no birds coming to my feeders!

hi

i have had a feeder up for a few months now and not many birds have used it i have had blue tits and great tits but nothing eleswhere i live we have greenfinches,goldfinches,tits and many others ,the feeders are near a tree and i have 5 bushes in the garden. 5 house's away feeds the birds and they have all the birds going to there. anyone know why??? i feed many types of food

  • Hi Gardenbird, Welcome to the forum.

    It is important to remember that birds are cautious about exploring new feeding stations. It can take as long as as a few months for birds to visit a new feeder, so do not get discouraged if you add a feeder to your garden and it is not immediately visited. Keep it filled and change the seed as necessary to prevent mold or staleness.

    Seed not yet in a feeder should be stored in an airtight container to prevent it from going stale. Also make sure that your seed is not getting moldy as it sits in the feeder. After a rain, it may be necessary to clean out seed that still remains, as it will stay wet and start to mold. This not only makes the seed unappealing, it creates a possible health hazard for your birds.

    Birds will search through this mixture, take what they want, and leave the rest. When the good seed is gone and only filler remains, you may find your feeders are visited far less frequently. Choose seeds such as black oil sunflower seeds, safflower, niger seed, and peanuts to attract birds to your feeders.

    Feeders should be placed at various heights around your yard. This is especially important if there are cats or other predators in the area. Although many birds will feed off the ground, if all your feeders are placed too low you may have trouble convincing them to come. If birds suspect there are predators nearby, they will not put themselves in harm’s way. Offer feeders at varying heights to ensure birds can feed safely.

    A common problem in bird feeding is the placement of the feeders. First, the feeders must be within a very short distance of trees. This provides the birds a safe place to escape to if a predator or unexpected disturbance frightens them while feeding. If trees are not available, shrubs, fencing, or a deck can substitute quite well.

    In time, the birds will trust it is a safe feeding station and will visit often.

    Hope this helps Regards Buzzard

  • Hi Gardenbird, and welcome to the forum from me.

    Buzzard has given you an excellent answer, as always, and there is nothing I can add, apart from have patience and keep trying. The birds will come eventually.

  • Excellent advice from Buzzard.

    In my garden I find the most popular food is sunflower kernels in a seed feeder. Nearly all the birds, tits, finches and sparrows, like it.

    Good luck

    TJ

     

  • thanks everyone for the help i will carry on waiting.

  • some of the bags of wild seeds you see for sale are to big for small birds its more for feeding pigeons and doves a good mix will have mainly small seeds in it  ( niger / hemp / rape / crushed wheat / canaire seeds / grass seeds sun flower harts / crushed pea nutts )  if you use these you will have all kinds of birds visit your  feeder

  • Just be patient - it took many months for our feeders to be tried and trusted!

  • I am having the same problem. I put up a home made feeder last week in school as recommended by Big Schools Birdwatch but none of the birds are even remotely interested. Neither has the half coconut I hung on the same tree been pecked at! :-(

    I am wondering if it could be that the birds here in the Mediterranean are not as hungry!!

    Big disappointment!

  • I've just put a feeder on my kitchen window and filled it with sunflower Hart's. Fingers crossed

  • I have found that I get best results with several feeders, each containing different things.  I have feeders for niger seed, sunflower hearts and suet balls, as well as half coconuts with suets and apples on sticks.  I also spread mealworms and suet on the ground.

    The favourite food, as others have said, is the grey sunflower seeds.  

    My small suburban garden is quite secluded - it is surrounded by hedges and trees.  Birds are slightly fearful of coming down.  However, once one comes - of whatever species - others follow. So, for example, if a blackbird lands on the lawn (and they are usually the boldest), the goldfinches will fly down, and the sparrows will skeddaddle along in their squabbly collective too.  Chaffinches and greenfinches and doves follow.  The tits, who don't operate as a group as much as the goldfinches this time of year, will dash in and out as well, and the jay and crows will come clattering along too (though they generally prefer to be fed on the flat roof).  Equally, when one bird startles and flies away, they all tend to go.  I think this collective awareness of safety and danger, as well as perhaps the pressure of competition - an awareness that seems to cross species barriers - may be why I have had much more success with several feeders than when I only had one.  My garden is fairly constantly busy with birds.