Seed feeder wastage

[SimonG]

Hello all, My first post of many?!

I've had a Droll Yankee 6 port seed feeder for about 4/5 months fitted with a squirrel guard. The birds that visit reguarly are the great tits, blue tits, coal tits and nuthatches. I switched from a birdtable as we live on the edge of woodland and the squirrels were becoming too dominant.

I find now that I get an awful lot of 'waste' sitting on top of the squirrel guard i.e seeds that are not being consumed. The mix is one I buy from a company called Soar Mill Seeds that I add extra black sunflower seeds and nuts - the birds seem to root these out and leave the rest - is this usual or should I just feed the latter?

Many Thanks,
Simon

:hi:

[IanF]

Hi Simon,

On behalf of Admin and the Moderators welcome to Bird Forum. I hope that you like the site. We have a very friendly bunch of members ranging from absolute beginners through to some very knowledgeable ones too.

As regards the feeders, I don't know the absolute answer to this, but from my own experiences I find that most species of birds seem to prefer sunflower hearts. We still have separate feeders for nuts, niger and mixed seed, but sunflower hearts are definitely the most favoured. That could be the answer to your problem. If the birds prefer one type of food over another then they'll pick out the choicest tit bits. Perhaps placing separate food types in the feeders may help.

I don't have any squirrels so what gets dropped just lands on the ground where the pigeons, doves and other ground feeders like Dunnock and Blackbird clear away what's dropped.

I hope that you'll stick with us and I look forward to reading your posts :t:

See you around.

[desgreene]

Hi Simon,

I may take Ian's advice and switch from seed mix to sunflower hearts. This is less likely to germinate come springtime. Last year I had a small forest of grass, millet plants etc below where the feeder had been. The sunflowers were nice though ;)

[Jane Turner]

Thats nothing...you should have seen my hemp crop!

[desgreene]

Hope you burned the evidence Jane!

Des.

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Hi Simon - welcome to BF, and I hope your post is the first of many. My birds really seem to enjoy their black sunflower seeds - (tits, nuthatch and greenfinches) and I have not had many sunflowers growing underneath. However I have recently installed on another pole four new feeders, two of which are for niger seeds. It has the great advantage of being a big draw - 11 goldfinches the other day, when previously we just had one or two occasionally - but there seems to be a fair amount of spillage, and it appears to be germinating!!! :eek!: At least the goldfinches spend some of their time picking some up, assisted by sparrows, chaffinches and a dunnock. We regularly have two squirrels in the garden, often more, but we have been able to squirrel proof the bird table with the help of a large baffle.

[Bluetail]

These days I only feed sunflower hearts and, in winter only, a birdcake (a mixture of dripping and finely ground peanuts). I've found it a waste of time to feed anything else, even whole peanuts.

Jason

[SimonG]

What a friendly response, thanks all. Well if sunflower seeds is what they want - thats what they'll get!

[Surreybirder]

I bung the husks from the sunflower seed into the compost bin... should help the carbon-nitrogen balance. My peanuts stay popular with blue tits mainly but the gt spotted woodpecker also has a go at them from time to time. Niger seed is excellent for goldfinches and siskins but I don't often put it out as it's more expensive.

[SimonG]

Gosh! One bird's waste is another bird's........ My first ever sighting of a Bullfinch! Repeatedly coming back and gobbling up all the seed left on top of the squirrel gaurd! :bounce: What joy! It's so exciting when a new bird arrives in the garden.

[SimonG]

Well I've seen the Bullfinch now almost every day for a week, so I think it's fair to say he's a new resident! He's become quite bold and now no longer tolerates other birds on top of the squirrel guard - having seen him chase Great tits away today.

I suppose the question now is if I do drop all the other seed in favour of filling up with purely sunflower hearts, will that satisfy him?

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Well I've seen the Bullfinch now almost every day for a week, so I think it's fair to say he's a new resident! He's become quite bold and now no longer tolerates other birds on top of the squirrel guard - having seen him chase Great tits away today.

I suppose the question now is if I do drop all the other seed in favour of filling up with purely sunflower hearts, will that satisfy him?


I think the answer to this is that you buy several more feeders and offer a variety of foods. My great tits concentrate almost entirely on black sunflower seeds, as does the nuthatch and the greenfinches. Peanuts are not much in favour at the moment, but the bluetits have the occasional nibble. The goldfinches concentrate their feeding on the 2 niger feeders, or pecking on the lawn beneath the feeders, though they do take some of the hearts. Blackbirds like the porridge oats on the ground feeders and scattered on the lawn - and of course the squirrels eat whatever they can reach - but they cannot get onto the two pole feeders or the bird table.