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Why don't my birds love me any more....?

yvette303yvette303 Posts: 22
in Wildlife gardening

I have had a bird feeder hanging in my garden for some time now and it has always been very well used by a variety of little birds, who in turn sprinkle enough to keep the ground feeding birds happy too.

About a month ago I notice that it was grubby so took it down and gave it a good wash and then refilled.

Since then the birds just aren't using it anymore. I see them in the garden but they arent going anywhere near the feeder.

I'm baffled! image

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Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,159

    Could the smell of whatever you washed it in be stronger than the smell of the food?What are you offering? Sunflower seeds go quickest here. Peanuts and niger second. Mixed seeds are scattered eveywhere to get at the sunflower seeds so I usually put it on the ground. A few fat balls bring in all sorts of birds. 



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • yvette303yvette303 Posts: 22

    I did wonder about that but I cant recall if I even used a soap and if I did I rinsed it really well.

    I've got mixed seed in there but I was thinking of seeing if I could tempt them back with sunflower seeds as they do love them best.

    I tried fat balls but the squirels finished them off in a day *sigh*

    Maybe another full rinse out and some sunflower seeds will do the trick. What pampered birds!

  • Norm2Norm2 Posts: 86

    try sunflower hearts, in my experience if they don't bring them back nothing will, at one stage I had two feeders one with a mix and one with sunflower hearts and they would leave the mix alone and fight for the hearts must be the bird equivalent to chocolate image 

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391

    Hi Yvette,  Keep an eye on the tops of the tallest trees/buildings around your garden.  Exactly the same recently happened to me and I discovered it was because a Sparrowhawk had moved in!  I still get birds, but they are now extremely skittish and tend to feed on the ground under shrubs and avoid the hanging feeders.  I'm going to move one of the feeders to a position out of the line of sight of where the hawk often perches to see if it helps.  The sparrow population in my garden this year had only just recovered to what it used to be, too.  Oh well, that's nature for you - "red in tooth and claw" as the saying goes.  At least the cats aren't bothering them at the moment, with all this wet weather! image

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • yvette303yvette303 Posts: 22

    Right sunflower hearts it is then and when they head back I'll keep my fingers crossed they dont get picked off by a sparrowhawk!

  • Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657

    iv just put bird feeders out and my first visitors would you believe 2 small rats just cant win  back to the drawing board,maybe a metal pole will do it

    Alan

  • flowering roseflowering rose Posts: 1,632

    I find this every winter they abandon the feeders,why?image

  • Oakley WitchOakley Witch Posts: 789
    I was going to say the same as santaslittlehelper. Sounds like a sparrow hawk. Try putting up a large owl ornament thing. That my stop them???
  • yvette303yvette303 Posts: 22

    I'm a suburban gardener....do you get Sparrowhawks in Middlesex?

  • Oakley WitchOakley Witch Posts: 789
    Yep. You do im afraid. They have wiped out all the birds in my dads garden. Hes in a suburban area aswell.
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