no birds coming to my feeders, help :(

hello,

i have been trying to feed birds again for the past month. the last time we fed birds, i honestly cant remember the year, it's been years or even decades. but in recent times i have come to care more and more about animals and upon learning about declines to bird life (and all other non-human life) on this planet, and felt the need to want to start feeding them again. plus, it brought a natural pleasure in me when i was young. it was lovely seeing the birds eat in our garden. back then, we threw leftover food in the garden (roti, a form of indian bread). they were the small brown garden birds, mainly. this was back in the early 90s.

but now, our garden has changed. we no longer have grass and pavement (last time birds mainly fed on the pavement). its all pavement. in fact our garden is worse this time, ugly. unfortunately its not mine strictly to do as i please, its my parents. they said they feel too old to be mowing grass (sounds like an excuse to me).

but i do hear birds sing in the morning. one neighbour a few doors down has a tree, and i can hear birds sing from rooftops too. i live in your bog standard terraced house. my location is in gravesend, in kent. on other streets on the way to work i can hear slightly higher concentrations of bird singing, and in other areas, not so much.

i done some research and have tried feeding ground feeder birds and i also got a bird feeder to hang food for birds. i have been trying this for a few weeks. but not one single bird has even come to our garden! i hear them singing, but they dont come. it makes me feel so sad. i place mixed seed in a tray every morning to ensure it's on a clean surface and not on the ground where it might get mouldy. i change the nuts in my feeder weekly. nothing. when can i start seeing results?

what am i doing wrong? what solutions can i try?

here is a pic of my garden with the tray of seed and the suspended feeder of nuts:

here is a link to the food i got.

seeds (mixed for variety for the birds):

https://groceries.asda.com/product/view-all-bird-food/wild-bird-seed-mix/910000448761

nuts (i made sure i got the oiled ones):

https://groceries.asda.com/product/view-all-bird-food/wild-bird-peanuts/910001282439

unfortunately i cant remove the broken bricks shown in the garden as my dad wants to use them for part of building an extension to the house next door that we rent out. i'm also ashamed to say next door they used to have a beautiful garden with a tree but my dad has gotten rid of all of this and its just basic grass not even cared for now. its so depressing.

thanks

  • Hello AJ, such a shame that you can hear the birds but none are coming to your garden. As Alan has said firstly remove the feeder from the line, it is too high up and very exposed. As all there is in the garden is concrete, you need to try and establish some form of greenery. The birds like to have something to perch on and to hide among for either shelter or to get away from any intruders. All I can suggest is either lift the odd paving stone and plant something or gets lots of pots. You can fill the bottom with some odd broken stones ( from that piles in the picture) and fill with compost, you can get many different types of things that will grow in pots quite quickly. The other thing you could try is long pots, when planted up, place them along the fences and you could train and attach the greenery to the fence. Honeysuckle for example. Good luck.

  • thanks for this.

    i have an additional question. how often should i change the seeds on the ground and the nuts in the feeder?
    i change the seeds everyday and the nuts once per week.

    so far, no bird has even step foot in my garden at all. i hear them singing from a distance though.

    i try to help them because i know they are declining due to habitat loss and this is my way of reaching out to them to ensure they can eat and survive.

    i thought the bird feeder on the upper line would be a good thing because it's in clear sight for the birds to see? there is a neighbour a few doors down that has a tree in their garden and i guess may have some birds in it
  • Hi AJ, if you are having no bird life at all in the garden, I suggest you only put a small amount of seed and nuts. [1/4 fill feeder, or less], no point in wasting the food. If the nuts get wet or lie out too long they will start to shrivel and turn black, they can harm the birds [with toxins] so they should definitely be thrown away. As long as the seed looks dry, it should be okay. Have you tried some sunflower hears, they love them. Maybe you could buy a small quantity and try filling the feeder with those instead of the seed, just to see. I really do think it is because there is no plants, bushes,trees for the birds, that is stopping them visiting. Good luck
  • hi everyone, look what came in my garden yesterday! and today!

    i noticed in recent weeks that my tray was empty when i got back. now during easter break i am able to quickly check what is causing it. at first i thought it was the wind. now i think this bird regularly comes to my garden.

    a part of me is happy that at least it's feeding a bird. but is this merely a pigeon? i was hoping to feed the small brown garden birds i hear singing. they still havent come to my garden.

    i'm still looking into trying to get some green in the garden even if its pots. i tried to explain to my family about the importance of having birds and greenery but it seems they simply dont care. and yesterday my neighbour start cutting branches from his tree - the same tree i normally hear birds singing from Disappointed

  • Hi AJ, well at least it is a start for you, the rest may still come, especially if you get some greenery there. As for the neighbour cutting back from the tree, if there are birds nesting, that is an offence. No disturbance is allowed whatsoever in trees and bushes where they are nesting, that is why this is done in the back end and before they start to nest in the spring. Good luck,and keep watching.

  • thanks for the replies.

    the exact same bird has been coming everyday to our garden now. he scoops up the seeds then goes. it's a pidgeon i have learnt.

    my concern is from my research - that pidgeons can be pests. plus, if he quickly eats up the seeds there's nothing left for the garden birds - my 'target' so to speak, because i always hear them singing in the morning - of whom still have not even set foot in my garden.

    should i stop the seeds as the pidgeon is coming everyday?

    what to garden birds like to eat? i'm referring to birds like this one:

    -

    also my nuts have not been eaten on - i dont think that feeder isworking. i'll lower it down abit. i have another feeder with seeds in it, whereby it has little stickson the side for the bird to 'sit' on i guess, as they eat. how good are those? won't the seeds get soggy from the rain?

  • Hi AJ, maybe only put out a little seed so that the Pigeon can't get too much. Have you tried sunflower hearts, they will attract the birds. The feeders with the little preches are fine, if the food is not getting eaten in the feeder, keep an eye on it you may have to give it to the pigeon. Hope you have sucess soon.
  • update: i have seen one or two of those small brown garden birds come to my garden recently. but they dont go for the suspended feeder, or the tray, or that standing thing i got in the garden too. they mainly go around on the floor just picking what they can. i bought sunflower hearts for them but they dont seem to want it. shall i just throw and spread them on the ground? the trouble with that is that when it rains, they get soggy and therefore unhealthy to eat, but after raining i wouldnt know where they are.

    also, i got into an argument with my family and my dad said something hurtful to me. he demanded help in clearing out the garage and he has now even more trash in the garden. i asked him if he could clear the garden so we could make it hospitable to the birds and perhaps even grow grass, but he said to me no, noone will do anything for you, and then throw some gloves at me and demanded me to go to the garage with him. when i refused, he walked away in a huff, kicking my tray of birdfood as he went back to the garage. i swear, if he wasnt my dad, i'd beat him up, he angers and disrespects me alot, just because i'm still single and dont have any kids yet at 37. i complained to my mother and she said well its not your garden and we arent going to do anything just for some stupid birds. she also throws out bread out there - this seems to attract the small brown birds but they can go mouldy quicker.

    meanwhile, elsewhere in my area, while jogging i notice that an area that usually had a big bushy tree which usually had birds singing wasnt there. i looked closer and it seems to have been chopped down and cordened off, signalling more housing to be built.

    this angers me so much, as habitat loss is contributing to the demise of birds. also theres the latest report on the nature crises of a million species facing extinction. i feel strongly about this but feel very alone here as noone seems to care.

    the brick pile has now doubled and it angers me that our tenants next door has a green clear garden they do not use whereas we have a messy garden that i do want to use but cant. i got so angry i chucked a few brick pieces to the garden next door out of anger. what also angers me is this family would do things for other people but when it comes to me and my wants and whenever they get upset, they laugh at me.

    did some research on moving out but i simply cant afford a place of my own with a garden i want for my bird hobby (i also want to grow nectar plants to help bees and i like to get a couple of pet dogs so i dont feel lonely). i feel so frustrated and helpless. excuse me for venting
  • Sorry to hear about all the problems AJ! Hopefully you will get a few birdies about to enjoy, and maybe find a new place to move to.
  • I found my little birds prefer to be hidden in shrubs maybe to avoid bigger birds or predators so could you perhaps try putting up box feeders fitted to your fence or wall ? I know how you feel as I have a shared garden so good luck.