Hello,
due to a visiting rat I've been told to take away the bird food (countryside garden). I plan to let the current batch run down (won't take long), then not refil them. Once the rat trap / poison does its job, if I restart the food will the birds return? Daft question probably but I'd hate to lose them. If it makes any differnece they're goldfinches, collared doves, chaffinches, assorted tits, starlings, wood pigeons, woodpeckers, sparrows, the odd crow, jackdaws, occasional magpies and rooks.
Thank you
Eugene.
The art of survival means any food source, particularly the nearest sources will always be sought out, even after a break.
Earlier this year I had a similar problem, but with grey squirrels, and they came in their dozens, so I stopped filling the feeders up. The squirrels have sorted themselves out, the birds have returned and you wouldn't know anything had changed.
Also, it is good to have a periodic break, it encourages the birds to seek food out and not become too dependant on your supply and indirectly, helps natures balance, making them seek what they should be eating, if we as humans didn't keep taking their natural habitat away building.