Attracting the birds :)

madferrit

madferrit

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I wasn't sure if to put this here or "off topic" but as my intention is related to photography I think this is relevant.

I'm looking at getting a Bird Feeder for the garden. Ideally I want to attract some birds (of the flying kind) to my garden which will allow me to photograph them.

Although I may have the option of a hanging feeder, I'm leaning towards a free-standing unit as it would allow me to place it such that I get a better background for when I shoot them (with the camera of course).

Does anyone have any advice on what I should buy? or how it should be maintained? For example, which kind of food will attract which kind of birds. I do have squirrels in the garden, and I've noticed some feeders are squirrel proof. Do they work?

At the moment my garden attracts magpies and the odd woodpecker (usually visits around 6am on the weekends). I'm sure there are other varieties within proximity but I'm guessing the food will attract those.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :thumbs:
 
I would suggest it all depends on what type of picture you want. I have a couple of feeders in my garden which are a slim pole with attachable platforms. I space them out verticaly so that the greedy magpies and blackbirds can't get at the bottom one. This is reserved for the smaller birds. I have a nut feeder as well which I hoped would encourage birds to stay around and feed. All they did was take the nuts and fly away. I suspect I had the wrong feeder and it was too exposed for them. Will try again with another type and new location.

I also try and encourage the birds onto the grass. This does make it look more natural, although trying to photograph them does prove to be a challenge.

I tried getting some meal worms and putting them in small containers that were hidden by the grass shoots. I suspect I did it at the wrong time of the year as the birds didn't seem interested. or couldn't find the containers.

Can't help with the anti squirrel problem although they do get into some curious positions trying to get at the food

Try these people for feeders and feed.

http://www.gardenbird.com/gsechannel/static/index.cfm
 
Thanks for the reply Chappers. I can imagine this being a trial and error project. Did you find that new birds were attracted to your garden when you put the feeders in place?

Btw, thanks for the link. I was thinking of eBay, but that link store seems to have a lot more detailed info about what I could go for.
 
I just got more of what I had already, or were they comming back more often?
 
I have a full proof bait for attracting birds. I get 100% results with it. They do anything I want for it: a platinum credit card....

:lol:
 
W.Smith said:
I have a full proof bait for attracting birds. I get 100% results with it. They do anything I want for it: a platinum credit card....

:lol:
Click to expand...

I'll PM you my address. Send it over and I'll let you know if the results are the same :naughty:
 
I have never yet found a bird feeder that is squirrel proof.

I have also discovered a new trick. I put some nuts in the food processor and chop them up so to speak and then just spread them over the lawn in a sowing seed motion, I get heaps more ground feeding birds, chaffinches etc.

Needless to say my kids think I'm very sad!

I would love to know what bullfinches feed on as I have them in the garden but they never visit the feeders.
 
We have about 5 feeders in the garden but we've yet to find one that's totally squirrel proof. If they can get to it, they can get into it. They'll gnaw through wire mesh, chew up plastic fittings... once they even gnawed right through the tree branch from which a feeder was suspended, so that it fell to the ground. You need to try to find a way of preventing the squirrels from ever reaching the feeder - but that's easier said than done. In the plus side, it's an entertaining battle of wits.

At the risk of stating the obvious, different birds like different food and also have different feeding habits. For example we find that tits like sunflower seed kernels and peanuts; chaffinches like sunflower seed kernels; woodpeckers like fat balls and peanuts; goldfinches prefer niger seeds; and so on. Tits just fly in, grab a bite to eat, and then retreat somewhere safe to eat it; goldfinches just sit there on the feeder and munch munch munch; and so on. They're all different. It might be best to do some reading on a site like food4wildbirds.co.uk.

Another thing to bear in mind is that if the feeders are too exposed, some birds may be reluctant to come to them. Our experience is it's best if there's near a big tree or bush where the birds can sit and check whether the coast is clear.

Have fun! And good luck photographing them. It's very difficult, but very rewarding when you succeed.

PS Do you need a longer lens? ;)
 
StewartR said:
Have fun! And good luck photographing them. It's very difficult, but very rewarding when you succeed.

PS Do you need a longer lens? ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Stewart. I've got a 70-200 and a 2xTC, Upon initial testing I think that should be fine for my garden. I found a few more sites on the net, will skim through them and post them up here for others to see a little later on.

I can see 2 dilemmas here. First to get the birds into the garden, and second to have in such a surrounding that it would be appeal to photograph. This summer should be fun :)
 
Get the birds coming in first and this may take a while till word gets round and when you start dont stop as they will get to rely on it.
I have several of these but about half this price just link to show.
http://www.hardware-ironmongers.com/details.aspx?code=2191154
I also have diffrent feeders to attach or hang from posts hooks etc.
Get some cheap feeders about £1 to see if you have a squirrels problem otherwise you buy a perspex feeder for £15 a nice good make and the squirrels destroy it, test with cheep first.
If big problem with squrels then the ones that have a metal tube that drops down as they jump on it are good but you canget feeders that are solid metal to start with.
The feeder i put link for has or should have a water dish attachment and water is vital.
I also Have a bird bath even though often needs filling as starlings have bathed and thrown all the water out.
Dont put feeders to close to bushes as cats will use bush to ambush them, as long as the birds have a free view to the feeder they will fly in or sit in nearby bush and then fly straight to feeder.
Dont go excessive on ground feeding as you will attract rats and mice.
Once birds established start setting up props to photograph them at.
Smearing peanut butter and or lard on branches etc will get a very natural surrounding for your photographs.
All the best,
 
not been able to try this as I live in a terrace, but they had a good article about this in last months Practical Photography...it mentions setting up a partial branch clamped to something inbetween the feeders (a kind of natural/man-made perch) and the bush/trees where the birds congregate. Theory being that the birds will land on the branch before they go to the feeder.....hope that makes sense.
 
James: I appreciate all that info. I was looking at the same bird feeder and I honestly thought 1 would be enough. On second thoughts I think I might need to consider 2 feeding points. I have seen the metal tube feeders you mention to keep out the squirrels, but again thanks for the advice to try the cheaper alternatives to test the environment with those pesky squirrels.

I might need to get back to you for some advice.

Antihero: It was actually that article that prompted me to think about this project. However I didn't like the idea of setting up the branch etc. I thought about creating a natural feeding point that I can keep going for some time.
 
Thanks
 
I hang our feeders on a bar between two thin metal poles.
A largish seed feeder with a medium sized plastic garden saucer fixed underneath and a large one on top. The seed doesn't end up on the ground and it stays dry!
Narrow cage for peanuts but only 2" full....changed weekly.
Narrow cage with suet sticks...changed weekly.
Also a large self built table with a large roof for the pigeons.
Will try and add a picture tomorrow.
However I live in a small country town and different types of birds are scarce!
 
I would suggest watching YouTube videos by Mike Lane FRPS on bird photography. He has lots of advice to get photos of birds and not on feeders. Also you need to find what works for you, here in Cambridgeshire I’ve never had any success with Niger,but I have doesn’t of Goldfinches on a feeder filled with sunflower hearts! I can recommend garden wildlife direct or a firm called peckamix who let you mix your own seed mixes with whatever your birds love.
 
EJB said:
I hang our feeders on a bar between two thin metal poles.
A largish seed feeder with a medium sized plastic garden saucer fixed underneath and a large one on top. The seed doesn't end up on the ground and it stays dry!
Narrow cage for peanuts but only 2" full....changed weekly.
Narrow cage with suet sticks...changed weekly.
Also a large self built table with a large roof for the pigeons.
Will try and add a picture tomorrow.
However I live in a small country town and different types of birds are scarce!
Click to expand...
GordonM said:
I would suggest watching YouTube videos by Mike Lane FRPS on bird photography. He has lots of advice to get photos of birds and not on feeders. Also you need to find what works for you, here in Cambridgeshire I’ve never had any success with Niger,but I have doesn’t of Goldfinches on a feeder filled with sunflower hearts! I can recommend garden wildlife direct or a firm called peckamix who let you mix your own seed mixes with whatever your birds love.
Click to expand...
You do realise that this thread is 13 years old?
 
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