How often do you get feeder newbies?

[Michelleatiisis]

As I am new to birds, I was just wondering.

In the short space of time I have had my feeders up, I have managed to attract a lot of birds to them and am learning the patterns of who lives here, what time they visit, which tree they retire to etc.

But now i am familiar with the pattern, I can easily spot newbie birds to the garden/feeders which is very exciting.
How often do they turn up?
2 weeks ago a pair of Dunnocks turned up here and they have stayed.
A week ago a Greenfinch started to turn up a hang around with the Chaffinch (we have loads of resident Chaffinch). Yesterday he turned up again and then vanished and came back with a friend. I had a feeling they would stay.... today there are 5 of them and they have practically eaten all of my sunflower hearts!!!

2 weeks ago I was looking through my bins when a small flock (6-7 strong) of long tailed tits came and landed in the nearest tree. They didn't find the feeders and they only stayed for 1/2 an hour. I have never seen any before and they haven't been back... but I am hoping..?

So, how often do newbies turn up on average?

[mamma-p]

Can't answer that really from here because I can only see the garden from my bedroom and much as I'd love to stay in bed all day sadly I have to get up sometimes . Seriously it's hard for me to tell because they all come and go. I had loads of different birds to feed during the snow but no starlings which seemed strange, then the snow cleared and no birds for a while except a pair of blue tits. Today the starlings are back along with lots of others including the first goldfinch since last year.

You are very observant and obviously have a passion for your feathered friends, they are fascinating creatures and I love watching them too .

[Adam Cheeseman]

If you are talking individual birds it's probably almost daily. A ringing study showed that whereas homeowners assumed they had the same half dozen or so Blue Tits day-in day-out they actually had 33 different birds in one day.

Cheers,

Adam

[C J Smallman]

I can tell only one bird that is resident from the rest and thats a male Blackbird who has a small white feather on his side above his folded wing.

Im sure new ones stumble upon me and then Im on their list of fine(ish) eateries

I like when one Starling will land and start eating to be joined by 10-20 others from all directions just like Vultures to a dead Zebra.

Chris.

[actionfinch]

I have a resident robin... regular perch... and being bossy to other birds...
Just out of intrest Michelleatiisis do you have any fat balls or suet cake hanging around.I found that they always go on the fat balls or suet cake in my garden.
Worth a try .
Im sure the couple of blue tits i have are the same... and now have a wren who comes down on a regular bases.
During the summer i had a pair of nuthatches...not seen them much mind.

[RobinP]

Only one feeder newbie this Winter: Nuthatch, but Treecreeper in the garden was a first. Good numbers of tits and finches.

Robin

[Michelleatiisis]

I've got the fat balls and the suet block. The GSP loves the block and goes straight for that one each time!

I can tell apart some of the birds, baring in mind the amount I have at the moment I think I am doing quite well.
One is a male chaffinch, I don't know if he is a youngster or not but he is a different build to the other male Chaffs and he is longer in the leg... he also is lower down in the pecking order.
I have 2 x wren and I know there are deffo only these 2..... quite pleased today to see both of them because yesterday I saw one and they had been missing for a while and i worried about the cold weather - heard they often don't do well in very cold snaps.
I've also got 2 Robins and I can tell these apart by build.

Would love for something a bit rarer to come along!

[violetbakes]

I'm fairly certain my visitors are regulars especially the robin and wren as well as the flock of long tailed tits and the marsh tit, we used to have two nuthatches come at the same time along with the woodpecker but the woodpecker doesn't come on a daily basis anymore we do get one nuthatch though as well as others they just come and go, like the bullfinches, we don't see them everyday but its good when we do

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Michelleatiisis

........
So, how often do newbies turn up on average?

The number of individuals and species that you see will depend on many things: the numbers change with the seasons: global migrants, of course, but also birds that move away from their home environment in search of food. Some birds have reasonably small territory and so will be seen daily whereas others have a wide territory and circle round it every few days: birds like long-tailed tits will be seen in numbers for short periods and then disappear for days or months. Some animals will have a fairly large territory but only visit the different parts of it for a few minutes each day (so are daily visitors but sometime not seen!).

Then, of course there are unusual population shifts due to disease or weather events. All of which are very interesting and useful to know. If you're keen to help birds, you might want to join the BTO Garden Bird Watch (Garden BirdWatch (GBW) | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology ) which provides most of the inofrmation that we have on helping garden birds!

Getting to your question; in my case I have a core of eight species (coal/blue/great tits, robin, dunnock, blackbird, wood pigeon, magpie) which are present most of the time; another group of species (nuthatch, wren, chaffinch, jay) which are present regularly for part of the year; other finches, including siskins, some years, appear only in the winter along with various thrushes. Everything else is pretty irregular and 'rare' - interesting to know why carrion crows don't come into the garden and why I've never seen a goldfinch here! Have fun .

[gordonm]

Originally Posted by actionfinch

I have a resident robin... regular perch... and being bossy to other birds...
Just out of intrest Michelleatiisis do you have any fat balls or suet cake hanging around.I found that they always go on the fat balls or suet cake in my garden.
Worth a try .
Im sure the couple of blue tits i have are the same... and now have a wren who comes down on a regular bases.
During the summer i had a pair of nuthatches...not seen them much mind.

We have a wren who occupied a nestbox on the house in the early spring made it cosy with bedding then failed to nest, as the winter worsened she has now returned and is using the box to shelter in from the weather, perhaps she will nest this year ?
gordon