Question for missyburd

[BanannaMan]

I have bird question.

We live in the countryside and every year we feed the birds until they quit eating from the feeders.
However this year the birds are continuing to eat from the feeders probably a month now longer than usual.

Should I quit feeding them as they could become dependant on the bird feeders?

Or should I continue as the birds will stop eating from the feeders when mother nature provides enough food elsewhere?

[mkr]

You should feed the birds all year round, its helps the adults who are worn out feeding the young.


There is certain foods you should not put out in case the adults are tempted to feed the chicks with them, bread and peanuts I think, chicks could choke on these.

[tonyk]

Originally Posted by mkr

You should feed the birds all year round, its helps the adults who are worn out feeding the young.


There is certain foods you should not put out in case the adults are tempted to feed the chicks with them, bread and peanuts I think, chicks could choke on these.

Bread ??!!! You sure ?..... I always put bread out for the birds.....

Hi Bill!

Originally Posted by mkr

You should feed the birds all year round, its helps the adults who are worn out feeding the young.


There is certain foods you should not put out in case the adults are tempted to feed the chicks with them, bread and peanuts I think, chicks could choke on these.

Very true, it helps to whizz scraps in a blender before putting them out so they're in more bitesize chunks. Bread isn't a very nutritional food source for birds anyway but they do seem to go mad for it. Breadcrumbs are best and if you soak them in water first then the bread is already swollen instead of swelling in the birds' bellies making them full without much benefit. Mix the crumbs with fat, seed, ground up peanuts, soaked fruit like raisins and sultanas and you can't go far wrong.

As mkr says, feeding all year round is a good thing, yes the birds come to rely a lot on the feeders but then if you take that food source away and they've chosen to nest in your garden based on it then they'll need to travel further afield to feed their chicks... I'm sure they'd adapt if you decided not to feed them anymore but if you like them in the garden then it's a good way to have them come back next year

Apparently the smaller songbirds like to visit a number of feeding stations in gardens and take their pick of the foodstuffs available, saving higher energy ones like sunflower hearts and nuts for later on in the day before they turn in for the night.

[BanannaMan]

Thanks Maria!

Will continue feeding them then as we love having the birds here.

I've really started enjoying the birds myself since i've taken over the feeding duties.
We have about 25 cardinals that nest in our trees year round and new this year about 10 bluebirds have appeared, seen often enough they must nesting very close by as well.

Have the most variety, and the most colourful species right now than I think we've ever had.
In addition to the bluebirds and cardinals, there are bluejays, wrens, sparrows, chickadees, a few starlings, some grouse feeding on the ground and one rather large red headed woodpecker who makes a lengthy daily stop.

The humming birds have also returned. They are quite entertaining and will buzz you (like a fighter plane) if you let their feeder get low or you are too close when their young are feeding.

Part of this increase in feeding and in species that we see may be due to the birds who haven't shown up this spring and that's the mockingbirds.
Do enjoy hearing them sing but they do try to chase other birds off.
Heck, they even chase the cats around the garden on occasion!

Again thanks MYB for your expert zooladyologist services!!!!

The wife: Does she know birds?
Me: She didn't just study them at uni, they land on her hands and sing as if she were bloody Mary Poppins!

[Bluepete]

Bit like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9B_J...e_gdata_player

I put food out in different feeders, but it often rots before it gets eaten. Peanut, Niger seeds, mixed seeds etc. Any ideas how to encourage more birds? Do they prefer the feeding station out in the open or near a tree?

Pete

I found that niger seed was ignored (had a couple of goldfinches that went for it initially but then they stopped). Meal worms go well, the slabs of nutritious fat and fat balls went well throughout winter but are now largely ignored. Sun flower seeds (not hearts) are still going well.

So I think the moral is to try lots of things and see what is taken up. But I think you need to persevere because the birds won't know it's there initially. And they're not called bird brained for nothing.

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by Amadeus

I found that niger seed was ignored (had a couple of goldfinches that went for it initially but then they stopped). Meal worms go well, the slabs of nutritious fat and fat balls went well throughout winter but are now largely ignored. Sun flower seeds (not hearts) are still going well.

So I think the moral is to try lots of things and see what is taken up. But I think you need to persevere because the birds won't know it's there initially. And they're not called bird brained for nothing.

Same for me with the nyger seed. And don't assume all products are the same. Some suet pellets from the garden centre were so hard the birds stopped eating them - went back to a box from the discount pet shop and they're going fast. The nesting blue tits nearby are scoffing a lot of these but they also like the mixed seed and the fat balls.


Always put my feeders near cover as it attracts more visitors. They ignore one set hanging from the bird table in winter as the lilac bush beside it is too bare but now it's in flower and full leaf they use them as much as the feeding pole* beside the hedge.


The hard pellets went on to the bird table after a soak in bacon fat and the crows & starlings went mental for them!


*I have not outsourced feeding the birds to a man from Poland in case you were wondering...

Originally Posted by BanannaMan

Again thanks MYB for your expert zooladyologist services!!!!

The wife: Does she know birds?
Me: She didn't just study them at uni, they land on her hands and sing as if she were bloody Mary Poppins!

Haha, I only wish they did it so voluntarily, it would save a hell of a lot of early doors work with mist nets

Originally Posted by Bluepete

I put food out in different feeders, but it often rots before it gets eaten. Peanut, Niger seeds, mixed seeds etc. Any ideas how to encourage more birds? Do they prefer the feeding station out in the open or near a tree?

Pete

I think it's a bit of a happy medium with the locations of feeding stations.Too close to trees/hedges and you're tempting cats to strike, too far out in the open and the birds become sitting targets for airstrikes from Kestrels and Sparrowhawks. Our place backs onto fields, I have one dense hedge and a few shrubs, that's about it. The feeding station is positioned about a metre from the hedge. I don't get anywhere near as many different species as I was used to at our old place but having only recently got round to putting hulled sunflower seeds out I'm already noticing a difference in birds. Before I was only getting starlings, robins, dunnocks, blackbirds, crows and pigeons...now I'm seeing tits (oo-errr missus!) and the odd finch. I've not had much success with niger either, just all blows out of the feeder as soon as the wind picks up anyway and it's too dear to be wasting! It's a pretty exposed spot.

Sir Trev is definitely right about the quality of food you put out, though sometimes the cheaper stuff goes better than the more expensive, I guess birds can be fussy too! I've tried blocks which have ended up going mouldy quickly because the birds weren't eating them.