Around 12 months ago, I changed a very popular and busy wire fat/suet ball holder for a rather more aesthetically pleasing wooden one.
Since then, all birds have ignored the new holder completely and this morning I threw away a second set of untouched fat/suet balls - with not one single beak mark anywhere to be seen - because the seeds had started growing!
Now why do the birds totally ignore this unit? They enthusiastically eat the seeds hanging next to it and also, although not very often, the nuts also hanging there.
A blue tit family nest nearby and were frequent diners at the old unit but even they have turned their beaks up!
I have a typical north western urban garden, visited by blue-tits, robins, sparrows etc, but nothing "exotic".
The "new" device is the suet log bird feeder:
http://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/products/suet-log-bird-feeder/302/
I'm beginning to think that I need to revert to the old method, but before I do that is there anything that I am doing wrong?
Hi iBozz
Welcome to the forum.
I'm not sure of the answer really but do have a few comments, whether they are helpful or not. You will tho get many replies from others who will no doubt help you out.
I only have the wire mesh fat ball feeders and haven't tried anything else. I've had a look at the link you posted and two things occurred to me. The holes don't seem very big to me when you use the fat ball as a size guide. Also the size of the hole to put the fat balls into doesn't seem very big either so the edges are quite thick. Could it be that the birds have to get right into the holes before they reach the fat balls. This would limit their ability to see what is going on around them and perhaps be vulnerable to predators creeping up on them. Most birds like to feed where they can see all around and have an escape route in case of potential threats.
Othan than that I don't really know unless of course it has something to do with no perches but as tits can cling to almost anything when seeking out insects I think not.
BTW it's a very nice feeder I can understand why you went for it. I note there weren't any reviews for the product.
Hope you find th answer soon.
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Hello iBozz, I agree with Kezmo and would just like to add, that because of the thickness of the wood, can the birds even see that there is food inside the feeder and that it is not just a piece of wood ? I, too can understand why you bought it.
Hi iBozz,
I'm no expert on this, being a newbie to the hobby of garden birds, but did wonder if the birds can actually see there are fat balls inside the log. If they can't, it would simply look like a bit of wood hanging there and be of little interest.
How about putting in some string at the bottom and hanging it by the top and bottom so it is horizontal? That way they could perch on the top to eat, or cling from the bottom, whatever takes their fancy.
Just a thought!
,
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Not at all sure on the answer to your question but in my experience, quite often something that looks attractive to us may simply fail to attract our avian friends.I think of a peanut holder( a globe of about ten inches diameter) that held an incredible amount of peanuts which just rotted untouched, I think of a bright yellow fat ball house which failed to encourage the birds to touch the fatballs, which in the end I broke up on the bird table- should probaly have thrown them away...but they were eaten anyway...the best take up of any bird food I ever had was mixed seed which I scattered on the path and this drew a huge population of pigeons,mainly feral but also wood pigeons and collared doves which drew a complaint from a neighbour whose roof and garden were getting messed up something rotten...she said she had been to environmental health who said there was nothing they could do.. perhaps she should have come to me first... but I stopped feeding and now don't see anything like the same number of pigeons and she presumably is happy.. Don't think we can win...currently the biggest problem is my neighbours(from all around) cats who not only stalk the birds but by some contortion manage to get onto the bird table and take anything that takes their fancy from their.
If we make a world unfit for the birds to live in we will make a world unfit for ourselves.
Hi iBozz welcome to the forum,
There could be a number of reasons, the most obvious is that it is a new feeder!
If you are replacing an old feeder, ideally you should leave it in place until the birds become accustomed to the new one!
It can sometimes take several weeks for birds to have the confidence to start visiting a new feeder.
Birds are more likely to take to a new feeder during the colder months, when natural food becomes scarcer?
November to March in most areas - but it may well take two or three weeks before the birds are totally comfortable with a new feeder.
You will need to persevere for at least a month, if the seeds do show signs of growing there is no need to throw the whole fat ball away. Break it up and sprinkle on the lawn or on a bird table.
Birds need to feel safe when feeding.
Locate your feeder so as to give all-round vision to its visitors and ideally not more than 6 feet from convenient cover such as trees or shrubs.
Most common garden birds are fundamentally woodland species, and they do not like straying too far from cover.
If the birds feel that they can quickly escape into surrounding vegetation in the event of a predator appearing they are much more likely to use the feeder.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Thanks for all the answers, one and all, they are most helpful.
I'll try hanging an old feeder next to the log and see what happens. It currently hangs on a "shepherd's crook" where, as I said, the seeds are extremely popular, the nuts rarely taken and the log is ignored.
I'll have to think about hanging the log horizontally as the lid would fell off - not an insurmountable problem even to a DiY numpty like me, I admit, but maybe the next step.
I feel rather like someone having bought their partner something nice and snazzy and having it consigned to the back of a cupboard!
Hello iBozz.Having looked at a picture of the feeder, I can see exactly why you bought it. It certainly looks very appealing. I get the feeling though that it may take birds a while to get used to something like this because it looks so much different from conventional fat-ball feeders, so not only have the got to get used to a new feeder, they've got to adapt to a feeder which is diffrent to what they normally come accross in gardens. Looking at the product, I wonder if the balls are too far lodged for shorter beaked species such as blue tits to get at, although having only seen a picture of the feeder I can only speculate. I hope that things start to go well with your new feeder soon though.
Paul
Warning! This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar. Approach with extreme edginess.
OK then, I shall concede defeat to the ungrateful little so and sos and return to using a wire holder. They win, but they'd better not expect a Christmas card from me this year, that's all I can say - I am most deeply offended!
I feel rather like husbands do when, two minutes before the shops shut for Christmas, we rush into the hardware store and buy Her Ladyship that carefully thought out left-handed toggle-scruncher with option deflubberating attachment and windlesprong that we just know she'll covet so much - and then spend the rest of Christmas in inexplicable and icy silence.
And anyway, we just know that whatever we buy she'll take back as soon as the shops open.
But on to more serious matters, I shall obviously now shortly have a wooden suet ball holder that is surplus to requirements so what shall I do with it? Please bear in mind that I am a sensitive soul who cries easily, especially at the thought of using petroleum jelly.
I already have a bee log, which is supposed to attract solitary bees and other insects to over-winter therein (it's too early to say if it achieves its objective) and a ladybird tower, so to what avian or other wildlife purpose could I adapt this item?
Don't give up on it yet - you've waited 12 months what's a few more to worry about!?!?!
The only other thought I had was before you get into a left-handed toggle-scruncher with option deflubberating attachment and windlesprong is.......to try putting some softened fat ball in the already existing holes so that the birds can see the offering - if they have a visual they might venture more into the holes that way.
Worth a try....or not! up to you.
Unknown said: The only other thought I had was before you get into a left-handed toggle-scruncher with option deflubberating attachment and windlesprong is......."
The only other thought I had was before you get into a left-handed toggle-scruncher with option deflubberating attachment and windlesprong is......."
Gosh, Kezmo, I've been looking for one of those for ages! :-D lol
On a more serious note regarding fat balls, don't forget to take those commercial ones you can get out of their little green string vests before putting them into the bird feeder - apparently they can cause serious damage to the birds who can get their legs caught up in them.
Make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games [Robert Falcon Scott]