Attracting birds to garden

[Frenchdressing]

I have to bear in mind there are cats around but aside from hanging things are bird tables a good idea? And can I cat proof them?

We had a bird table and hanging bird feeders. It took a while for the birds to be confident to use them. Different birds liked different treats. Which birds are you hoping to attract? Do some research on what they like. You can buy hanging feeders with squirrel proof caging around them. That might stop the cats?

We looked out one day and there was a bit fat rat on ours! We took them all away. Yuk!

Oh I don’t want a rat!

I’ve got one of these squirrel baffles which works really well. I’m sure it would work for rats and cats too. Squirrel baffle. Make sure stations are away from somewhere where a cat can hide to pounce.

I put out fat balls (the Peckish ones), peanuts and sunflower hearts, all in hanging feeders, inside cages which stop the magpies a bit, and get a good variety of birds. I have found if I put food out on the ground the pigeons just hoover it up. You get enough dropping from the feeders for ground feeding birds, but not so much that it attracts rats.

Thanks!

Birds need places to perch as well as food. Trees and bushes near the feeders.

And also water in a flat birdbath.

Definitely get a bird bath, it's needed all year round. Does need cleaning once in awhile.

Also, don't worry if it takes awhile before birds actually come, once you've put food and water out. They need time to get used to the change.

Blackbirds prefer to ground feed,so do chaffinches. And robins. So they’d all appreciate a table

I have a pole feeder, which I use for shelled sunflower seed and fatballs in a caged feeder, and then a couple of plant saucers on the ground below which I put some seed and mealworms into each morning. They're all gone well before evening so nothing left for the rats.

Shoo off cats if you can, the ones round here seem to have got the message that they're not welcome in my back garden.

my fat ball feeder is never touched - wrong fat balls?

I got two types recently and put two of each into the feeder.
Expensive ones from the WWT shop,cheaper ones from Wilko.
The former were left untouched, the latter (whicn were much seedier) were eaten.

We have a birdbath that is very popular, I never put out food though, as too many squirrels around.

We do get one or occasionally two squirrels, but I don't mind them and their acrobatic raids.

Plants which attract insects, fruit bushes, trees and other thicker foliage for nesting/perching.

Encourage their natural food to your garden!

I was going to say look down the food chain. If you can attract an array of bugs and insects to your garden, birds will follow.
Get plenty of insect friendly plants, bug hotels/shelters, a water source etc.
Then make bird friendly areas such as feeders, nesting boxes etc

Planting with pollinators in mind and a wild area definitely increased the number of birds in the garden, but it takes time.

Agree with last few posters lots of plants, not being too neat, leaving seed heads over winter. I get lots of avian visitors and have never had any kind of feeder - just lots of stuff they like to eat. Lavender seed heads are popular, fruit tree and bush stems they like to pick insects off, marjoram seedheads, verbascum seedheads. I have loads more but those are the main draws it seems.

Don't worry if your bird feeders don't instantly attract birds. Ours are sometimes very frequently visited, other times the bird seed barely gets used up for a few weeks. Definitely agree that bushes or trees that the birds can hide in near the feeders really help, and a variety of food types.