Just picked up on this and having the same issue. I use a small seed songbird mix and they threw everything out. I then mixed in a quantity of black sunflower seeds. They ate those and threw the rest out. I'm thinking of using another feeder with just sunflower seeds in to see if they prefer that. Anyone with any experience of doing this or other thoughts. I live near a stream and I'm now inviting the rats in which I'm keen to put a stop to.
Hi Gordon, absolutely recommend feeding ‘straights’ ie. just sunflower hearts instead of mixes, as otherwise each bird sifts through the mix to find what they like, chucking the rest on the ground. Even with this, goldfinches and sparrows still tend to be messy and so I’ve attached trays just an inch below the caged feeder (the same width as the cage so big birds can’t perch), and then the robins and tits jump in the tray. I occasionally scoop some of the food back into the tube if it’s clean (which it always has been so far) but if it was wet/pooey I’d chuck it of course. Very very little ends up on the ground with this set-up, just about enough for my two dunnocks.