Garden bird advice needed.

swingaloo2

I know garden birds are not really classed as pets t wondered if anyone can advise on this.

I have been feeding he birds in my garden for some time and it took a while to encourage them to visit. But now I have lots come every day, Im amazed by the routine they have.  They seem to be waiting for me if I'm running a little late.
I have food in different places and the different breeds seem to stick to thier own places. I have a water bath and a dust bath and they all get used daily.

I decided to make some different hanging food holders after seeing an idea on Pinterest using china cups and saucers. I made 3 and had one on the side of the garage, one on a tree brach and another on a fence.  The cup is truned on its side and glued to the saucer so the birds can sit on the saucer and peck at the food.

I use the same food that I use in the other places but they are not getting used at all. Iv'e had them about 3 weeks now and Iv'e only seen a robin on one of them once.  I have a cage which holds suet balls (I buy the better ones not the sawdust type and they love them) so I tried to hang one of the cups directly underneath the cage hoping the birds would go from one to the other. However they are now leaving the suet balls in the cage and they used to get completely eaten every day before the cup and saucer was put there.
So I'm just wondering if anyone else has made these hangers and been sucessful. Is it just that I need to give it mre time and persevere or could something about them be frightening the birds? 

sheramber

It may be becuse they are new. Birds are very wary of anything different.

But I wonder if the cups and saucers are shiny and reflecting light which scares them.

Savvy_Sue

I know what you mean: I have a new squirrel-proof bird feeder which has been hanging for a few weeks and not a scrap of interest. 

DH reckons when we put up a feeder with Nyger seed, they didn't like it, but when we mixed that with the regular stuff, they enjoyed it. 

I have no answers. 

Pollycat

'My' garden birds are so contrary.

Sometimes I have to fill the feeders daily, other times they seem uninterested.

They do take time to get used to new style feeders and locations though.

I have 3 sunflower heart feeders in different locations. 2 are the cheap Wilko ones (which are easier to clean) and the other is a squirrel-proof one. They empty the Wilko ones and only move on to the other when they have to.

Same with the 2 fat ball feeders, they prefer the location of one.

swingaloo2 said:

I have a cage which holds suet balls (I buy the better ones not the sawdust type and they love them) s

I buy the premium ones too.

I tried them on the cheaper ones as a mix, but they left those and ate all the premium ones.

Are the cup and saucers white?

Might be reflection that's putting them off as mentioned above.

swingaloo2

Thank you for the replies. 
Yes the saucers are white and of course its been sunny lately so maybe it is the shine.
Ive removed the one yhat was hung under the fat ball hanger as they were not touching the fat balls with it there and usually that is emptied every day.  I have noticed that none of the fat balls round the garden have been touched during the last few days so possibly during these really hot spells they are not wanted.

I will leave the cups out as they look pretty and will persevere a while longer with them. I never realised just how fascinating it can be watching the activity and what quirks and personalities the different breeds have.

Just as an aside- I noticed these last couple of weeks that I'm getting visited more and more by pigeons whicch seem to steal as much as they can and scare some of the birds away. At first it was just 2 or 3 but today there were 8 at one time.  When I go to the door to shoo them away it scares some of the little birds as well and I dont want to stop them from coming. Is there a way to deter pigeons. I have no idea where they are nesting.

Pollycat

swingaloo2 said:

Just as an aside- I noticed these last couple of weeks that I'm getting visited more and more by pigeons whicch seem to steal as much as they can and scare some of the birds away. At first it was just 2 or 3 but today there were 8 at one time.  When I go to the door to shoo them away it scares some of the little birds as well and I dont want to stop them from coming. Is there a way to deter pigeons. I have no idea where they are nesting.

Can't help with deterring pigeons.

My feeders are designed for smaller birds but I do put feed out for blackbirds etc that the pigeons may take.

We have rock doves, collared doves and wood pigeons that I tolerate as they pick up under the feeders and they are different from the feral ones you see in towns and cities.

We have a pair of collared doves nesting in the tree in our front garden. She's been on the nest for about 10 days.

sheramber

We used to say the pigeons were telling their friends where the food was as the numbers increased daily.

They  ate what the little birds dropped on the ground so prevented that seed from sprouting.

We had one who stayed all year round. he was so well fed he waddled when he walked.

If you have feeders that only the little birds can access the pigeons  can't get at the seed.

Soot2006

Birds are wary of novelty, so it can take quite a few weeks for them to get used to a very different new feeder. At this time of year, they don't really need to push themselves to take that risk, so avoidance will be an easy strategy for them. However, come winter, you will find them much braver to use new toys to access their breakfast!

Brie

Don't forget that the birds needs may have changed over the last month.  Maybe they no longer need the feeders as there are so many bugs about.  And not so many little chirpy mouths to feed. 

Or a neighbour has installed a Lamborghini of feeders filled with grubworm cavier that make yours about as exhilarating as Ford Fiestas.  

They'll be back.  And they'll bring their friends.

Pollycat

Pollycat said:

We have a pair of collared doves nesting in the tree in our front garden. She's been on the nest for about 10 days.

Read this earlier:

Collared doves are monogamous and can breed continuously in warm regions. When a pair has eggs in the nest, the female will incubate the eggs during the day before swapping over at dusk for the male to incubate through the night.

and we've just watched the changing of duties.

The female flew off as if to say 'Thank heaven for that, I'm done for the next 12 hours'.

Savvy_Sue

Pollycat said:

I have 3 sunflower heart feeders in different locations. 2 are the cheap Wilko ones (which are easier to clean) and the other is a squirrel-proof one. They empty the Wilko ones and only move on to the other when they have to.

Huh. You sure it's the birds emptying the Wilko ones? 

Mind you, I haven't even seen the squirrel since the new squirrel proof feeder went up. I was looking forward to foiling him ...