Birds feeding habits seem different this winter

TerrysWorld · 7 March

This year as normal I filled the various feeders as previous, I noticed most of the birds this year are not interested in any of the different bird seed even peckish brands, suet pellets or mealworms. Even fussy on the fat balls and fat feed in coconut shells. if they're Peckish, they love them but any other like Tesco, Sainsbury's etc, not interested......
Only the robin take the mealworms if laid on the flat table and starlings having the suet like inland gannets.

Could you argue its Global warming ?

Redwing · 7 March

My feeders have hundreds of takers.....they are eating me out of house and home. No decrease in the numbers of birds visiting my restaurant this winter compared to previous winters.

Fairygirl · 7 March

If anything, the small birds in my garden have eaten even more than normal - from late summer/early autumn onwards, despite temps being so mild and conditions being so favourable for other food sources.
I don't feed mealworms through winter - only from around breeding time, and it's mainly the robins that eat them. Don't use suet pellets either. Any cheap fat balls are eaten, and I only use no mess seed and sunflower hearts bought from a reliable online outlet.
I add apples and raisins for the blackbirds, and some chopped up fat balls. The odd bit of cheese which the robins love, but the magpies like cheese too.

TerrysWorld · 7 March

I get the same numbers as previous years, woodpeckers, various tit families, finches, robins, wood pigeons, magpies and now starlings getting ready to migrate several times a day whatever their feeding timetable. Just seem fussy this winter.

Fairygirl · 7 March

Perhaps other people in your area have started feeding, so there's more choice for them.

The starlings here - ie in this area, are present all year round. The numbers stay pretty much the same.

bertrand-mabel · 7 March

We bought some seed feed that the birds took no notice at all. We then mixed it up with the peanuts and they did come to the feeders but only for the nuts. The seeds fell on the ground. Then the ground feeders found it and did take it....but so did the rodents!
Big mistake and we wont buy that again.

Fairygirl · 8 March

It's certainly a common problem @bertrand-mabel. I don't put huge amounts of food out on the ground feeder, but they could get into the cage feeders if they tried. The mice love those, and are never a problem.
I rarely get bothered by rats, and never had them when we lived around the corner from this house, and the one I had a couple of years ago was most likely down to a neighbour across the road getting some work done outside in a hefty border, which was probably their main home, and it had got displaced. We're also next to farmland, but there are plenty of hawks etc, so that possibly helps too.

Herbloom · 10 March

We don't have a lot of birds in the garden, despite my best attempts at luring them in.
3 coal tits graced us with daily visits this year, but they refused anything except fat pellets. Even the robin, who was a faithful companion all last autumn and winter, only popped by on a rare occasion this year. I think he's found other feeding grounds, the faithless shyster.
Good thing the pigeons, magpies, and grey squirrel are all there to clean up, I guess...

Birds feeding habits seem different this winter

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