Feeding wild birds in the garden

[Scarlet]

I've had to stop a few weeks ago due to unwelcome visitors....I even tried hanging them up on metal "tripod type" obelisks.
But unfortunately the rats could scale that no problem.

[bikermike]

peanuts (in a "squirrel-proof" feeder, but it means they have to be pecked out, so limited risk of babies choking).

Seed in a seed feeder.

fatballs We keep the squirrel out by a plastic plate on the top that makes it hard for it to get near. And a rosebush limits angles too...

nothing has eaten the fatballs this winter, bit of a worry that. no starlings in the garden, which is a shame as I like them.

we seem to get almost exclusively bluetits and coaltits on the feeders. And robins on the ground. A pair of goldfinch came through a few days ago, which was nice.

[Scarlet]

Is it just me that gets Roland?

[DannyK]

Had them too. Very disconcerting watching them whizz up the 15mm copper tubing.
Two break back traps and poison in boxes seems to have got rid of them.
Have got to get some bits so I can rig up a baffle.

[Chrissyteacup]

I found a dead one not far from our feeder last summer (I suspect the neighbours cat) I stopped feeding until winter and now use a sprinkle of chilli flakes with feed put out- apparently birds don’t have the same hot spicy stuff reaction is mammals do! Not seen any since but that may just be the break I took in feeding them!?

[Containergardener]

I just use fat balls and suet blocks, bit crumbled onto bird table too. We get alot of starlings here, woodpeckers, robins have managed to hand onto the feeders this yr.
Loads of pesky house sparrows too.

[Vince G]

We have a 4 station feeder where we feed fat balls, sunflower hearts, peanuts and mealworms.

There's also a clip-on seed tray and water tray although we have a large freestanding birdbath about 10 feet away from the feeder. We have a squirrel baffle about 4 feet up the pole which works a treat, and the bird bath is far enough away so they can't leap from it onto the feeder.

We also have a seed feeder tucked away in a lilac tree for the less bold, which seems to preferred by the chaffinches and robins.

We've only ever seen a rat in the garden once, the squirrels tend to clear up any spill, which is good because while they're eating that they're not digging up my bulbs! Blackbirds and dunnocks also help with this.

We get blue, great and coal tits on the sunflower hearts, they nick one and head for a nearby bush where they stand on it and eat it. They also have a bash at the peanuts and the fat balls. About once a week we get a visit from a great spotted woodpecker for a few nuts.

Woodpigeons, collared doves, white feral pigeons and magpies eat most of the seed mix.

Starlings eat all the mealworms, nobody else gets a look in. Once they spot it's full again, they will empty it in about half an hour.

We often hear greenfinches and goldfinches in the trees at the bottom of the garden, but they never seem to want to visit the feeders.

....and yes, I am in the RSPB!

[DannyK]

We often hear greenfinches and goldfinches in the trees at the bottom of the garden, but they never seem to want to visit the feeders.

....and yes, I am in the RSPB!

The absence of green and goldfinches on feeders is probably due to other food sources. We get them on sunflower hearts but they can be absent for weeks then six will turn up.

Sadly we've not had any collar doves for a couple of years. There used to be a pair which came down when I rattled peanuts in a tin.

The rats will be there even if you don't see them. Here they are probably in the rail cutting judging by the vocal owls down there.

[Billy's lad]

arent the squirrels just rats with bushy tails ?

[Jungle Jane]

I haven’t seen a rat for years,my cat catches a few mice a year & often sits staring at the compost bin at night,he also sits in front of my peas sniffing towards the shrub,he’s on the case.
There was a big black crow on my fat ball feeder for the first time today,hope it doesn’t come back,the other birds didn’t seem to mind but I clapped my hands to scare it away & it flew off. There’s three collared doves here,my cat chats to them through the glass,I think he’s imitating a bird what he does with his mouth & strange sound,they know he’s a cat