Talkback: Garden birds and Feed the Birds Day

Gardeners' World Web User

My mother cleaned her feeders this morning, and put out fat balls too. We immediately got a whole bunch of blue tits, sparrows and great tits. And there are mistle thrushes in the big sycamore across the lane.

Gardeners' World Web User

I saw my first Mistle Thrush for a long time today. I regularly get Robins, Blue and Great Tits, Finches and occasionaly a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. that's a nice tip about the seeds. I left the heads from my sunflowers out and they've been devoured by squirrels. I do so hate grey squirrels.

Gardeners' World Web User

To date I have had 24 species of bird in my garden. I only feed them Black Sunflower seeds on the table, peanuts in metal feeders, nyjer seed in feeders, that gold finches go crazy for, they be queueing in the trees for a go. I also leave apples on the ground for Blackbirds and hopefully again some Red Wing. A Field Fare this year though would bring the species list up to 25. Heres hoping.

Gardeners' World Web User

i have been feeding the birds for a good few years now and get loads of differant types of bird in my garden on a daily basis.
yesterday i saw for the first time a sparrowhawk in my garden however the excitement soon turned to sadness as i then saw a great-tit in its claws.....it then flew of with little bird.....
im going to garden centre over the weekend and im gonna buy some of theses nyjer seeds i do keep looking at them,but the birds i mainly get in my garden are robins,great-tits,blue-tits,wrens,blackbirds loads of starlings,sparrows, wagtails,woodpeckers,magpies,crows,pigeons,so im not sure if they will eat the nyjer seed???? does anyone know if they will???????

Gardeners' World Web User

I have a three quarter acer garden, large trees,shrubs,large lawn,flower borders,2 ponds,vegetable beds, soft fruit, raspberry, blackcurrants, gooseberries and strawberries.

I do not use any artificial fertilisers or pesticides and have 6 large compost bins.


We came to this house 11 years ago. I counted 28 bird species when we came in.

5 years ago a sparrow hawk appeared in the garden and nested in some nearby trees. Since then our small bird population has vanished. No food has been taken from the bird table or the 3 feeders.

I have contacted the RSPB and they say that this is normal.Why when everybody else seems to have plenty of birds, why not me? Any suggestions?
Walter Binns.

Gardeners' World Web User

Here's our local birdy success story - An elderly couple live in the next house to us. They used to put kitchen scraps out on the lawn each day for the 'birds'. However, as you may have guessed, they also attracted every rat in the area. This soon led to a nest in their shed & complaints form those in surrounding gardens. The problem started because there were too many scraps & not enough birds, so by dusk the rats moved in to clean-up & soon braved it during the day. The simple solution came when bird-feeders & a hanging bird-table were installed in a tree close to the kitchen window, with small amounts of food. We now have five gardens linked with food for our feathered friends. Magic!

Gardeners' World Web User

How do i keep pigeons away because they scare away the blue tits in my garden?

Gardeners' World Web User

Where are the blackbirds,thrushes and all the finches? Normally by this time of the year I'm having to fill the feeders twice a day, but although there are a few blue and great-tits about and a couple of dunnocks, there's no sign of anything else. Are other people in different parts of the country having the same experience?

Gardeners' World Web User

I recently put 2 new feeders up in my garden - and filled them with sunflower hearts - and I have much delight watching: Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Robins, Female Chaffinch, Sparrow, Dunnock, Great Tit and Coal Tit. I have also had a Green Woodpecker visiting the garden in the summer, And last winter, I had a male chaffinch and a male Bullfinch and a Long-Tail Tit. I have also put up a niger feeder as well.

Gardeners' World Web User

I love reading these comments, but why do folks not say which part of the country they write from. If you want to attract Goldfinches and such, supply Niger seed. Pigeons get a bad name but they pick up every minute bit of food. No Pigeons --- more rats. (Oldham area ).

Gardeners' World Web User

I regularily feed the birds and they come in their droves sometimes we have as many as 50 goldfinches.
I am very conscious of cleaning the feeders, since we had a high death rate last month with green finches.
I feed the goldfinches with niger sedd in a flokker but for some reason they will not eat the lower half and I have to empty it and put that into a smaller.
We have a number of tits finches occasionally a woodpecker and have even had a pheasant eating from the feeders. Not forgetting the occasional squirrel, who at the moment is more interested in the walnuts!