Dumb question about feeding birds

[RoxMonster]

A couple weeks ago, we bought a bird feeder for our front yard because I thought it would be nice to watch them come eat in our yard and also a nice thing to feed them, especially over the winter.

There hasn't been a single bird there yet though. The neighbors next to us and behind us have had bird feeders out for years and most of the time have several birds in their yards at once. Is it just that they are used to the neighbors feeding them so they don't go in search of food elsewhere? Will it just take time for them to discover ours?

I really know next to nothing about birds. We got food specifically labeled for woodpeckers because we have so many woodpeckers nearby and then on the other side of the feeder, we got food for songbirds.

Is it normal that it will take time to draw the birds to your yard? LOL I feel like this is such a ridiculous question but I want to see some birds on my feeder!

[pierogigirl]

It can take a few days for birds to come. A few weeks seems like a lot. I'm not an expert, but we got a few bird feeders this winter to give us something to do and in 2-3 days had birds (and lots of squirrels, and once or twice deer tipped the feeder and ate the seeds).

Maybe ask the neighbors what they are feeding? We have nyger seed in a metal mesh feeder, and a mix that cardinals and woodpeckers are supposed to like in the other feeders(and we do have a lot of cardinals and woodpeckers, as well as chickadees and finches, and some others). We put suet out in really cold or snowy weather, but the squirrels go crazy on it.

[nicolewi]

What does your feeder look like? Do you think your feeder is the right feeder for the seed you bought?

Could the seed you bought have been old or something?

[Susie]

What do you have in it, and is it appropriate to the bird species in your area?

I have two feeders, one with sunflower chips - very popular with finches, blue jays, cardinals, woodpeckers, grosbeaks, and others. The other feeder is a suet feeder, mostly woodpeckers seem to like it.

[mich1]

We have found the birds tend to hit our feeders in bits and spurts. Right now, the littles are downing the oiled sunflower seeds like crazy, and we are refilling the feeder every few days. I think later in the spring, we will have the jays squawking noisily as their peanuts aren’t out fast enough. The hummingbirds will suck down syrup, then not touch it for awhile.

[mcmel]

I would put a variety of food out in various feeders (mealworms on the ground, a suet cake, a “sock” for finches, etc) to attract some birds. Once a few show up, others will follow.

[wildrice]

We had this issue when we first got ours. I had bought an inexpensive wild bird seed mix, and they could not have cared less about it. We switched to safflower seed and now get a ton of birds daily.

It may also just take a bit for them to find it, but it also may be the seed. If you don't see any soon, I'd maybe try switching it up!

[rubytue]

I have the best results with black oil sunflower seeds. You may want to move it closer to a tree where they can scurry for cover if a hawk comes by, if it’s in the middle of a blank yard.

[RoxMonster]

Ok I might need to try new seeds. We got a feeder that looks like a house and on both sides it has a holder for seed “cakes” - I know we have woodpeckers in our yard and one said it was for woodpeckers. The other one I just guessed on. Maybe instead of Lowe’s I should go talk to someone at Wild Birds Unlimited?

[meowmaps]

I forget what the mix is but we get a 40 lb. bag of bird seed from Costco. I know 40 lbs. sounds like a lot but we actually go through it relatively quickly. We get cardinals, small woodpeckers, doves, wrens, cowbirds, blue jays, etc. And at least 1-2 voracious squirrels. I don’t mind.

[pinkballoons]

It look a few weeks for birds to find our feeder at our prior place. Once they found it, we had all kinds of fun birds that kept the cat blissfully entertained.

Our new neighbors apparently took a different route and tossed several sandwich crusts on the ground. The neighborhood birds are not amused and have not touched these crusts for days.

[meowmaps]

Mar 2, 2021 21:14:52 GMT -5 pinkballoons said:

Our new neighbors apparently took a different route and tossed several sandwich crusts on the ground. The neighborhood birds are not amused and have not touched these crusts for days.

I find that amusing!  Sometimes we'll put out apples that have started to turn.  I've never seen who gets them but they disappear.  

[lightbulbsun]

It can take a while for birds to discover feeders. We are really bad about adding more seed, so sometimes we don't have any for a couple of weeks, and when we finally put more in it can take a while for the birds to come back. Once they do we almost always have at least a couple of birds by the feeder. We also have a bird bath close by, which I think attracts them as well.

[pinkballoons]

Mar 2, 2021 21:29:49 GMT -5 meowmaps said:

Mar 2, 2021 21:14:52 GMT -5 pinkballoons said:

Our new neighbors apparently took a different route and tossed several sandwich crusts on the ground. The neighborhood birds are not amused and have not touched these crusts for days.

I find that amusing!  Sometimes we'll put out apples that have started to turn.  I've never seen who gets them but they disappear.  

Lol! That might explain the apple cores I see in the bushes!
The dog insists a tiny part of his soul dies every time we walk past those crusts and I won’t let him sample the buffet.

[Aloe Vera]

Mar 2, 2021 19:07:08 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

What does your feeder look like? Do you think your feeder is the right feeder for the seed you bought?

Could the seed you bought have been old or something?

This made me LOL. There is no such thing as old seeds. Food is food for wild animals.

Your feeder needs to be placed in the open. If it is too close to a building, it blocks the way for birds to fly away in any direction. Also, buy some seeds that will attract the widest variety of birds. I have a mix with sunflower seeds and birds (and squirrels) go crazy. The only seeds they leave are the red millet. 

[Deleted]

We just get a mix, I think it's called Classic Mix and the brand is Royal Wing and lots of different varieties of birds seem to like it. We also put out suet cakes and we mix up what flavors we put out. Then nearby I have a double shephards hook and have a dish for meal worms hanging off of one and a bird house off of another (we get babies in that house every year). It's funny though, sometimes we forget to fill the feeder and then when we finally do, it does take the birds a few days to realize and come back. The birds probably just haven't discovered yours yet. I'd give it more time.

[Wallflower]

Mar 3, 2021 9:59:22 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

Your feeder needs to be placed in the open. If it is too close to a building, it blocks the way for birds to fly away in any direction. Also, buy some seeds that will attract the widest variety of birds. I have a mix with sunflower seeds and birds (and squirrels) go crazy. The only seeds they leave are the red millet. 

Not quite true - you can be close to a building because it gives a certain protection from predators, but you want to be very close to a building or well away to cut down on window strikes. If it's close, they might hit but not at speed. If it's further away, they'll have time to turn. "Place feeders closer than 3 feet to a picture window (or even affixed to the glass or window frame), or farther than 30 feet from a window." - from the Cornell Lab.

Also, you should get something to deter them from hitting the windows. I use these window clings - Window Alert.

Good luck! 

[foundmylazybum]

We have bird feeders in our yard and tons of birds come to them. We have a bird friendly yard for all seasons. Not that you need to have these other things, but we have plants, shrubs and trees that also provide shelter and food, and we also have a fountain in our yard as a water source. The birds already were using our yard bc of those elements and then as soon as the feeders went up it was like..a McDonald's went into the neighborhood lol.

[orval]

Not sure if I am understanding your feeder. Does it just take cakes or loose seed? If it is only cakes, I would get one for loose seed. We have both and many birds do not come to the suet/cake feeder at all. Those types usually have different feet for climing and grabbing -- like woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice and warblers. Cardinals, finches, chikadees, cowbirds, juncos all come to the loose seed.

[wildrice]

Mar 3, 2021 10:19:49 GMT -5 Wallflower said:

Mar 3, 2021 9:59:22 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

Your feeder needs to be placed in the open. If it is too close to a building, it blocks the way for birds to fly away in any direction. Also, buy some seeds that will attract the widest variety of birds. I have a mix with sunflower seeds and birds (and squirrels) go crazy. The only seeds they leave are the red millet. 

Not quite true - you can be close to a building because it gives a certain protection from predators, but you want to be very close to a building or well away to cut down on window strikes. If it's close, they might hit but not at speed. If it's further away, they'll have time to turn. "Place feeders closer than 3 feet to a picture window (or even affixed to the glass or window frame), or farther than 30 feet from a window." - from the Cornell Lab.

Also, you should get something to deter them from hitting the windows. I use these window clings - Window Alert.

Good luck! 

This is interesting! We have ours on our deck (because our living room overlooks the deck, not the yard which is only viewable from our walkout basement). Our feeder is about 10 feet from the house and we get a ton of birds and haven't had any issues with windows! I wonder if it's because the feeder is closer to trees than to the house so they don't fly at the house?

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2021 10:35:46 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Mar 3, 2021 10:19:49 GMT -5 Wallflower said:

Not quite true - you can be close to a building because it gives a certain protection from predators, but you want to be very close to a building or well away to cut down on window strikes. If it's close, they might hit but not at speed. If it's further away, they'll have time to turn. "Place feeders closer than 3 feet to a picture window (or even affixed to the glass or window frame), or farther than 30 feet from a window." - from the Cornell Lab.

Also, you should get something to deter them from hitting the windows. I use these window clings - Window Alert.

Good luck! 

This is interesting! We have ours on our deck (because our living room overlooks the deck, not the yard which is only viewable from our walkout basement). Our feeder is about 10 feet from the house and we get a ton of birds and haven't had any issues with windows! I wonder if it's because the feeder is closer to trees than to the house so they don't fly at the house?

Our feeder is pretty close to the house as well, probably about 10ft off of the kitchen. We also have a dwarf japanese maple and a boxwood close by that the birds love to hang out in. We've only ever had one bird fly in to the window to my knowledge, and it was just stunned, it got up and flew away eventually. 

[mbcdefg]

Remember to clean it, too, to keep the birds from being sickened by bacteria:

www.audubon.org/news/3-ways-keep-your-feeder-disease-free-birds

[Aloe Vera]

Mar 3, 2021 10:19:49 GMT -5 Wallflower said:

Mar 3, 2021 9:59:22 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

Your feeder needs to be placed in the open. If it is too close to a building, it blocks the way for birds to fly away in any direction. Also, buy some seeds that will attract the widest variety of birds. I have a mix with sunflower seeds and birds (and squirrels) go crazy. The only seeds they leave are the red millet. 

Not quite true - you can be close to a building because it gives a certain protection from predators, but you want to be very close to a building or well away to cut down on window strikes. If it's close, they might hit but not at speed. If it's further away, they'll have time to turn. "Place feeders closer than 3 feet to a picture window (or even affixed to the glass or window frame), or farther than 30 feet from a window." - from the Cornell Lab.

Also, you should get something to deter them from hitting the windows. I use these window clings - Window Alert.

Good luck! 

My feeder is 10 feet from the house and I consider this an open location. Never had any birds fly into windows.

[So_Fetch]

I've had the most luck with a more open feeder - we have a lot of doves and they are big and dumb (LOL) so they will come and take turns sitting in the middle of the seed eating and making a mess on the ground (which the sparrows gather to eat). I haven't had as much luck with like the house feeder because it's a smaller place for them to land.
Mine is similar to this
www.amazon.com/Perky-50178-Hanging-Tray-Feeder/dp/B01JS1MLFI

[mambo123]

I had some great feed with sunflower seeds, and then I got cheap and brought any ole thing...yeah the birds let me know that I needed to change my ways. We just got a new bag with sunflower seeds back in the mix and they are really enjoying it.

My feeder is open and is a suction cup to my window, we are in a condo in a big city.

[nicolewi]

Um, yeah it can be old! See pp about bacteria. I have had seed go moldy. That’s not good for birds!

[RoxMonster]

So much great info here! Thank you. I think I will move it farther from our house and also buy a feeder that holds loose seed and not just the cakes and see if both of these things help.

[jane6672]

Mar 3, 2021 9:59:22 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

Mar 2, 2021 19:07:08 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

What does your feeder look like? Do you think your feeder is the right feeder for the seed you bought?

Could the seed you bought have been old or something?

This made me LOL. There is no such thing as old seeds. Food is food for wild animals. 

This made ME lol.

Birds can be picky as fuck.

[bears]

Mar 3, 2021 21:27:43 GMT -5 jane6672 said:

Mar 3, 2021 9:59:22 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

This made me LOL. There is no such thing as old seeds. Food is food for wild animals. 

This made ME lol.

Birds can be picky as fuck.

Yes. I have a bird feeder and watch it all day when I'm on call. Those assholes use their beaks to pick out the seeds they don't like and throw it on the ground.

I love those asshole birds so much.

[minzy]

I’m just here to rec the Merlin Bird ID app, it’s free.