Hand Feeding Garden Birds? (1 Viewer)

I live in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and was hoping for some advice on encouraging the birds in my garden to feed from my hand.

There are two bird tables on opposite sides of the garden, and for the last couple of weeks I've been sitting next to one of them just to let the birds get used to my presence. Obviously most of the birds go to the other feeder, but some birds still go to the table I'm next to, mostly sparrows, young starlings and coal tits.

Sometimes they sit on the fence nearby looking at me, then fly away or go to the other table.

Today I sat outside for 2 hours with some seed and some broken up cheese scone, there was a group of 8 starlings feeding in the garden, and some were watching me for a while, but wouldn't get much closer than about 15ft.

I did have a field mouse climb onto my hand but surprisingly didn't take any of the food, now that I've left the starlings are happy feeding where I was sitting previously.

I was wondering if I'm doing anything wrong, or if there's anything I could do better to encourage the birds to feed from my hand or nearby?

Would the starlings feed from my hand, or are they not known to do that? They seem the least easily startled and get closer than the other birds.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

Thank You
-Sam

(EDIT: Just a note to say, I don't want the birds to be relying on me to feed, there's always plenty of food out in the garden so they can feed at any time in the day)

Hi Sam,

Welcome to BirdForum ...

Hand feeding garden birds is a very difficult experience to enjoy. I think you are going about it the right way ... you just need to add a lot more time and patience. Many bird species are way too timid and shy to ever get that close to a human. Even with the less timid species you get right down to the shyness of the individual birds.

Here in Washington State we have Pine Siskins that migrate through in the early springtime. I noticed I could walk up fairly close to my thistle feeder, generally to refill it, and could get really close before they would fly. So I tried this experiment one day:

Pine Siskins

I have only accomplished that a couple of times and now the Pine Siskins have moved on and the American Goldfinch are at the feeder. They are a very timid bird so I don't even try with them.

We also have Gray Jays in the mountains that are so aggressive they will steal your lunch! They are also known as "Camp Robbers". They will readily eat out of your hand.

So... try to identify the less timid species in your area and focus your efforts on them. If you're lucky, maybe an individual bird will accept your "handout".

Like you, my garden has plenty of natural food so they can feed even while we visited our 3 year old granddaughter for 3 weeks who lives in West Midlands. I just want to have some pretty birds she can watch this summer when they cross the pond to come visit us ...

Good Luck!

Chuck

I find if I sit in the garden with a book next to the tree where the chicks are they will come to have a look at what I am doing. I think patience is the key - lots of it.

In our other house I put the birds bowl on the patino table and sat next to it. Eventually the starlings got so hungry they just had to come grab some stuff. They got so used to the idea that they wold take the food that I sprinkled on the table right in front of me. The other birds would not come though.

I've had gulls take bread out of my hands, but gulls are not so timid as other birds. Good luck. Let us know if you succeed.

I've heard a 'breadcrumb' trail works, put the food at a distance, move it closer, and closer until eventually it is by you, so they don't feel threatened and then try it with your hand.

Try mealworms, a bird magnet, also a lot of patience.

Some people report successfully using a dummy to habituate the birds to a human presence. Then you just substitute for the dummy.
My guess is it would still take some patience, but birds will learn if people are not a threat. Here in NYC Central Park, Cardinals, Titmice and Redwing Blackbirds will readily come to the hand if food is offered. In fact, one Redwing Blackbird named George would get cross if no handouts were forthcoming. The Starlings and House Sparrows are at least as tame, but generally don't seem to have expectations of getting goodies.

Some years ago I had a semi-tame female blackbird who would take raisins from my hand. It was a mixed privilege as they feed with a stabbing motion and she frequently broke the skin !