How do you know that your not over feeding the garden birds ?

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

First of all merry xmas to everyone, its nice to get a 30 mins break from eating/drinking and listening to my dads xmas jokes that he wheels out each year

How do you calculate how much food to leave out in the garden for the birds without over feeding them ?

Ive probably been leaving too much food out i think as some of the french golden delicious apples which the blackbirds love and have devoured in the past have been getting left of late, i think its since i started putting out mealworms, sultanas, sunflower hearts, fat balls and a wild bird seed mix which all goes out on a daily basis with some cheese occasionally thrown in as a further treat.

The problem i have is that we have 2 large trees at the back that contain a large starling roost, also we have our regular ringed dove that comes daily and the wild bird seed mix is for him as he seems to love that. The starlings go for the fat balls i leave on the ground as well as the ones in the fat ball feeder, they eat all the meal worms as well which is why i put sultanas out for the blackbirds otherwise they wouldn`t get a look in with anything else apart from the apples. The starlings can come down in groups of 30 to 40 at a time so food doesn`t last long which is good in some ways as they are getting well fed.

How do you balance it out so your not over feeding the birds as it must be healthy for them to hunt their own food as well like worms etc

[ron1863]

I don't think you can overfeed them They have to eat a lot as they expend so much energy, have you ever see a fat Tit or Robin

Merry Xmas to you too.

[galanthus]

I just put out suet blocks, sunflower hearts, nuts, scraps and seed etc and if they get eaten they get eaten. Otherwise they'll eat them next day or so.

As Ron said, haven't seen any overweight robins trying to leave the ground unsuccessfully

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

Originally Posted by ron1863

have you ever see a fat Tit or Robin

This one is doing a fine impression, must have had too much xmas pudding

[shei111]

Originally Posted by Steve_In_Cheshire

This one is doing a fine impression, must have had too much xmas pudding

Hes been stuffed. !!!! sheila

[shei111]

Originally Posted by galanthus

I just put out suet blocks, sunflower hearts, nuts, scraps and seed etc and if they get eaten they get eaten. Otherwise they'll eat them next day or so.

As Ron said, haven't seen any overweight robins trying to leave the ground unsuccessfully

Exactly. sheila

[Chrysophylax]

I put quite a lot of feed out at the moment, I have a total of 9 feeders and 1 bird table in my garden.
2 of the feeders are filled with a mixture of black sunflower and sunflower hearts. 2 others with peanuts, 2 others with nyger seed and 3 suet blocks, I tend to put a bit of seed and fruit with scraps on the bird table. I only get around 5 starling at any one time but the finches can come in quite large flocks sometimes. This morning there were at least 50 finches on and around the feeders. Mainly Goldfinches and Lesser redpolls with a few Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Siskins. The starlings only go for the suet and sometimes the peanuts while the Redpolls will only feed off the nyger.
Neil.

[2dogs2000]

Originally Posted by Chrysophylax

I put quite a lot of feed out at the moment, I have a total of 9 feeders and 1 bird table in my garden.
2 of the feeders are filled with a mixture of black sunflower and sunflower hearts. 2 others with peanuts, 2 others with nyger seed and 3 suet blocks, I tend to put a bit of seed and fruit with scraps on the bird table. I only get around 5 starling at any one time but the finches can come in quite large flocks sometimes. This morning there were at least 50 finches on and around the feeders. Mainly Goldfinches and Lesser redpolls with a few Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Siskins. The starlings only go for the suet and sometimes the peanuts while the Redpolls will only feed off the nyger.
Neil.

I'll swap you some starlings and wood pigeons for some of your finches!! I have never had bullfinches, siskins, redpolls or lesser redpolls. I have had a rare visit from two goldfinches and the same for two chaffinches. My greenfinch total is four.
How lucky are you?

[Rebus]

The starlings demolish everything i put out within minutes! I get quite dis-heartened sometimes because apart from the finches on the nyger seed feeders (which the starlings ignore), the other birds seem to get a bad deal! I know the starlings have to eat and I am quite fond of them but I just wish they would let the other birds have a chance! I don't think it matters how many times I filled the feeders during the day, they would still be wanting more.

[Chrysophylax]

Originally Posted by 2dogs2000

I'll swap you some starlings and wood pigeons for some of your finches!! I have never had bullfinches, siskins, redpolls or lesser redpolls. I have had a rare visit from two goldfinches and the same for two chaffinches. My greenfinch total is four.
How lucky are you?

I will ask them nicely to come over to your place. But please don't send me any more Starlings or Wood pigeons.
Neil.