What should I put in a new feeder?

[anna2239]

I'm thinking of getting a new feeder to add to my collection. I currently have a 2 port seed feeder filled with Gardman seed mix, a peanut mesh feeder and a bird bath. They are all hanging off the fire escape outside my room and there is a feed tray beneath the seed feeder to catch the falling pieces. I haven't seen any birds using the bird bath yet but I only got it a week ago and it's been very rainy.

I currently see coal tits (on both), wood pidgeons and collared doves (on the seed mix), jackdaws (both), greenfinches (females eating from the seed feeder, fat males on the tray beneath), house sparrows (seed), little brown seed-eating birds which I think could be garden warblers but not sure, starlings (both), unidentified grey and yellow birds (peanuts), blackbirds (seed), occaisionally robins (seed).

At the moment the seed mix is more popular than the peanuts but I've only had the peanuts for about a month.

So if I get a new one, I'm not sure what to fill it with. I think I will set it up with a tray as well as otherwise seeds fall on the roof below. I live in a suburban area within a couple of minutes walk of fields and a river. A lot of people recommend sunflower seeds but I'm not sure what's best as they are already included in the seedmix. I've looked at nyjer but that needs a special feeder which wouldn't match my others (which are pretty blue terracotta) and I only get greenfinches which seem happy enough with the seedmix. I'd like to encourage the smaller birds and I've seen tit mixes and robin mixes (although I would think the robin mix would be better in winter?).

That's probably way too much info but I thought I'd be thorough.

Anybody got any recommendations?

[SquirrelEnemy]

We have a variety of feeders in our garden, including seed mix, peanuts, nyjer seed and black sunflower seed. I would recommend black sunflower seed for the small birds. All the tits go for this more than the others (though not exclusively). They like to snatch a piece of food and go off somewhere quiet to eat it, and the sunflower seed is a big piece. You can put them in the same feeder as the peanuts. They do fall out quite a lot, and the husks make a bit of a mess. maybe the tray would catch them, or perhaps you can buy sunflower seed without the husk.

The starlings will also take the sunflower seed, but you can't have everything! We now get a greater spotted woodpecker on our peanuts, which is real entertainment, and occasionally a bunch of long tailed tits.

Good luck ..

[oldtwitcher]

Sunflower hearts are a better choice than those black ones It does save a lot of mess having to clear up.
To discourage Wood pigeons,collared doves, and Starlings, I have found that a 'clingers only' feeder works very well. You will still need a tray underneath to catch rejected food.
The house sparrows tend to throw out quite a lot and are wasteful.
Best wishes and keep up the good work

[anna2239]

Thank you both for your advice. I do currently use clinger feeders but as they are hung off the top bar on the fire-escape, big birds can just sit on the lower bar and reach (I don't really mind the big birds, they're just not as cute as the little ones). I think I might go for sunflower hearts in the end as all the stuff I read seems to say they are the best.
Wish I could see woodpeckers but I don't think there are any round here.

Thanks for your help,
Anna

[anna2239]

So I put the sunflower hearts feeder up on Saturday afternoon after my new tray to catch the falling bits that I ordered off ebay arrived. It's now Monday evening and I just saw my first goldfinch! Ace! I didn't think it would be that quick.