stressed about the neighbours

[actionfinch]

A strange one this really , its almost a jealous thing i suppose, but does anyone have any problems with the neighbours putting out feeders etc ?
obvously they can do what they want but being new and spent alot of time and money getting my self sorted with feeders etc , i suppose im scared i wont get the birds in the garden if they have another garden to visit.
someone please slap me on the face and tell me i silly, stupid, paranoid, what ever , its nice to here it from the people that know...

[griffgrouch]

I would have thought they would feed in both gardens.

[Harold Smith]

Don't worry about it. The birds will do the rounds of all the feeders. They will not entirely rely on a single food source. The more feeders there are the more birds they are likely to attract, especially in the winter. Just ensure your feeders are easily accessible and near cover (trees, shrubs etc) so if they are spooked they have somewhere safe to got to.

Harold.

[RobinP]

Yes my previous neighbour had five pole feeders out but I still got my share of birds.

It's also a good idea to site them at least 6' away from trees to stop squirrels jumping onto them and fit slinkys or baffles. I've also cut away the underneath of the nearest shrubs to stop cats hiding under them.

Robin

[faz]

the local birds will no evey bird table in your area you will get your share of birds they need water aswell in winter if your neibourghs dont supply it you will attract more

[2dogs2000]

Our neighbours feed the birds and their feeders are on the other side of the fence to mine. There is definitely no shortage of birds for either of us. I always say at least the birds will get fed when we are on holiday.

[Jason Green]

Evening AF,

...where's the face-slap smiley when you need it?

They'll need yours too, a lot of these birds rove in flocks and move far and wide - they won't limit themselves to the one source. May I also say that it's nice to see a thread's meaning where two people wish to feed them, instead of one neighbour wishing to stop a WAB'er!

Take care,

Jason

[2dogs2000]

Just to prove that it doesn't make any difference here is a photo I took this afternoon. You can see where my neighbours bird table is (he hangs feeders from it) in relation to mine. The sparrows are using both.

[Hedera]

You could of course put out different foods, fat balls, sunflower heads, millet sprays or anything the neighbours don't! The birds will still come. Water definitely is important.

[Emma S]

Hmm...my neighbours put out loads of old bread at dawn every morning, which attracts just about every jackdaw, magpie and crow from around...they feed then sit on my roof near my bedroom window and caw or cackle madly early in the morning waking me up, and make a mess on my car....Grrrr!

So yes, I have a problem with my neighbour feeding birds, but not in the way that you do!

As said above, if you are both feeding the birds it will probably just attract more, rather than fewer into your garden.