Birds not going near feeder

[TeapotCollection]

We’ve bought a lovely bird feeder and filled the sections with seed, nuts and fat balls but nothing is going near it

Anyone have any idea as to why this might be?

How long has it been up? It takes a few days here before the birds notice a new feeder.

Time, usually.

It’s been up about 2 weeks, is there still hope?

Is it too close to the house ?
Try moving it a little further away. I also find they come to it more in colder weather , so hopefully you will be getting visitors soon.

Predatory cats in your garden, or too close to your house as PP says? Have you got lots of birds around?

I’ve tried putting peanuts out several times, the birds have never touched them.
My SIL feeds only peanuts and she buys £22.50 bag every 5–6 weeks.

I feed sunflower hearts they seem the favourite food.
Even they can go untouched for a week or more at a time though.

I have to refill the feeders more often in summer than winter.

Do you have a large bird population locally? If there are relatively few birds and they have other sources of food it might take time.

I started feeding birds last winter after a house move. Although we are in an urban setting and only have a smallish garden, there were birds around (mainly sparrows) because our neighbour has a large vegetable patch. It still took the birds a week or two to find the feeder and - perhaps more surprisingly - it took them a week or more to find a second feeder I later hung in the same (large) bush.

Roll on a year, and after stopping feeding over the summer I started again this autumn. The birds found the feeders again in a day and we seem to have far more birds this year than last, as well as some different birds species.

So I'd persist, just have a think about whether the location is right. You preferably want it in a place where the birds won't be disturbed every time they come down to feed. If your garden is reasonably cat safe you could also try putting some feed in the grass or flowerbeds. I have fat balls and also put seeds in a feeder - usually only the tits will take whole seeds from the feeder but the sparrows and robin will happily visit the grass below to feed on bits of broken seed.

I reckon it takes 3 weeks for our birds to find a new feeder.

You also need to make sure what you're offering is better than your neighbours' offerings.

Needs to be near bushes and trees not stuck in the middle of your lawn. Is it?

Thanks everyone 😊

I reckon it’s too close to the house. We’ll move it up onto the top lawn, there are bushes there, and a wall for them to land on if they need to

We don’t really know if there are lots of birds around generally we’ve never clocked them. We’re hoping to find out

The main reason for this is lack of cover . If feeders are in too open a space then birds will only visit when they are truly desperate for food. You may have sparrowhawks or cats around and visiting a feeder is very risky. Site feeders next to a hedge or large shrub and it will quickly be used, especially if there is a chain of cover, eg they don’t have to fly for long in the open to reach the shrub.

sunflower hearts attract an endless stream of blue tits in my garden so might be a good start ? They get through a feeder a week!

We have the feeder near the house but right next to a large buddleia so it's sheltered and the sparrow hawk can't get them (it doesn't try) and they empty the feeder each day.

Mine get through two full feeders a day , but I also get larger birds on them, like jackdaws and rooks.

We don't get either of those round here, it's robins, blackbirds (but they only come for the berries) sparrows, blue tits and I've also got a pair of great tits.

OP our birds don't touch the feeders either (or hardly). I've tried nuts, peanuts, fat balls...I have a special feeder in a cage to stop the jackdaws and wood pigeons scaring off the smaller birds. Almost never have cats in the garden. It's halfway down the garden and right in the hedge so I can't think of a better location either! I wonder if they just have other sources of food they're happier with? Lots of berries and insects in the hedge, windfall apples etc.

It's a shame because my DC would love to see the birds using the feeder! Might try the sunflower hearts and see if that helps.

@Lockdown2TheLockening

OP our birds don't touch the feeders either (or hardly). I've tried nuts, peanuts, fat balls...I have a special feeder in a cage to stop the jackdaws and wood pigeons scaring off the smaller birds. Almost never have cats in the garden. It's halfway down the garden and right in the hedge so I can't think of a better location either! I wonder if they just have other sources of food they're happier with? Lots of berries and insects in the hedge, windfall apples etc.

It's a shame because my DC would love to see the birds using the feeder! Might try the sunflower hearts and see if that helps.

We put some food on a bird table a few feet away from the hanging feeders, the wood pigeons go there to feed and leave the feeders for the small birds. Well, I say they go there to feed, they actually sit on the roof looking totally confused at the food just below them as if they can't get there. The squirrel usually takes the food off the bird table which is fine by me.

paganbilly you are a kinder person than me as I resent feeding the bloody wood pigeons. They get plenty of my grass seed and whatever else they can bully their way into eating. Squirrels seem happy digging up and eating my spring bulbs at the moment. I'm unwillingly sustaining all the scavengers and just want the lovely small birds to appreciate the effort I go to for them

In spring plant lots of things that will attract insects. Let a corner of the grass grow long and go to seed. You will attract many more birds that way. Goldfinches in particular love the long grass.
We only put out sunflower hearts and they go through a feeder a week.

I had very few birds to my feeder, which hangs from a cherry tree in isolation in the garden. AND THEN instead of nuts or the usual seeds, I bought some black sunflower seeds (as mentioned by a couple of PPs) and the difference has been astonishing! Tits both Blue and Great queue up for a turn, some waiting in the tree branches ready to swoop in when there's a space, and chaffinches and wood pigeons pick up dropped ones from the grass beneath.

It's busy all the daylight hours and I get through a bag of SS a week.

@Lockdown2TheLockening

paganbilly you are a kinder person than me as I resent feeding the bloody wood pigeons. They get plenty of my grass seed and whatever else they can bully their way into eating. Squirrels seem happy digging up and eating my spring bulbs at the moment. I'm unwillingly sustaining all the scavengers and just want the lovely small birds to appreciate the effort I go to for them

I don't much like the wood pigeons either but they don't take much food. I welcome the squirrel because he's a red squirrel.

Paganbilly a red squirrel? How wonderful! A red squirrel could eat all the bulbs it liked. Lucky you!

Is there a decorative robin ornament nearby? Our relative bought us all hanging feeders with fake robins perched on top. Nothing would go near! Robins are ferocious and territorial.

Can I recommend BTO Garden Birdwatch Unlike the RSPB 1-day garden bird watch, this one operates all the year round. You enter the maximum number you see each week of each species of bird. You can also record mammals, butterflies, dragonflies , amphibians etc. You don't have to do it every week. You do have to pay an annual subscription, but for that you get a magazine, and you can see your own garden records dating back to when you first joined - it's lovely to see the way the numbers ond species of visitors changes over the years, The data is used to look at bird trends across the country -it was the first to pick up the effects of the Trichomoniasis that devastated our greenfinch population a few years ago, and now the results are showing the beginnings of their recovery.

Can I recommend BTO Garden Birdwatch Unlike the RSPB 1-day garden bird watch, this one operates all the year round

Ooh that looks good, signing up now.