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How to attract birds to garden without feeder? (1 Viewer)

TheSeagull

Well-known member
Hi,
New birder here and would like to attract more birds to the garden but however am not allowed to put a feeder up in the garden as parents say the birds will poo everywhere, any other ideas on how to attract them to the garden? Or something that you can mix in with the food to act as an anti-laxitive (daft I know)?
 
You're not getting much response because the answers is longer term - grow plants that will provide food, grow plants that insects like, grow thick cover, provide a "good" pond.

The sorts of plants that will work are generally natives and/or berry producers. Personally I prefer to stick to natives. However, many good ones live in the popular mindset as "weeds" as they can easily take over ... e.g. dandylions or thistles which draw house sparrow, linnet, goldfinch and bullfinch in my garden. Birch is a good tree for a garden, as it doesn't get too big and is fairly transparent - sunlight and view aren't obstructed too much, and birds remain fairly visible. Tits seem to love them.

I guess your first bit of research should be to find out what plants your parents like, then explore which ones have most benefit for garden birds.

Mike.
 
Water the garden. Also put water in a little pie-pan every day, then leave the hose dripping slowly into the pie-pan. Birds like Water!!!!!!!!!!

Also, can you put a suet feeder 50 feet or further from the house? In fact, bird poo is excellent fertilizer, so consider placing something a good distance from the house, not right in the window.
 
Climbers that bear brightly-coloured berries in winter are great...cotoneaster and pyrocantha for example. Silver Birch trees attract lots of tiny insects and therefore birds. Honeysuckle when in flower is great, butterflies and birds, and Bullfinches occasionally visit our garden to eat the shoots. I know your parents probably won´t listen, but we have a tiny, tiny garden that´s attracted over 40 species, and in ten years, the birds have never, ever pood (how do you spell Pood?) on the laundry. Very, very occasionally poo hits the window, but that´s from birds flying over, nothing to do with the garden visitors. Best of luck. One day you´ll have your own garden and can feed as you like. (No offence meant to your parents, but really folks should encourage their kids towards an interest in nature, no?)
 
Hi,
New birder here and would like to attract more birds to the garden but however am not allowed to put a feeder up in the garden as parents say the birds will poo everywhere, any other ideas on how to attract them to the garden? Or something that you can mix in with the food to act as an anti-laxitive (daft I know)?

Why not test out a 2 port feeder to see what actually happens?

I have three feeders and no problem with bird poo in my garden. I have had some huge feeders last winter and around 20 birds in my garden at any one time and no problem then either.

The only problem is spilt seed which is caught on a seed tray, which is then eaten by the woodpigeons.
 
You will get bird droppings whatever you do, in fact, if you look closely enough, there are probably some there already.

I would suggest making a deal with your parents. Put up feeders above paving stones or concrete (something you can wash down) and make it your job to clean that area.

I have more than 100 birds in my garden including 40+ Pigeons, 50+ Starlings (including fledglings at the moment), 8 Collard Doves, Sparrows, Wood Pigeons, Crows, Magpies, etc. My garden is only 20 feet * 20 feet, so it gets messy. I wash the paving stones every evening with a bird safe disinfectant, and I've been doing this for years. I do it to prevent disease more than anything.

If you want feed and observe birds in your garden you'll have to sacrifice 10 minutes of each day to clean up the mess they make.
 
Thanks for the advice, made a deal but it seems the birds know aout it cause about 40 birds and not one speck of poo! :t:

Congratulations, Seagull!!! Glad it´s worked out! (So, what exactly was the deal??? I´d like to know so I can effectively negotiate with my own kids when they have requests....;))
 
I'm glad you sorted it out, I'm sure the birds will be grateful.|=)|

Don't forget to post any pictures you take, and if you need any help on what to feed, just start a new thread.

Oh, and as has been suggested, don't forget to provide water, some birds may visit just for a drink or a bath. I have 2 bird baths that are good entertainment value. The Starlings love to splash around, as do other birds.
 
Congratulations, Seagull!!! Glad it´s worked out! (So, what exactly was the deal??? I´d like to know so I can effectively negotiate with my own kids when they have requests....;))

I'm assuming it was this deal:

[...]
I would suggest making a deal with your parents. Put up feeders above paving stones or concrete (something you can wash down) and make it your job to clean that area.

Or something close to that.
 
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