What else should I feed the wildbirds?

[briar rose]

Hi all, some advice please, at the moment I feed an all in one seed mix and fat balls to my wild birds, this only seems to attracts Collard Doves (17 on the last count) and Sparrows (about a dozen or so), which I don't mind feeding, but I would like to attract a larger variety of birds, I have had, what I'm presuming is a feral pigeon visit the last few mornings, and this morning I noticed a Blue Tit, and while I was silently yelling 'yes' to myself, it took a disgusted look at what was on offer and flew off I don't want to have to take out a second mortgage to feed them, but would love to know what and how to feed to attract others.

Thank you

[Deb London]

They can be surprisingly fussy about fat balls (I don't know which ingredients they don't like, but they do like the RSPB ones and NOT the cheap ones I once tried to feed them) and their sell by date (apparently my RSPB ones are now past theirs ).

Sunflower hearts are a favourite food chez Deb.

What birds have you seen/heard in your neighbourhodd, BR?

[DMF235-Belfast]

I'd second the sunflower seeds but I would try putting a few extra on the table first as I tried them (the black husked variety) in a feeder the other day ...big mistake

Suet is also a firm fav (much more than fat balls for me) blocks or logs are fine.... oldly they seem to prefer berry mix than insect... both arent expensive ones... insect one out of b&m and berry 10 for £10 @ PAH

Oh and peanuts, peanuts, peanuts... just becareful of the mesh size as if they can care them aware to store them whole.... you'll be talking kg's per day

good luck

[John B (NTS)]

Sometimes it ain't what you feed, it's the way that you feed it.

Fatballs are fair game for anything going, but Collared Doves lack the dexterity to winkle out seeds and nuts served from devices that only allow access from underneath. Wooden feeders with wire mesh bases can be quite successful.

Of course you'll need to have the desired species somewhere in the area to attract them with feeders. Anywhere there's a bit of shrub cover can harbour tits and finches.

I do fine with just black Sunflower Seeds and Peanuts served from mesh or hopper type tube feeders.

[briar rose]

Thanks for your input guys

I have a large Bamboo in my garden just a few feet from the feeder which the Sparrows love, and next door has a large Laurel and a Pyracantha which they also love to hide in, further down the road they have some equally large shrubs and a large tree which everything hides in, the other side of me have a couple of trees which I believe are Stags Horn, we have pretty small gardens and thanks to the council we are know quite built up, but we're not only a couple of hundred yards (as the crow flies) from a park and wooded area where there are my favourites of all time the Long Tailed Tit, oh how I wish I could have some of them in my garden, I would be happiest bunny in Kent

The species I've seen avoiding my garden are the likes of Blue Tits, Great Tits, Green finches, Gold Finches, over winter I've had Blackbirds, Thrushes, Robins all looking for food, and those that I think wont come to my garden because it's to enclosed but perch happily on my aerial and roof are Town Gulls, Crows, Magpies and the odd Jackdaw and seen loads of times over head a Peregrine Falcon, although I don't like the thought of fattening up his Christmas dinner, but then he has to live as well, and it would be lovely to see him up close and then of course there's the summer visitors my own little Swifts, who used to give me daily displays, oh how I miss them, but I digress, I've also seen a Woodpecker fly over, it either a Greater or Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but by the time it registered what it was, it was gone and I forgot the Starling as well.


The Sparrows seem to love the fat balls I put out, and I have one of those cages for them (the fat balls, not the sparrows lol) I stopped putting out peanuts a few years back as they weren't touched, but will try them again, Pets and Home are doing them loose so I could get a small amount and try them, they also have Niger seed and black Sunflower seeds loose, there is also a B&Q opposite and they seem to have a big selection of wild bird food, so will go and spend a happy while browsing there and dreaming of millions of birds I will attract

The little Blue Tit was back again this morning having a go at the fat ball, but was chased of by the Starlings, but hopefully he will come back again.

[rossy]

what do you put your seed mix in or on ? if you have a bms near by you can get suet in the caged holders , throw out apples, sultanas, moistened bread, grated cheese, but to attract goldfinches you need niger seed, hope that helps, rossy.the woodpecker will come for the suet believe me, and long tailed tits, good luck.

[DMF235-Belfast]

The one thing I would say then is that you may want to have more than 1 sueet block and have them in different places if possible... i've seen many a "personal space" issue when several birds go for the one suet block

[DMF235-Belfast]

daft question I know (and i'm sure different makes use different mixes of ingredients but are fat balls/suet balls/suet blocks essentially the same thing?

cheers

[burhinus]

Fat, Suet pretty much all the same just coming in slabs, or balls. As with all mixes purchased from various outlets you get what you pay for.
Some seed mixes are sold as premium and only fit for pigeons. Most rubbish tends to come from Markets, Garden Centres and Hardware stores.

Several years ago the Bird Foods Standards Association was formed and as a guide line they stated that a good mix should have no more than 40%Wheat, which is really only a cheap filler. Any thing with Barley or whole Oats is rubbish. Also mixes with brightly coloured bits of Rabbit and Hamster food should be avoided.

Vine Farm have some good mixes and grow alot on their farm in Lincolnshire.
RSPB mixes are good as well, both available on line as are Haith's of Cleethorpes in Lincs, probably one of the oldest going companies of bird and petfeeds around.

Back to suet and fat and the best way is to make your own with some good old beef suet/lard, melted down then you can add your own bits, dried fruit, meal worms, grated cheese etc. Pour into Coconut halves or Yoghurt pots and pop in the freezer till ready for use.

If you wish to avoid mess on the lawn or patio look for no mess mixes, i.e those without the husk. Another very popular feed is Nyger seed, it is very expensive and really requires a special dispenser or a fine mesh sock. This will attract finches, particularly Siskin and Goldfinch. In the last few years in Norfolk we have had Redpoll using these feeders. NB it can take several weeks for Goldfinches to catch on.

I buy straights of my choosing and mix my own.
Mixed Corn, this is poultry food and is a mix of Wheat and kibbled or broken Maize. i add this at about 30% then the rest is made up of Sunflower Hearts, Safflower, a small quantity of Pinhead Oatmeal and Mixed Canary. I put this in feeders then for ground feeding I add some sultanas and dried mealworms.

Some birds prefer to feed at a range of heights so Duinnocks will go on low tables but prefer the ground. I feed on the ground on a raised table and from hanging tube dispensers.

I find Peanuts not so attractive these days and feed very few, mainly I think because of the higher oil and nutrient content of other mixes available.

In addition to food, water is essential, clean and fresh. We do not seem to go for watering in the same way as our birding friends over the pond where they have drips, misters and the like. The movement of water does seem to attract more birds.

Happy feeding and watering.

burhinus

[DMF235-Belfast]

Cheers...on the nyjer as its well'ish protected from the elements Is a visual inspection on a regular basis for mould etc ok or should you only have it out for a few days/week or two at a time.... apart from the odd coal tit visit I get nothing going to it