sunflower hearts and birdfeeders

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

With us, the doves and pigeons only get what the tits etc. drop to the ground.

But where does that leave other ground feeding birds like blackbird, thrush and dunnock, surely they are in competition with the pigeons for the 'fallings' and at a disadvantage given the sheer capacity that the pigeons seem to have ?

CM

[~T~]

Originally Posted by Cotham Marble

But where does that leave other ground feeding birds like blackbird, thrush and dunnock, surely they are in competition with the pigeons for the 'fallings' and at a disadvantage given the sheer capacity that the pigeons seem to have ?

CM

For me they eat different things so any seed on the ground is only really eaten by the collared doves and wood pigeons. House sparrows and finches will eat from the ground but prefer the feeders. Dunnocks, robins, blackbirds etc tend to go for raisins, fruit or crumbled fatballs on the ground. I have a hanging table so the doves and pigeons avoid it though I rarely get feral pigeons which I suppose could be more of a problem.

[lilyrose]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

Why do white sunflower seeds get ignored, while black ones are scoffed very quickly?

I stopped putting out Black sunflower seeds and switched to sunflower hearts ages ago as the birds we get (Finches, Tits, Sparrows, Robin, Nuthatch, Linnets etc) seemed to prefer the sunflower hearts, but might give them another try now. The Blackbirds do eat fallen sunflower hearts but they have been ignoring apples and I only put out raisins in bad weather. I stopped putting out fat balls at one time as they were being ignored but tried some recently and they are now very popular. Fat blocks and suet sticks are popular in winter and when the birds are feeding young. Mixed seed doesn't go well and peanuts are always ignored and only the squirrels benefit from those. (A neighbour tells me she is always re-filling her peanut feeder - maybe the birds learn to go to different gardens for different foods?)

[Haagston]

Some fantastic suggestions and interesting points raised so thanks for your answers and comments.
Not sure I could go with the bird table option I may have to invest in/buy a hanging table as we do have a considerablr population of cats in the area, I don't think I can get away with shooting them as 2 belong to me!

I'll try the black sunflowers as well as the white ones, I may relocate the feeders a bit and experiment in parts of the garden i've not tried yet, I've an up and coming holly bush at the bottom of the garden next to the back fence which may prove useful, I suppose the only way to find out is to try!

Thanks all!