Why don't birds come to my bird table?!

[HamCob]

Wasn't sure where to post this so apologies if chat isn't the right place!

FIL made us a lovely bird table about 2 years ago.
I've placed it in various spots around the garden but it doesn't seem to attract any birds!
I've tried leaving it in each spot for a month or so - near trees, in the middle of the lawn, near the fence etc etc but to no avail.

I've made sure it's well stocked with seed, fat balls & nuts but apart from the odd wood pigeon, a greedy squirrel and one little robin they just don't come!

What am I doing wrong?

OP I feel your frustration

I had numerous feeders at my old house and it didn't matter what I put out or where, birds never came!

I put it down to the fact that our garden was the only garden with any shrubs/trees and all the other neighbours gardens were used for entertaining or childrens areas so basically were not wildlife friendly.

We lived there 4 years and I bet I could count on 1 hand the number of times birds came to the garden. Not once did I have to refill a feeder! I ended up throwing the contents away each time as it went mouldy

My new house I'm inundated with birds and they cost me a fortune to feed as they can empty a feeder in a day or two!

I saw a gold crest in my garden the other day - never seen one before! I was thrilled!

Have you tried a hanging feeder rather than a table? We found it worked better.

On the basis that people have said the birds prefer trees, the bird table has now been moved again, to nearer trees, although I’ve never seen them perch on these trees (bushes) before, or not often.

I brought a bird table, rather than a hanger because it looks nicer. I only have a small garden. May have to resort to a feeder as well, if this doesn’t work.

I'd forgotten about sunflower seeds. Probably a silly question, but is it best to buy the sunflower seed 'hearts' instead of the whole sunflower seeds?

Well done OP. Hope they flock to the table. Maybe buy an extra hanger feeder (eg niger seeds for the goldfinches or sunflower seeds) and hang it as high up as possible pot not necessarily right next to the table. It will give the birds more opportunity to notice your offerings! Then if they begin to feed at the hanger you can move it to nearer the table. And then once they find the table you won't need the hangers so much? I think hanger feeder would work well in tandem with the table though so it wouldn't be wasted.

Good luck!

TravellingTilbury I think the hearts are better, there's less effort involved for the birds (every calorie used counts!) and it means birds which would normally not eat them (if they can't get the seed husk off) can have them. I have sunflower hearts and nyger seed in my two feeders.

At the moment though the birds are only going for the sunflower hearts feeder, the nyger one is ignored even by the goldfinches! It takes them a while to first use a bird feeder as they are assessing it and the surrounding area for hazards before they will risk having a go. RSPB says this period can be a couple of weeks, I was lucky and had some on my new feeder after it had been up for a few days. There was already an existing bird bath there so that might have made a difference?

The robin that lives in our front gardens was one of the first visitors, he flew in perched and grabbed very quickly. They must feel very vulnerable when their attention is focused on the food, so you can't blame them for being cautious and jittery!

I had a feeder in a previous garden which I hung from the washing line, close to where it went through shrubs to the back wall. The little birds used to perch in the shrub (a Pyracantha, so good protection!) and dart out then hide back in the shrub again.

You get different species preferring different styles, blackbirds prefer to get food directly from the ground, although I have seen them fly by a Rowan tree to grab berries as they went past, was amazing. But as a rule they don't like to get food from a table or feeder...

I have recently discovered that grapes are very popular! I don't know which bird is eating them, but I just put them out on the ground, and they are gone by the end of the day. I suspect it is the magpie.

I have a bird bath which I am having to defrost daily. The sparrows and blue tits appreciate the warm water. I have a jot of birds, and I think it's because we have tall, thick hedges that they can dive back into.

Our bird population and variety has exploded recently I can't explain it.
I'm now getting bankrupted by buying sunflower hearts, I have a feeder and it's running out every other day.
We are the proud hosts of a daily charm of goldfinch.

Bottom of the garden and close to the house we get Robin, black bird and blue tits.
Elsewhere in garden we get collard doves, thrush, woodpecker.
We live in a town

Yy I have ivy which I nealry cut down down... I have can see how much the birds are relying on it

A bird in our garden is a rare sight indeed. It's like they know we have a cat!

Haven't RTFT (shameful, I know) but is it possible he treated the wood with some preservative that they can detect and don't like? My parents bought me a bird table when I was young and it arrived reeking of some sort of chemical and the birds wouldn't have anything to do with it ever.