Feeding the Birds

delicious_2

oooh I like, thanks for sharing

Fruball

Do they eat the pumpkin or is that just used to hold the seeds?

midnightraven3

i did something similar with a hollowed out squash
i put a stick right through as perches
and string through the top to hang it up
i filled it with nuts & seeds and plugged it up with bread

the birds went berserk
they loved it

oliveoyl

A bump for this thread... birds will really be struggling in this weather, both for food and un-frozen water.

nimbo

how do i attract them???????

there was a tiny little thing on my path the other day - i have put some fruit on my bin lid, but can i entice them with something particular???

debtmess

nimbo wrote: »

how do i attract them???????

there was a tiny little thing on my path the other day - i have put some fruit on my bin lid, but can i entice them with something particular???

same question, i brought a set of food/holders from morrisons was going to hang in some way in back garden, my other worry i seem to be seeing a lot of cats recently im worried the cats will hunt the birds

chella71

I get many more birds by making sure that my feeders are near some kind of tree or shrubbery, they like to use that as a go between, think that it makes them feel like they have some kind of cover from the sparrowhawks etc, so I have a large wild rose bush hanging over and under a trellis, they fly into the branches of the wild rose and then onto the feeders from there, I find if I just put things in the middle of the open garden I don't get visitors there, we are quite lucky though and back onto a small wood. So far this year we have had greater spotted woodpecker, one lesser spotted (never seen it again ), loads of blue and great tits, robins, thrushes, blackbirds, starlings, nuthatches, goldfinches, greenfinches, long tailed tits (love these!), squirrels, pheasants!, pigeons and doves. So far not seen our usual chaffinches?? or black caps but I think these appear later in the winter??
I feed peanuts, raisins, suet blocks, wild bird seed niger seeds and sunflower seeds
Addicted to it, lol
Chella

emiff6

chella71 wrote: »

....I feed peanuts, raisins, suet blocks, wild bird seed niger seeds and sunflower seeds
Addicted to it, lol
Chella

:T:T:T

I feed these too, but I also buy basics rich tea and digestive biscuits, which I whizz up in the FP to make crumbs, and scatter the crumbs and basics porage oats under the shrubs and bushes, for the little ground feeding birds like dunnocks and robins, though the robin has been clever enough to learn how to use the sunflower feeders this year.



Edit: I toss apple cores into the garden too, the blackbirds love them.

susank

We feed the birds in our garden all year round and particularly at this time of year we put out more for them as its been so so cold up here and frosty - as we have hens round the back garden and we had the four legged visitor variety called Mr ratty who was very adept at leaning from branches and eating the bird peanuts and fat squares! We hung the feeders where they could not get them and finally got rid of them completely. Now the blackbirds cannot get the nuts etc so we ground feed them day time at the front garden where we can see them and todays offering was pasta, stale cake, jam left over in a jar scooped out and they loved it and a fat square. tomorrow is noodles and possibly some soaked bread and some porridge oats. They have been eating me out of house and home, I feed niger seeds, peanuts, sunflower hearts, and fat squares to the birds and we buy the peanuts 25kg at a time. The first bag of the winter is just finished - need to go and stock up again tomorrow but all the feeders are full. I bring in these ground feeders at night to stop vermin and I also zap bread and biscuits in the food processor too - lol

rothko

Hi,

I'm trying to help out the birds during this cold weather, but would appreciate some help from those that know more about the ins and outs of birds' feeding preferences!

I have a fairly narrow garden, no trees, very small shrubs and a shed at the back. So far, I've cleared a patch of snow at the bottom of the garden so it's exposed grass/mud (the lawn is a work in progress) and put down a few fat balls, oats, bacon rind and some dried fruit.

Result: not as popular as I'd have hoped. I've spotted a few blackbirds investigating it, but they're clearly not telling their friends about the great new restaurant in town.

From reading this thread I've learned that different birds prefer different feeding arrangements, so I guess I've catered for the ground eating birds (if my menu sounds ok). What I would like to know is, with the absence of any trees, what would else would you suggest I do? Is there something I can hang off the shed that would attract birds that prefer to eat off the ground? Or would it be better to set up a bird feeding table?

Any ideas welcome - I'm no bird expert, I just want to help them out during this cold, snowy spell and hopefully continue throughout the year if I prove popular with the little feathered diners.

thanks!