Whilst waiting for blue tits to hatch I was delighted to see a young woodpecker visiting my feeding stations- although rather a clumsy effort as it kept falling off the feeders but looked cute in its efforts to feed- is there any special food I can put out- i already have peanuts, seed, suet blocks, fat balls and raisins but i want to ensure alll birds get the best possible start to life- was considering live meal worms but yeuk!!!!
Hi Vonny
You already have a great range of food there for the birds so will have lots ofn interesting visitors - woddpeckers are delightful to have visit. the ones I had in last year are away at the moment although I do see them fly over occasionally.
The only 1 I'd add is niger seed - you need special feeders with tiny openings as the seed tumbles out other wise the 1 I like the best has a tray attached to the bottom as the seed does spill even with the tiny openings!!With these in the garden I have goldfinches + siskins in all year round which is brilliant as they are both wee characters often bringing their young in to visit as well - quite an experience!!
I also pop out old fruit / 1/2 eaten by the children apples, pears etc the blackies + dunnocks love these.
Enjoy
'In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks' John Muir.
Excuse wobbily dyslexic spelling!
thanks
I have apple and pear trees so they should be able to help themselves to windfalls- also they do like the raisins- tried niger last year but for some reason it wasnt that popular. Blackbirds loved the raisins and even managed to get one brave enough to feed from my hand - wow!!!! Many thans for your help to this novice !!!!!
Our visiting regular GS woodpeckers always goes for the sunflower hearts and one was feeding them to it's young a couple of days ago. They will eat insects, nuts or seeds. I have not seen them touch the mealworms.
Will be buying sunflower hearts tomorrow- thankx
Hi vonny
The GSW's that visit my garden eat either peanuts or suet cakes. I have never seen them eat seeds or mealworms.
Last year when the male brought his fledgling to my garden, he fed it suet cake out of a square mesh feeder. However, I don't have any suet cake out at the moment because the starlings just pig out on it all day until they have finished it, so the GSW is currently feeding on my peanut feeder every morning and evening.
Nyger seed is a good idea to attract goldfinches, but I would recommend a seed tray on the bottom of the feeder to catch all of the tiny husks or they are very messy.
It's trial and error really. If the birds that visit you don't eat what you have put out, then try something else until they eat it reaonably quickly. It's a good idea to build up slowly rather than buying large amounts of food that might not be eaten.
Best wishes Chris
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Thanks Chris
I must admit the woodpecker does tend to favour the peanuts out of the metal mesh feeder- now and again he will have a go at the fat ball feeder too- it is just so nice to watch him go round and round the feeder- looking for the best bits! I could watch the birds all day- its a wonder am not late for work.
The starlings can be a bit of a pest- but i put out large chunks of food for them away from the main feeders so they can feed and also leave the rest of the birds in peace to eat their food.