Blue Tits not eating from caged mealworm feeder! (1 Viewer)

[Nicola Main]

I bought this feeder about a month or so ago http://www.haiths.com/Products/Caged-Live-Food-Feeder-WBOF01008/ as the Blue Tits started inspecting our nestbox and I thought I'd give mealworms a go. We have a lot of Starlings visit our garden so the only option really was for a caged feeder but the Blue Tits won't go in it! Does anyone know of anything I can do to encourage them to use it? I put it on a branch next to my 4-port seed feeder but they keep by-passing it and going for the seed instead. They now have chicks and I'm keen to help them out as much as I can. Should I swap the mealworm feeder and put it where the seed one is and see if they go in it? Thanks in advance, Nicola.

 

[Mari E]

Caged feeders can be ignored for weeks in my experience. However, if you attach a twig to the cage or just generally weave in some perch twigs, the blue tits might get more chance of seeing what a tasty treat's inside than just fly past it.

 

[Mary]

I've used one of these myself in the past for mealworms, and they were ok. I think it takes them a while to find the entry holes, but once one of them has found it, and how to get out again, they'll all be there!

 

[barnstormer]

Yeah i've got one too and last year it went down a treat. The perch sounds a good idea i may give it a go when i start feeding live worms.The sparrows have been in this year and the blue tits to a lesser extent but i was feeding suet treats at the time.

 

[barnstormer]

The other day i put a perch on both bottom access holes of my cage and the tits are happily feeding from the cage every time i put mealworms in it now . I just cable tied a small piece of thin bamboo to the bottom holes and it's done the job nice tip mari e cheers.