Bird feeders - is a fair amount of "picking through" common

[DMF235-Belfast]

Hello all, just as a pilot, while I wait on the station coming from Amazon I bought the 20kg £10 Pets At Home Wild bird Seed bag. And tried in a standard 4 port feeder. Now despite the fact that the back of the bag has the product as specifically for various tits, doves and a few others

Wild Bird Seed 20kg by Pets at Home | Pets at Home

I noticed that the Coal Tits (I think) in particular seem to like either rumaging through the seed and accidentally knocking it out or deliberately discarding certain seeds. now judging by the reviews I should maybe have expected this (the discarded seeds look like corn). However, I've now had to put the pilot on hold until the station arrives and it can get it over the patio to stop any surprise germinations - Is this standard with all mixed seed types?

The problem probably isnt helped by the fact that despite being in a realtively wild (for suburbia) area the number of blue, great and coal tits outnumbers anything on the ground thatsems remotely interested in picking it up (a thrush and a sparrow, one wood pidgeon and a family of 4 magpies - of whom the elder chick (by a good bit) seems to spend most of its time bullying and kicking the younger. Any advice cheers...

[artdemole]

Welcome to Wab.
Mixed seed does give some a problem with corn.It does attract pigeon and crow.But we do like to see the doves. It is a good mixture for winter and some other wild life.You could try individual foods of peanuts-sunflower hearts/seeds or niger seeds but then do do have to pay more.But you can wait to see what feeds off the mix before going to specialize.

[Cowgirl]

Personally I wouldn't buy that stuff from pets at Home unless you're planning on supporting the local pigeons ! Small birds will just chuck it out & it will grow!

A lot of the cheaper bird foods (despite being labelled as 'premium') is full of cereal filler. I get so angry in pet shops by this (I am a grumpy old cow mind you ) that I've resorted to buying straights & mixing my own, then at least you know what you're getting.

I once got really angry with a bird food manufacturer when I bought a 15kg bag of expensive seed blend. On the list of ingredients wheat or barley was not listed but when I did an analysis I found that 19% was wheat! So I wrote a letter of complaint & enclosed the sample. I received an apologetic response saying the usual blurb & that it must have been a build up of stuff in the mixer etc etc & a free bag delivered to my door (which did still contain wheat but not as much). It was good of their customer services especially as I wasn't asking or expecting anything. Still won't buy the product tho! I even wrote to Trading Standards as I expected that all ingredients have to be listed. I got back a less than useless letter which went on about what ingredients can be used in wild bird food, which wasn't what I was complaining about at all.

Mixing your own is expensive tho & I don't have a great deal of money. However a bit of judicious shopping around can prove to be fruitful. Wilkinsons can often have good deals on, trouble is you have to buy lots of small 1 - 3kg bags so it's not as convenient, but worth it ultimately I think.

I find the robin & songbird mixes provides a good base & I add sunflower hearts (2nd mortgage material, but they love em), dried insects, suet pellets, raisins plus whatever else I can afford at the time. I also feed niger seeds seperately & I make fat balls from this mix as well.

Hope this helps.

[DMF235-Belfast]

Honestly I dont have a problem with the wood pigeon he/she seems quite peaceful, I wouldnt even mind the Magpies if they stopped nicking the silicone... i just find it amusig the way a bird will try and cliam it as theirs.... like they filled it

[shenk1]

We often have straight forward sunflower hearts in the feeders and the birds can still be seen to pick through the seeds ,throwing 5 or 6 (sometimes more) on the floor untill one is to their liking
We have a tray attachment on the bottom of the feeder which catches some but they still get some on the floor

Oh well,the ground feeders clean up after them so alls ok.

Try a local animal feed supplier and buy bulk - it works out cheaper as even if it takes a while for the birds to find you they will and once you have 'em coming they become addictive

shenk1

[DMF235-Belfast]

Cheers everyone... oddly one of the older magpies hoped along the hedge shortly after I put the feeder out again and seemed to think better off it. It then proceeded to pick up a few of the discarded seeds from yesterday - i presume it thougt they were freshly discarded from the new feeder.

A neighbour recommend B&M bargains (dont know if you mainlanders have it ), and I had picked up a few balls/block from there. So after I get through the 20 kg's of this stuff I'll see what they are like.

2 quick questions though.... as long as I keep the sack dry how long does it last after being opened? and related to that is how long do the various tits stay around for?

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by DMF235-Belfast

2 quick questions though.... as long as I keep the sack dry how long does it last after being opened? and related to that is how long do the various tits stay around for?

As long it's kept thoroughly dry, there's no practical 'expiry date' on grain/seed, however once damp has got in then a fortnight at most before the molds take over.

Most gardens will see a fall off in bird visitorship through August, and then depending on what the Autumnal fruiting yield and invertebrate survival in the cooler weather is, a gradual increase in visitorship till the frosts start to impact and the UK resident birds return to the gardens in larger numbers. However, there's lots of variation and if you have tits still visiting they may well be with you all the way through till next year.

CM

[DMF235-Belfast]

Cheers for that

Does outside in its plastic sack, in a black bag in a plastic bin constitute "thoroughly dry" or are we talking those sealed plastic cereal containers?

[Cowgirl]

If you keep it in its plastic sack, come the winter, mice will be your biggest problem!

I used to keep mine outside in a shed in a big plastic sealed bin (got it free with some dried dog food) The mice after a seriously long campaign managed to chew through the plastic lid (it was quite thick plastic!) so I now keep it inside in the cupboard under the stairs in a plastic flip top bin, as long as you dont throw water in it (& remember to close the door so the mutts can't get it !) it'll keep for as long as you like, but be warned once the birds have found you it won't last long at all .

[DMF235-Belfast]

Yeah cheers I'm noticing a bit of increased activity - early morning and afternoon mainly, can I just ask will Robins eat this general stuff up, or even their tailored food up in the feeders? Not looking to put too much on the gound deliberately due to the mags etc