The birds ain’t coming.

Given that I've got a robin nesting in an open shed in my garden I'm thinking of putting a nesting box there as the nest itself is in a very precarious position. How do I go about cleaning out a nesting box, though? Mind you, knowing robins they will probably still make their nest in a crumpled up dustbin bag! There seem to be two babies from three eggs. The garden, which annoys me because of the trees and leaves and permanent shade is perfect for birds though, as the shade means it is full of flies in the evening and the leaves mean there are lots of piles of leaves for the birds to rummage through looking for insects.

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We go through a litre of no-mess wild bird food every day in winter, restricted to every 2 days in Spring thru the Fall.
All the various tits & finches, the robins & sparrows have their special time of day.
Together with a number of the smaller birds, the doves, blackbirds, thrushes, and woodpigeons clear up the spillages. Occasional pheasants, woodpeckers & partridges are welcome.
The bigger birds, magwumps, buzzards, crows & ravens stay away.
Feeders are cage-type, which just let smaller birds in.
The Red Squirrels have their own special feeders, but that doesn't stop the kits from accessing the bird food when they are still small.

I have 3 nesting boxes in my garden. As yet only one is being used. It's occupants are a nest of wasps.

It's spring and then summer, birds like to find their own food now, put out water, they'll arrive in the Autumn.

You need a garden with small shrubs and bushes if you want the small birds to visit, they like to land observe then come over from a safe vantage point. Give them time if you have the right setting they will visit soon.

I used to have several feeders around the garden and a wide variety of birds but then found that the smaller birds were being frightened away by crows/ravens and wood pigeons . Later we had a problem with mice feeding from dropped bird food so have now stopped altogether. Really miss seeing the woodpeckers.

The problem with siting the feeding table near cover for the small birds is that squirrels can climb up the vegetation (and indeed a fence) and snaffle the food. A great deal of the stuff I put out for the birds gets scoffed by a squirrel - but to be fair he/she is quite cute!

The small birds are more attracted to my bird bath and at this time of year drink from it, as do bigger birds too. Oh - and Mr Squirrel! - he likes a drink.

It takes a long time for them to get used to a new food source. We have had bird feeders in our front garden for years, and still we sometimes wonder where they all are, then, once nesting they come back! Sometimes we don't see the goldfinches for months then they come by the dozen! We also get blue tits, sparrows and the robin scrounges what gets dropped on the grass. Don't give up hope. After lots of experimenting we only put out sunflower hearts in the summer and add fat balls in autum/winter.

My neighbour & I share our birds. We have been adopted by some pigeons from a nearby loft. They are not well looked after so spend all day with us. I have an unused washing line against my bushes that have nests in. So have pegged hanging feeders with seeds & fat balls in. Also filled shells as the Starlings love them for their babies. All the food dropped is not wasted. The pigeons clear everything before leaving for the night so, touch wood, we do not see rats! My neighbour hangs her feeders where they are protected too & so far we have out of the 35 counted, before giving up as more came in, baby Starlings only lost two to magpies (hate them) & one to a Sparrow hawk! We are surrounded by small trees & large bushes so plenty of cover. All the noisy babies are out on their own now & the sparrows & our resident Robin are nesting so waiting for those babies! Love my wild garden!

Birds seem to take at least 3 weeks before they will approach a new bird feeder. You will probably see them flitting around staring at it before they land.

Well, good luck with that. I've been trying for years but only the seagulls arrived, given up. Our home is near the sea.

I agree with Aldom: you just have to wait!

I hung a basket containing nuts in a tree, it lasted a few hours then the squirrels had it. They hung off the basket part, which fell off and spread out the nuts underneath. Shakes fist at squirrels

It takes time. They like nearby cover - situate near a shrub or small tree if possible. They also like water near their feeder.

Clean feeders regularly. Feed sparsely in summer. Clear up spillage that pigeons don't hoover up or you'll get rats.

My mother was a dedicated bird-feeder, and they definitely used to arrive when they knew she would be putting food out for them. She once came out with 'I feel sorry for the birds, they don't know why I'm late feeding them every morning!'after the clocks went forward for British Summer Time!

Inviting people to see the birds sounds like a fabulous idea to me. I love seeing wild birds close up, they're so pretty.

I loved our bird feeder and had lots of birds, despite having a cat - she wasn’t interested in the birds. Unfortunately the local rat population were interested in the food supply and we could see them in the middle of the day eating what the birds had dropped on the ground. We got rid of the bird feeder and have not seen a rat since. I appreciate the rats are still around but no longer interested in our garden as a source of food.

We used to have a garden full of birds then a new cat moved into the neighbourhood and now there are no birds, not only in our garden but all around. We've had to stop putting food out as no birds appear and the rats were getting fat.

JaneJudge

I love your garden Shinamae

Thank you 🤗

Churchview

What a green and peaceful garden Shinamae. It's absolutely beautiful. Do you think perhaps the birds are finding plenty of food naturally because it's such a good habitat and that they have no need for the feeders?

If you put food out for me I would definitely come to visit and spend a few hours in your garden.

Thank you so much..😁

We know that pigeons are prolific breeders but I’ve noticed that localised numbers have increased dramatically since several neighbours had solar panels installed. The birds like to gather along the roof ridges and can be seen crawling under the panels. The upside is that being woken up very early in summer by pigeons cooing in now less frequent for me as they are hanging out on other people’s roofs.

I know pigeons can nest in little more than a scrape of a few twigs so are they nesting under solar panels or are they just going under the panels for warmth and shelter?

Is it the law of unintended consequences that the increase in solar panels is contributing to the reduction in the number of small birds visiting our gardens because they are being increasingly outnumbered by the larger birds?

I love your garden Shinamae

we've grown an evergreen clematis on the fence behind the bird feeder along with a climbing rose and the little birds hide in it whilst popping out to feed

good quality bird feed is a must too.

What a green and peaceful garden Shinamae. It's absolutely beautiful. Do you think perhaps the birds are finding plenty of food naturally because it's such a good habitat and that they have no need for the feeders?

If you put food out for me I would definitely come to visit and spend a few hours in your garden.

Shinamae

This is my small garden and I am getting the same problem very few birds coming in fact lately I’ve only seen the blackbird on the bird tables
That’s not to say that they’re not coming. I have nesting boxes up for Robin’s and other small birds but have not seen any activity with those either.
I put softened, dried mealworms out and they are always gone by the end of the day
I have always read that we should feed garden birds all year round but now somebody is saying that we’re not meant to feed them at this time of year 🤷‍♀️

I also meant to say, I have had no frogspawn or frogs that I can see (or hear)in my pond this year 🤷‍♀️

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This is my small garden and I am getting the same problem very few birds coming in fact lately I’ve only seen the blackbird on the bird tables
That’s not to say that they’re not coming. I have nesting boxes up for Robin’s and other small birds but have not seen any activity with those either.
I put softened, dried mealworms out and they are always gone by the end of the day
I have always read that we should feed garden birds all year round but now somebody is saying that we’re not meant to feed them at this time of year 🤷‍♀️