Has anyone got any tips on where to buy bird food for wild visiting garden birds?

mr_stripey

I use a company called Brinvale who are based near me but they supply to the whole UK via their website.
Good quality feeds at decent prices.

Regarding the Nijer seeds - I brought a dedicated nijer feeder but have had no takers at all! Plenty of sparrows, robins, blackbirds and tits on the other feeders but can't attract goldfinches!

onwards&upwards

Be careful with peanuts, don't buy ones sold for humans to eat, get ones specifically for birds that are labelled as free from aflatoxin. 

onwards&upwards

mr_stripey said:

I use a company called Brinvale who are based near me but they supply to the whole UK via their website.
Good quality feeds at decent prices.

Regarding the Nijer seeds - I brought a dedicated nijer feeder but have had no takers at all! Plenty of sparrows, robins, blackbirds and tits on the other feeders but can't attract goldfinches!

Try a different feeder for the finches, they didn't go anywhere near the one I first put up, then one day I saw one fluttering around it clearly wanting to get to the seeds but it gave up and flew away without perching.  So I bought a different type and hey presto, 3 or 4 at a time tucking in!  I think I got one that was somehow harder for them to perch. 

toadhall99

mr_stripey said:

I use a company called Brinvale who are based near me but they supply to the whole UK via their website.
Good quality feeds at decent prices.

Regarding the Nijer seeds - I brought a dedicated nijer feeder but have had no takers at all! Plenty of sparrows, robins, blackbirds and tits on the other feeders but can't attract goldfinches!

Thanks I shall have a look at that site,strange how some people don't get the Goldfinches,perhaps they just don't dwell in every area

Just had a quick look on Brinvale it looks like a great site,I shall have a proper look this afternoon,they have some great feeders too,by the look of it

xylophone

Birds in my garden love RSPB berry nibbles.

mr_stripey

toadhall99 said:

mr_stripey said:

I use a company called Brinvale who are based near me but they supply to the whole UK via their website.
Good quality feeds at decent prices.

Regarding the Nijer seeds - I brought a dedicated nijer feeder but have had no takers at all! Plenty of sparrows, robins, blackbirds and tits on the other feeders but can't attract goldfinches!

Thanks I shall have a look at that site,strange how some people don't get the Goldfinches,perhaps they just don't dwell in every area

Just had a quick look on Brinvale it looks like a great site,I shall have a proper look this afternoon,they have some great feeders too,by the look of it

yeah, they're great. Really friendly service and will help with any questions you have (I'm not affiliated with them in any way btw - just a satisfied customer!)

The goldfinches are a strange one - my next door but one neighbour has loads of them in his garden but they're not interested in mine!

toadhall99

onwards&upwards said:

Be careful with peanuts, don't buy ones sold for humans to eat, get ones specifically for birds that are labelled as free from aflatoxin. 

OK thanks

KxMx

I get wheat free bird seed from Amazon, very little growth if any from that.
I store it in a Really Useful Box branded tub. 
Suet blocks are also a good bet in a special feeder, my birds especially love the berry varieties, they go quicker than the plainer mealworm suet. 
You may have to hunt for blocks as many out of stock at the moment. 

pogofish

There there are some good value sellers on Amazon - Maltbys I mentioned and the “Extra Select” brand too. I bought almost exclusively from them during my recovery periods from arthritis surgeries, when delivery to the door was a boon as my driving and ability to haul heavy bags around was rather limited.

I wouldn’t worry too much about where you place your bin - so long as the top clips shut so it remains water and vermin-tight. Mine sits on the slabs outside the greenhouse and at the rate my birds get through food, it’s going-off isn’t a problem.

I also tried the wheat free stuff from Amazon and although it was very good, it also contained suet pellets, which the birds of course loved but it did gum-up the feeders something rotten!

I do find that the sunflower/nyjer seed mix works better than nyjer alone as it attracts a wider range of birds - I also have several types of finch plus great and blue tits (which both also nest in my garden) coming to it. I shied-off peanuts for a while as they are particularly attractive to Greenfinches as although lovely, they can become very prolific to the detriment of other birds. Although I recently reintroduced a single smallish peanut feeder for variety.

pogofish

Planting Erygnium (blue) thistles can also help with Goldfinches and don’t dead head them, or hang-up the heads if you do. Once the flower fades, they pick the seeds right out of the heads!