• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Long tailed tits - feeding tips?? (1 Viewer)

markgriff

markgriff

markgriff
I was just wondering if anyone had long tailed tits visiting feeders in their gardens and if so what food choice was there preference?

I have Great, Coal and Blue tits visiting the feeders I have out, which consist of peanuts, black sunflower seeds & fat balls but the long tailed tits in the area just pass through the garden occasionally and don't seem to bother with the feeders?

Anyone had a similar problem?
 
Been told that they love cheap fruit scones from the supermarkets.

Haven't had any at my place so far though, but hope springs eternal !
 
LTTs are mainly fans of suet, though will pop on to peanuts or sunflower hearts if nothing else is available. Generally their visits to feeders are short and sweet anyway and will mostly come in when the weather is really tough. We're currently in the same situation here at the mo, we do see them occassionally but they're still foraging for the natural food!
 
markgriff said:
I was just wondering if anyone had long tailed tits visiting feeders in their gardens and if so what food choice was there preference?

I have Great, Coal and Blue tits visiting the feeders I have out, which consist of peanuts, black sunflower seeds & fat balls but the long tailed tits in the area just pass through the garden occasionally and don't seem to bother with the feeders?

Anyone had a similar problem?
Click to expand...

Fat balls. L T Tits tend to do a circuit of several gardens but when they visit mine they always go for the fat balls - in a meshed holder with the net bags removed to stop small birds gettign their claws caught in them.
 
Fat balls and cheap fruit scones from the supermarket go down very well with the LTTs which visit our garden. I only put out about 4 scones a day as they guzzle them down very quickly.
 
They go for my homemade peanut cake here. They come in a small flock of around 4-12 have a quick nibble each and then they're off again.
 
Long Tailed Tits

Hi,

New today to this forum, seems really good!

I have had Long Tailed Tits visit my feeders for the past few years always around Mid/Late January and they fed from the peanuts and Fat Balls. Usually in a flock with Great Tit and Blue Tit and when the weather was much colder.

Also seen in my dogwood bush with it's lovely red twigs that display in winter.. I live in a suburban area but surrounded by open land/farmland about 150m away..

Also get lots of Goldfinches, had around 25 on my Niger seed feeder and tree one day looked amazing!

Steve
 

Attachments

  • Wigan-20120312-00436.jpg
    Wigan-20120312-00436.jpg
    108.7 KB · Views: 72
I get about a dozen LTT in my garden for 2 or 3 minutes at a time mixed in with the usual great,blue,coal and willow tits. They definitely move from garden to garden on what seems like a rota. I am using peckish fat balls and they love them which is a relief as I have tried all different types to no avail.Never tried scones but will give it a go as they have been using the ground feeders which I didn't know they did.I normally see them on the fat balls and peanuts but they defo prefer the fat balls.
 
Mine love suet grains with insects - yum! They're so keen that they really can't wait for me to move away from the feeders. When I filled them on Friday I turned away and they swooped in. I stopped where I was and within 30 seconds there were 11 or 12 of them all about 1.5m from me!
 
LTT liked fatballs in my last house, as well as once feeding on a fruit loaf that had been left out on a table (along with a goldcrest!).
 
Fat balls a definite but at my old feeding station as many as 20 might come down to feed on kitchen scraps, particularly blended breadcrumbs with fats mixed up with them.
 
A flock of about a dozen went through my garden today, but they made no attempt to go to the feeders and instead carefully looked through the trees and bushes before moving on.
 
Fat balls seem to be winners from what Iv seen, Iv never had many in my garden but from local RSPB reserve feeding areas they seem to love the fat balls.
 
Ltt's have been in my garden over the last 2 days and each time only went for the fat balls - nothing else apart from a couple on the sunflower hearts
 
My LTTs are not happy. They're really not keen on the peanut-floured suet grains that I've got as a replacement for the, out of stock, insect flavoured ones. Every time I walk past the feeder I get bombarded with high-pitched 'seep-seep' calls of annoyance.
 
hollis_f said:
My LTTs are not happy. They're really not keen on the peanut-floured suet grains that I've got as a replacement for the, out of stock, insect flavoured ones. Every time I walk past the feeder I get bombarded with high-pitched 'seep-seep' calls of annoyance.
Click to expand...

The supermarkets all sell suet balls as a stop gap until your local retailer gets some in. LTTs can get vicious if they're not fed :eek!:
 
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

J
A Willow Warbler that thinks it is a blue-tit.
Replies
2
Views
576
John goshawk
J
BenjiS
Attracting garden birds
Replies
2
Views
1K
PYRTLE
PYRTLE
S
Hello
Replies
5
Views
373
Fritz73
Fritz73
K
Finches just stare at the feeder
Replies
18
Views
1K
PYRTLE
PYRTLE
S
Had this fellow on my sunflower and niger seeds _ think its a young long tailed tit _ an i correct
Replies
6
Views
319
stedwomas
S

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top