljconline.nl/garden/Plant...onth/Birds.htm

That's interesting - thanks for that. Two of the birds in your photos
are also common in my garden: sparrows and wood pigeons. I rather like
the sound wood pigeons make.

JD

But I don't think you'll like the pigeons in your veg. patch. ;-(


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:03:37 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

But I don't think you'll like the pigeons in your veg. patch. ;-(

Thanks for the warning. Acrually, they aren't profuse around here. I
occasionally hear one crooning away on the chimney stack.

JD

Bird houses, feeders and food - which ones to buy?
 

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:55:37 +0100, Klara wrote
(in article ):

snip
sparrow hawk...). Unfortunately this means that even though we buy seed
etc. in huge bags, it is impossible to feed the ground feeders, as every
grain is immediately scoffed by doves.


We have a large cage on the ground (from a local metalwork place) in which we
put food for the ground feeding birds. Keeps off pigeons, magpies,
squirrels, and cats! It's like a heavy bottomless box with mesh sides, if
you can imagine what I mean.


--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Burne-Jones/William Morris window in Shropshire church with conservation
churchyard:
http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk

We get sparrows, tits (various) green finches, chaffinches, starlings, and a couple of great spotted woodpeckers on the peanut feeder. On the seed one we get the same except the woodpeckers, but the robin will happily use it. Just about all of them use the fat balls plus the the jackdaws (it's great fun watching them trying to cling on. Anything on the bird table is fair game for the jackdaws, wood pigeons, Doves and magpies etc.

Hi,

I find this site useful for bird feeding supplies and advice.

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinm...denbird.com%2F

Best of luck,

David