Fussy coal tits (1 Viewer)

[justdaj]

Hi

I have an abundance of Coal Tits visiting my feeders but they appear to be very fussy on what they eat. In one of my feeders I have a wild food mix from the local pet shop. The Tits spend most of their time flicking the contents of that feeder to the ground, and occasionally flying off with something which clearly appeals to them.

Curious as to what they are looking for?

Thanks

David

 

[iveljay]

Mine go for sunflower hearts. Favourite of all the Tits in my garden really - blue tits hold them down between their 'thumbs' against a branch and eat them quite delicately - coal tits fly off with them.

 

[justdaj]

thanks. I've been trying to get pictures all weekend to see what they are picking out. I think I have taken about 200 so far

 

[abi107]

This reminds me of when I first put out a feeder full of sunflower seeds, instead of mixed seeds. One coal tit was absolutely delighted with this and would empty the feeder by taking a seed, hiding it in the garden and immediately flying back for another one. It did not take long for the chaffinches and house sparrows to see what the coal tit was doing, but they did not bother with the feeder - they just followed the coal tit and took the seeds that it had hidden! It took a couple more days for the coal tit to figure out that all its hard work was for nothing and then it stopped hiding the seeds and just took what it wanted to eat. The feeder refills became less frequent after that!

 

[Mari E]

Most birds seem to prefer sunflower hearts in my garden too and all the other seeds in the mix got thrown away to the ground, which all the woodpigeons happily munched on. If you want more food going to the coal tits, sunflower hearts might be better than seed mix.

 

[BEV.V]

Our coal tits love not only sunflower hearts but dried mealworms too! I have to put a large amount out every morning in a covered mesh feeder from Wilko ! The coal tits can't wait to dive in before I have even moved away, much to the disgust of the robin! I have to put him some on the ground in another area or he won't get a look in!!

 

[Shirley Roulston]

I hear a lot about dried mealworms, I think I'll have to treat my birds to a few. I always tend to think that there are plenty of worms in the garden.

 

[BEV.V]

I only put them out for the birds this year as I had heard that due to a long spell of dry weather the usual earthworms were not as near the surface of the ground, so it was more difficult for adult birds to find them to feed all the young birds in the nest! I know someone who buys live worms for the birds but they are expensive and I think the dried variety is loved just as much by our birds.They are high protein, and easier to feed. After all I don't want the birds to get used to FRESH worms being supplied all the time ! The coal tits as I said in my previous post , love them but so do most of the garden birds here. The pheasant literally runs down the garden to get to them on the ground and hangs around waiting for us to throw him some too. What with the robin waiting for his share to be put out its a mad rush in a morning. The blackbirds love to grab a few in their beaks and run off under the bush to eat them in peace I think. Well worth trying a small amount at first and see how many birds are interested in them. I buy some from Wilkinsons in a tub sometimes but have also bought 5ltr tubs of SUPA brand from pet supermarket and amazon when on offer. Hope you find the same result if you try a few.

 

[Shirley Roulston]

I could do that Bev, sounds like a good idea to buy just a few. A man down our lane has a thing about strimming and the neighbours are always complaining but its worked with the birds, the Blackbirds and the Song Thrush's pull the worm out of the grass so much easier than if the grass was just that bit longer and last winter with the old stone walls we had Chough's pulling the soil and feeding. The strimming on the other hand loosens the soil and then the old stones fall out of the wall.

 

[BEV.V]

As I write this its pouring with rain so hopefully some will actually sink into the ground so the birds can get fresh worms and insects today! The coal tits are continuing to grab sunflower hearts though like there is no tomorrow. Occasionally theres a scuffle between four of them to get to the worms first but at the moment they must have had enough mealworms as the robins getting a look in while they grab the sunflower hearts! I was going to do some tidying in the garden and the birds like that as they can grab worms etc but as its raining it will have to be later. Would love to see a chough as have never seen one yet!

 

[grobble]

The big attraction for the various tits in my garden are the small black sunflower seeds.

Only problem is that sparrows like them too and can sit on the feeder cracking them open while the tits have to take just one and take it away to hammer it open.

I do feel a right lemon staring at the sparrows to discourage them and give the others a chance.