Feeding the birds

[661-Pete]

The problem with having a feeder close to - or within - a tree, is that it becomes accessible to cats. This may or may not be a problem in your garden, but probably as well to be on the lookout. Some of our local cats have been adorned with little bells. I don't know whether that works.

As to oversized birds able to perch on our hanging feeders - well the other day we saw a jackdaw actually perched on the fatball feeder, pecking away. Unprecedented for us. I didn't think any of the Corvids were small enough or agile enough for this, but evidently the jackdaw stands up to its reputation for ingenuity!

[JohnW]

Thanks Pete. I've trimmed the lower branches (well, they're between twig and branch thickness - you'll know what I mean) so that cats can't even start to climb. Even if they did, the hawthorn is so thick that the birds will have flown well away before they got to the lowest level of feeders. The problem with cats coming into our backyard is that they hide under the rhubarb leaves and the birds feeding on the floor would be vulnerable if I'd not provided an obstacle course to make life difficult for the cats.

[661-Pete]

Re my earlier post - I did a bit of googling of 'bells on cats' and apparently the practice is rather controversial. I didn't know this, seeing as it's many many years since I was in a cat-owning family (our family cat, when I was a kid, never wore a collar or bell - and it regularly brought in 'presents' and dumped them on the living-room carpet ).

Evidently not the solution then. Making it difficult for the cat to reach, like John's approach, seems better.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
We have a magpie nicking the meal worms put out for smaller birds.
Pigeon's hanging upside down to get to feeder, daily fights on who gets inside the roofed bird table.
Now four seagulls and err indoors says enough is enough no more food.
Three blue tits in a love triangle
A blue tit swept in front of my bike on Tuesday,
Today a flock of jackdaws on the fence on my ride, never seen that before, err says the roost as a flock?
The gulls are eating seed on the ground and the meal worms too
Reliably informed that my ground sparrows are chaffinch / hedge sparrow, though they are not sparrows of course.

Edited.
Sparrow hawks, not seen one since the sparrows have dwindled in garden.
Magpies take young birds too.
We got a metal plate on our bird box that was meant for sparrows but they are long gone.

[661-Pete]

Hedge sparrow (aka dunnock) and chaffinch are very different birds. Shouldn't be hard to tell them apart!

[pwa]

Red kite overhead this morning. Maybe time to put a dead goat on the lawn!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Hedge sparrow (aka dunnock) and chaffinch are very different birds. Shouldn't be hard to tell them apart!

A bit harder when over cast on canopied cycle path, I only have a second or so before they run away, which is where I see most birds, they seem weather dependant, saw two which I have never seen before, they might be young birds which can be different colours.

Some cyclist waved me down the other day on path to tell me that a goose and chicks were on the path, when I got there it was just the adults as the chicks were lost in under growth.

[661-Pete]

they might be young birds which can be different colours.

Ah - juveniles! The twitcher's nightmare!
I'm by no means much good at identifying: Mrs P is better at it than I am - but I do know that even the experienced birdwatchers get it wrong sometimes when they see a young 'un. They all look alike.
At present there seems to be a very young starling in amongst all the adults on the fat-balls. At least I think it's a starling. It's fairly nondescript in appearance - rather scruffy brown plumage with no discernible markings, and the beginnings of the yellow bill it'll have in adulthood (if I'm right). It seems to be not having much luck at feeding: not learnt the knack of joining in the squabbling that all the adult starlings carry on - fighting each other for pecking-order - but never hurting one another.
Hopefully it'll learn, in time.

[old_windbag]

I have about a dozen juvenile starlings being fed by different parents. If you put out some sultanas or suet pellets the adults will go around feeding each individually. Good to see. I have just had 2 or three fledge from a nest they made in my house. They are quite noisy at feeding time but in about 6 weeks theyll have adult feathers, spotty juveniles, instead of mid brown at present. I see the same cycle every year and my nest has been reused about 5 times. The young sparrows will be getting fed soon too, again loose food will be picked up and fed to the young.

[[XAP]Bob]

My cats no longer carry bells - they are really good training aids for cats to learn to move stealthily...

It never stopped one of them catching birds, the other is far too lazy.

[Ben@Forest]

Sparrow hawks, not seen one since the sparrows have dwindled in garden.
Magpies take young birds too.
We got a metal plate on our bird box that was meant for sparrows but they are long gone.

It's always annoying to hear magpies being blamed for bird predation - it is after all how they live. You may as well blame humans for building houses and farming land for lower bird numbers - it's what we do to live.

What's really obvious in terms of lower sparrow numbers is people making their eaves inaccessible for nesting like this:

We live in a row of 7 houses, which make up 12 dwellings. Of those 12 only two (ours and our immediate next door neighbour) now don't have roof ends concreted up - and the sparrow population has noticeably declined.

[bovlomov]

What's really obvious in terms of lower sparrow numbers is people making their eaves inaccessible for nesting like this:r12.jpg

We live in a row of 7 houses, which make up 12 dwellings. Of those 12 only two (ours and our immediate next door neighbour) now don't have roof ends concreted up - and the sparrow population has noticeably declined.

Lack of ventilation to the roof space is a problem for the human residents, as well as for the sparrows that are excluded.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Since we moved house 25 years ago our neighbours have pulled up all the hedges.
We have an old apple tree in the garden, a holy bush I transported to another part of garden and some weed like bushes I think.
Small birds use them to hide in now the hedges have gone.
Saw a blackbird upside down on the fat ball feeder yesterday, they normally come out early and late for bugs and worms? when the grass is damp.

Or neighbour had some roof work done recently, often saw sparrows on the eaves and gutter, they are now gone too.
Keep meaning to put up some more boxes, there are some spaces under the eaves on our house front, just needs a bit of wood for a chamber.

[Boyd]

Ever since 10 acres of virgin farming land behind our house was raped by developers we have had hardly any finches visiting our backyard. We put lots of food out, and we get plenty sparrows, tits, a dunnock, a robin, Jackdaws, starlings, collared doves, a wood pigeon sometimes, the occasional rook and magpies - but no finches. We've studied and learned quite a lot but still can't attract finches.

One source says that niger seeds are attractive to finches and I bought niger seeds months ago. I bought a special feeder, and I scatter the niger seeds along with millet, peanuts, suet pellets, cockatiel mixture, black and white sunflower seeds etc - everything goes as quickly as if the birds were bringing vacuum cleaners with them - but none of them take niger seeds. Occasionally a greenfinch will drop in, look around and fly off having inspected all that's available.

There must be someone on the Forum who knows about these things - I have two questions :
1). What use are niger seeds?
2). How do I attract finches?

Can you define "virgin farmland"
Most people are blaming farmers for the reduction in the wild bird population.

[old_windbag]

Since we moved house 25 years ago our neighbours have pulled up all the hedges.

I see lots of beautiful wildlife friendly gardens trashed by people moving in, it doesn't fit with their nazi gardening style. Everything ordered, under control and anything that rejects that idea gets exterminated.

You get a lot more pleasure from life by inviting wildlife into your garden and spending a few quiet moments here and there just staying quiet and watching. But that isn't the way things are. About 15yrs ago I was in a bargain book shop and saw the previous edition of the book below. I bought it for a couple of pounds and when I read it I found an outlook on life that fitted with my own. Chris Packham is outspoken but genuinely cares about wildlife, the book is a good read for anyone wanting to attract more birds insects and mammals into their gardens.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chris-Packhams-Garden-Nature-Reserve/dp/184773698X