Help with garden birds.

[Nature__Lover]

Hello :)
I'm new here and just thought i'd ask a few questions...

I would absolutely LOVE to attract nuthatches and goldfinches to my garden.
I put out:
whole un-salted peanuts
niger seed
dead dried mealworms
bird-seed mixes
suet balls
fruit and seed bird cakes
and there is a bird bath in the garden.

Any suggestions ???? am i doing the right stuff??
Thanks guys :)
nature Lover

[Beebee]

Hi Nature Lover,

I am new to bird watching too (since December) so still learning as I go along.

I pretty much put out the same food as you except I don't use seed mixes, I use sunflower hearts and the RSPB no mess sunflower mix. The Tits love these foods and so do Finches. I had my first two Goldfinches visit just this week, so, you can see it has taken 5 months, but I must say that previous to this I had not even seen Finches in my area. If you have seen them in your area, hopefully they will visit your garden sooner. I have put out Niger seed for them but they still prefer the sunflower hearts.

I hope this helps a little, and that Nuthatches and Goldfinches will visit soon.

Beebee.

[Jandy]

I agree with Beebee as regards goldfinches, but can't speak for nuthatches, as I have never seen one around here.

[Nature__Lover]

Hello beebe and jandy,
Actually, sunflower seeds are just about the one thing i haven't tried!
Don't know why I didn't think of it be4 :)
Thankyou both for your advice,
and if i see either of these birds in my garden, ill post on here to give you the good news!
xx

[Jandy]

I actually go for kibbled sunflower hearts, which are enjoyed by the greatest range of small birds (I have even seen the robin on them!). I find the ordinary sunflower seeds, with husks on, tend to be more eaten by greenfinches than goldfinches, so some of the feeders are filled with them as part of a seed mix, as well as putting them on the bird table.

[crissie]

Keep waiting, be patient, (I know its hard) If Goldie's are in your area they will come, Have you seen them in your local area?, They are in my area, sometimes I see them when I walk the dog and when i come home fro work early morning about 6am I see a nice little charm.
We have them coming back from warmer climates where they have over wintered so people should start seeing them a bit more now I would think.
Some stay here during the winter and some go abroad.
My goldfinches prefer the sunflower hearts to the nyger feeder, I see lots of people say this is the same as their Goldie's.

[Nature__Lover]

no I havent as of yet,
but i have only been living in this area since autumn , so never seen it in summer or spring till now.
I've seen bullfinches and chaffinches but not even a greenfinch yet,
which i'd actually love to have in the garden, too!
thanks guys x

[Nature__Lover]

Great news guys!
I have just seen two green finches in the area..
I never had before!
I didn't even know there was any around here!
There's always more than you think!

[Nature__Lover]

and... I've bought lots of sunflower seeds

[Beebee]

It's great isn't it when you spot a new bird. I had never seen finches of any sort in my area, so I was extremely surprised and pleased when I saw two goldfinches and more recently, two green finches. They prefer the sunflower hearts to the niger seed, in fact I haven't seen anything touch the niger seed. It just goes to show, it is worth putting out many types of food, 'cause you just don't know what is going to come along next.

[Nature__Lover]

I know what you mean BeeBee.
No birds really liked the niger seed when i put it out either... :/
Wish i could see some goldies! never seen one!

[Beebee]

I haven't seen my Goldfinches since bank holiday Monday. :(

The Blue Tits are getting braver, they now use the feeder nearer the house which is usually dominated by Starlings, the Sparrows have also started using it too. :)

Beebee.

[Catscratch]

I'm new to this forum, so I hope you don't mind me joining in.
I have also found that the birds do not always conform to type e,g, a regular visitor to my nyger seed feeder is a collared dove. S/he sits on the tray I have underneath the feeder to catch the spilt seed and reaches up to the first feeding station. Bullfinches are also regular visitors to this feeder.
The goldfinches appear to visit the nyger feeder and the regular seed feeder that I fill with a mix of seed including sunflower hearts.
I have had a nuthatch visit occasionally, and it goes straight to the mixed seed feeder.
I have tried premium whole peanuts in a separate feeder, but these are never very popular.
Everyone's favourite seems to be the suet pellets I mix in with the seed and also put out on the tray on the pole.

[crissie]

Suet pelletts as you say seem to be adored by all and at this time of year they are perfect along with meal worms (live ones) for supplement feeding of the chicks.

Oh and lucky old you to have regular bullfinch, i have spotted one in our trees on the odd occasion and always in the colder months.

[Beebee]

Hi Catscratch,

Like you, my peanuts hardly get touched. The Blue Tits have recently started on the fat balls, but the totally ignore the mealworms, live or dried. I have a couple of Green Finches that like the sunflower hearts and ignore the black sunflower seeds and they must have seen them because the feeders are next to each other. I put a few strawberries out the other day, they were totally ignored, but I am not surprised, they probably have never seen a strawberry before and wondered what the hell it was. :confused:

[70007]

I have never tried strawberries, but my thrush and blackbirds like over-ripe apples and pears if cut into segments. A local fruit shop will often sell bags of over ripe fruit really cheap.

[Hevva]

The blackbirds love grapes too - I always cut them either in half or quarters, so a bit time-consuming, but they do disappear rapidly. :)

[crissie]

Hi Catscratch,

Like you, my peanuts hardly get touched. The Blue Tits have recently started on the fat balls, but the totally ignore the mealworms, live or dried. I have a couple of Green Finches that like the sunflower hearts and ignore the black sunflower seeds and they must have seen them because the feeders are next to each other. I put a few strawberries out the other day, they were totally ignored, but I am not surprised, they probably have never seen a strawberry before and wondered what the hell it was. :confused:

Hi,
You often find that the tit family start on the fat more than they used to at this time of the year, when they do its normally because they are feeding chicks with it.
In my garden the resident blue and great only fed on the fat occasionally, preferring the sunflower hearts ( it was the long tails that always went to the suet, they never fed on anything but suet) just recently the greats and blues have been frequently going for the fat, not their usual dining habits. This has happened in the past too but I only found out the possible reason for their actions recently.

I put out strawberries too and they were ignored by everything. I was surprised at this result.
Apples and pears get eaten very quickly. I've read that banana can be eaten, but this has always been ignored too.

[Beebee]

I know I have a Blackbird close to my garden because I can hear him in the evening singing and I have seen him in my garden on two occasions, once when I left an apple on the lawn, although he never attempted to eat it, and once on the fence just looking about (the Blackbird not me). I left the apple out on the lawn for about two weeks and the Blackbird didn't return to my garden and the apple went untouched by any bird for the duration. I also leave sultanas on a ground feeder, but these get gobbled up by the Starlings after the mealworms and suet nibbles that is. I would love to have the Blackbird visiting my garden, so has anyone got any suggestions as to what food I can put out for him or maybe were the best place to leave food for him is. Should I leave a few apples out rather than just one?

To crissie,
What was the reason for the greats and blues going for the fat balls rather than the sunflower hearts? It worries me that the blues aren't feeding their young enough hydrated foods although I do sometimes see them hopping about in the bushes pecking at, presumably, insects.

[crissie]

The birds may not have eaten the apple if it was whole and fresh.
they prefer over ripened rotting food, like the state an apple would be in when we don't wanna eat it.
I always cut an apple into quarters but I do leave skin on, I know some people take the skin off and chop it up.

If I have apple cores I put them out as they tend to brown very quickly. I think when they brown they are sweeter.

This is just my theory why the birds may have left the apples.

Edit: Ive just re read your post so as you left the apple for two weeks then I assume it was rotting by then, Ha ha, be patient, blackies are known to be shy, they may be common but they can be very cautious.

You also have the same problem as lots of us, the starlings polish it all up before others get a chance, keep the food for the starlings, (in my case they go straight for the bird table and then ground feeder) and place other containers or scatter under shrubs or near the edge of the lawn and the bed. This will hopefully keep the starlings in one place,
i devise different areas for feeding and it seems to work.
I have a bush that the starlings never go into but every one else goes in it or under it.

Black birds naturally forage under bushes, you see them tuning over the dead leaves one after the other. This is a good place to put some food for them, either scatter or put in a dish, The food I place for robins/blackies/wrens and dunnocks is in a dish usually and every now and then I scatter under bushes near the feeding station.
Black birds are often shy so do persevere,
Mine like fruit, apples and pears, and grapes that I cut in half if their are any going a bit brown, (not normally in my house though, they don't get a chance to go off) they like meal worms, dry that you have soaked in boiling water or fresh mealies. They love sultanas/raisins,always soak these to re hydrate them a little, even in the winter as they can be a bit brutal if you don't, I buy the value range, nice and good on the purse too.
Sunflower hearts are eaten by mine too.
Something they really appreciate is if you water a patch in the garden for them this time of year so they can get their worms easier.
I get up early in the week, if its been dry I go and throw water over a patch and male and female blackie turn up early in the morning.

As for the tit family, I've have found out that they feed the fat to their chicks, and it all rings true in my garden for sure, they never normally go on the fat as much as they are doing at the mo.
The suet nibbles are very good for the chicks as well.

The tits will forage for insects/flies and especially the green caterpillars, these are often found in oak tress among other places. The green caterpillars provide the fluid for the chicks.
They will feed the chicks with the natural food where possible and supplement their own diet with the sunflower hearts.
Seeds are not a lot of good for small chicks as they can't digest them and they are dry.

Hope this helps.

[Beebee]

Thanks crissie. There's a lot of information there that I didn't realise or hadn't thought of, like, I didn't know Blackbirds were shy, I presumed they were quite bold like Starlings. Or to soak sultanas. I shall try the things you suggested and hope the Blackbird makes an appearance. Thank you again for the wealth of information, it has helped me tremendously.

[crissie]

Thats good beebee,
Some may disagree with me about the blackies being shy as you can quite often have one in your garden who gets to trust you, but "the majority" are shy. My residents will soon fly off when approached, they go just far enough to still see whats going on but to a point where they feel alot safer.
For example today hubby was mowing the lawn, the only birds that came and fed were the starlings, they fed while he was right there mowing, they are truely bold birds along with Robins.

[Catscratch]

Wow, this thread has been busy.
The blackbirds in my garden are also quite shy, apart from one male who will stay within a few feet of me, especially if he thinks I'm putting out some more suet pellets!
I used to scatter them on the ground, but that was before the youngster (cat) arrived. Now they have to learn to fly up to the tray. Some got it immediately, others never have.
Before cat...For a while I was able to scatter the pellets under a few selected bushes so that only the blackbirds and the robins knew where to look. But then one day, a cheeky starling observed a blackbird retrieve a pellet and the stash was quickly invaded by the noisy hordes of starlings, and then the wood pidgeons!
I also used to put out over-ripe apples for the blackbirds - I found that Royal Gala's were their favourite, but only if they were well past their best, as others have said.
Haven't tried grapes yet.

[patsyparrot]

Hi,

I'm new here today and found the thread really enjoyable! :)

I have knowledge of a problem which will no doubt be made aware to me directly soon.

Problem: I have in the garden two sets of feeders for the following except where stated in brackets: dried mealworms, fledgling seed mix, fatballs, suet cakes (3), suet pellets, peanuts, nigerseed (1), water (3). The birds that visit the garden are, with approximate numbers: starlings (30), house sparrow (10), blue tit (2), blackbird (1), coat tit (1), collared dove (2), magpie (1), pigeon (2). They do not appear all in one go but generally speaking there are about 40 birds in the garden at any one time, most of which are starlings. I also have 3 hedgehogs who visit and a squirrel which I feed too.

Problem continued: My married neighbour hangs her washing outside about three to four times a week and has a family of 3 children (17, 5, 3) on a single income. I have heard her shouting and pestering birds that land, in her garden or washing, away as her washing gets soiled by the birds either from landing or flying over to land in my garden. She has made numerous angry remarks aloud and I also over heard her call me the b word.
This has been ongoing for about 3 weeks and in the past week she can be heard cursing more about the issue.

Problem continued: However, she has not directly talked to me or my partner about it and raised it as an issue. What I do??? :confused: I know that anytime soon and most likely this weekend coming she will most likely raise the issue and I don't know how to deal with this situation! I love all the birds in the garden, helping them and don't want to stop feeding them or reduce the amount of food as I don't want the birds to fight over it. All I can think of is to give her some washing powder and fabrice conditioner to wash any soiled articles of clothing. I would really appreciate any help or advice from anybody, whatever it may be!

Kind regards,
B :)

P.S. What hydrated food can be fed to the birds? I tried soaking dried mealworms in cold water but they just floated on top and did not re-hydrate.

[crissie]

Hi Patsyparrot,
To answer the question at the end....In my opinion dried meal worms are useless, I have soaked them in boiling water and they are still all crispy and as you say float to the top of the water. I tried stirring them for ages to see if that helped, it didn't. I have left them to soak over night and still no good.
I know suppliers say they are just as good as live mealies with all the protein but I find this very hard to believe. When you see a live one and compare to a dried one I cannot comprehend that they have equal amounts of goodness.
Thats my opinion, and just to add, Ebay do a good deal on live ones.
As for other foods I always soak any dried fruits, like sultanas, raisins, apricots etc.
I'm sure you are aware you must never offer desiccated coconut as it may swell once inside a bird and cause death. only ever offer fresh coconut with the sweet milk residue washed off.

Now for the neighbour........

I must say, I have found the birds who poo on my washing occasionally are the starlings and it really annoys me and makes me cringe. (I worry alot about hygiene and bird feeding and am very careful when handling feeders and cleaning bird table etc.) So when I found poo on a face flannel, I threw the flannel away. I know I could have washed it in really hot wash and used disinfected but it really put me off, so it went into the bin.
I don't have large flocks of birds so don't have the problem very often, in fact its only happened a couple of times. (my bird list is in members birds under thread "Essex birds")

Now the difference between me and the members here and your neighbour is that we love birds and feed them and your neighbour certainly doesn't feed them and who knows, perhaps she doesn't like them?
I can understand her being annoyed at her soiled washing, she may even contact the local authority and report you and say you are encouraging this behaviour. I remember an article in the news where an elderly lady was reported for bird feeding in her garden by neighbours who saw it as encouraging pests and health hazard and so the local council banned her from feeding the birds. She had lived at the property for about fifty odd years I think and had always fed the birds. I can't remember the out come, I think some folk got a petition up to say let her feed the birds, (not quite sure though)
Anyway, I think you really do need to speak to her about this problem, its a good idea to offer washing powder and fabric conditioner to wash any soiled articles of clothing but this doesn't address the way she might feel about the problem overall, like I said, I feed the birds and have done for years but the bird poo on my washing makes me cringe so it may not be enough to offer just this. IMO if you go down this route you need to offer a bit more.......
I suggest that you offer to wash and disinfect any articles of clothing appropriately for her, making her aware you will use her chosen washing products and that you will get it dry and aired and ironed for her.

On the other hand you could ignore her and see what transpires, this course of action would be unwise I think.

Its a difficult situation isn't it.

[Catscratch]

Hi Patsyparrot,
How did the weekend go?
Like Chrissie, I am lucky with my neighbours. One neighbour feeds the birds (and like me, also has a cat), and my other neighbour doesn't feed them, but likes to see the birds attracted to my garden (and hers) by the food I put out.
Both have raised comments that they don't like the noise the larger birds make (jackdaws and rooks), but that's all.
I too get annoyed when the birds soil my washing, but I think it's a small price to pay for all the enjoyment they provide.
My best advice would be to try and talk to your neighbour - only then will you be able to guage an appropriate response. I think offering some washing powder etc is a good idea.