Bird feeder problems.

[Dynamo]

We have a fancy bird feeder thats very popular, especially at the moment with loads of sparrows and starlings in particular feeding on it, plus a couple of goldfinches that come from time to time for the niger seed. At the moment, I'm finding that they are going through about five fat balls a day, and four seed feeders. They rarely touch peanuts so I'm not going to bother with them in future.

The problem that I have is the mess beneath the feeder. Firstly, the fat balls leave a greasy mess that covers the ground, and then we have pigeons that come in to get the bits that fall and they decimate any plants beneath it. I have a big day lily beneath the table thats been totally flattened. Can anyone recommend any plants that would be, if not happy to live in that environment, at least tollerate it better?

Thanks.

[Hillwalker]

Personally, apart from the odd waste scrap, I don't feed birds at this time of the year. It was bad advice that started this trend, that's thankfully been "rescinded."

[Glutton4...]

Concrete!

My folks used to hang feeders under a large Cherry Tree, but had the same problem. They got round it by buying one of those wrought iron hangers fro the feeders, and paving underneath. That way they can sweep up the mess more easily.

[Dynamo]

Personally, apart from the odd waste scrap, I don't feed birds at this time of the year. It was bad advice that started this trend, that's thankfully been "rescinded."

I don't know if its good or bad advice. From a personal point of view, we like to see the birds gathering and feeding when we look out of the window. What I would also add is that I wouldn't know when a good time to stop feeding them would be. The problem being that they'll have started to rely on the food that I supply for them.

I think that putting a bit of paving beneath the feeder looks to be the way foreward. Thanks :-)

[mothhawk]

I gradually tail off filling feeders with sunflower seed through May until by June all they get is occasional biscuit crumbs and crumbs off the bread board. The finches stop coming, but the sparrows, dunnocks, bluetits and blackbirds still come into the garden for the greenfly and insects on the plants and flowers. I never have a problem with plagues of greenfly thanks to the birds and the ladybirds.

I don't use fat balls except in the depths of winter because they come apart so easily once the weather warms up even a little.

ETA: I have a big paeony under my free-standing hanger (too big for the pigeons to flatten), but before it comes up in spring, there are snowdrops and crocus. I keep the pigeons off with upturned wire hanging baskets over them until the plants are tall enough that the pigeons will walk around.

[Glutton4...]

We only provide fat balls in winter too. I don't think that they need them in the summer months. We have Niger seed, mixed seed and Peanuts. The number and variety of birds is amazing.

Edit: And Sunflower seeds, I forgot!

[endymion]

We feed with fatballs and sunflower hearts until the fledgelings are independent, which varies from year to year. Then we just use the sunflower hearts because they tend to ignore peanuts. They're more expensive, but we aren't paying for the husks so we think we break even. We throw apple cores for the blackbirds.

We feed all year round because we're conscious of having attracted birds into our garden during the winter, and into spring when they mark their territories. If we stop then it means the birds that have chosen our place as their own will be less well off than others.

We find that fewer birds are around during August and September, I think that's to do with their moult. Then the numbers build up with the winter visitors arriving too, including chaffinches and so on from Scandinavia.

Our feeders are on poles, we have squirrel baffles on them that catch the spilled food, so there's less mess on the ground. The cheapest one of those is an upturned 99p plastic mixing bowl with the rim cut off, poked a hole through it with a hot apple corer.

[Hillwalker]

I don't know if its good or bad advice. From a personal point of view, we like to see the birds gathering and feeding when we look out of the window. What I would also add is that I wouldn't know when a good time to stop feeding them would be. The problem being that they'll have started to rely on the food that I supply for them.

If you stop feeding them now they'll be fine, they'll simply start looking elsewhere. At this time of year there is a glut of food.

One of the reasons I'm against feeding birds from late spring to early autumn is that, apart from being totally unnecessary, it creates an imbalance. Namely, insects and grubs get uneaten, which in turn breed at an exponential rate, creating even more problems for the gardener. This is compounded by the (welcome) increase in gardening, which provides more habitat and food for said nasties......

[Two_Sheds]

I gradually tail off filling feeders ... through May ...
I don't use fat balls except in the depths of winter

Our birds (we only get blackbirds & sparrows) get fat balls in the winter - they ignore them by early summer. The blackies still get a handful of soaked sultanas every day when they come down to ask for them.

I don't put out loads of food because it attracts woodpigeons, starlings, gulls and then cats

[mothhawk]

I had a flock of starlings, adults and babies on the front lawn yesterday and it took me a while to work out what they were doing. Turns out that loads of flying ants were coming out from the cracks between the paving slabs, and the starlings were snapping them up as fast as they could!
They were also doing funny little hoppity dances which I guess was because the unwinged "guard" ants were biting the h*ll out of their feet!