how can i attract birds into my back yard....

whitewash

whitewash

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of the winged variety obviously

i dont have a garden, only a yard but i want to attract some garden birds into it so i can photograph them.

currently we've bought some bird feeders (one peanuts and one wild bird feed) and hung them up although i think they might be a tad close to the door for the birds to stray so far into the yard, should i move them as far out as possible.


how do i alert the local bird population to the arrival of my bird feeders?:shrug:


Or am i on a hiding to nothing?
 
Do you have room for a small bird bath?

We have a reasonable size pond in our garden as well as a bird bath and quite a number of smaller varieties seem to like the water :)
 
heres a picture of my yard, you can see the two feeders, although i think they might be better further away from the house along the walls.

dont worry it will look a little better when we get the gravel down!

IMG_0459_Medium_.JPG
 
Although some birds will always go for the easy option you may find that whilst the ground is soft and there is no frost, the birds are able to catch their own juicy worms and grubs. If you wait another 6 weeks the weather may encorage the birds to seek easier takings,
 
Well you've started out right - don't do it on the cheap throwing bread out - get the right stuff, the cost will repay you in dividends. Once you've started, don't get lax about it, keep those feeders topped up and be patient - once the birds know the food is there, they'll be regular visitors. Birds have a hard life at times, particularly in winter, and they'll appreciate the easy source of food, but it takes time for the word to get around the hood that the cafe is open. Scattering some wild bird seed will make it easier for the birds to notice initially, and then they' ll move onto the feeders. Try scattering some seed on the roof where they'll see it easily.

Feeders close to the house wont bother them unduly, except your movements will spook them more easily if you intend to shoot from a window, so I'd move them out further if you can. If you feed the birds you should supply water anyway, in fact it's as big an attraction for them as the food, so they love a bird bath, but any old container they can drink from will be appreciated. Adding a fat ball feeder will be a huge attraction for tits, they just go crazy for them.

You should start to attract the more common species quite soon, but passing birds see the activity and come to investigate, so you never know what you might get occasionally. I can't stress enough that once you start, keep it up and be patient!

Good luck!



We've been feeding daily for about 3 years and still get the odd surprise visitor, but the increase in activity over that time is enormous.
 
cheers guys, i shall try to move the brackets this afternoon if i can


i had heard that birds with big tits do go crazy for big fat balls :naughty:, ill try to get one of those.


i plan to shoot pictures from the window i photographed through, it opens right up so i wont have any glass in the way.
 
Patience! We have a feeder in a tree in the front garden and it's only recently that the blue tits have made a return after the neighbours chopped down a large bush (about a year ago) they used to perch in :bang:
Our neighbour on the other side bought a bird table but only ever puts out bread - all she gets is magpies, pidgeons and a squidge, oh, and a mouse that comes round after the birds have been :lol:
7am and 4pm seem to be popular feeding times!
 
The birds will find them anywhere. Just make it difficult for a cat to hide and take a bird from the feeder.

As for the time of year, I'm currently putting 1 pound of feed in the feeders each day, in the spring it was two pounds. The consumption has recently gone down a bit as I have put up feeders in cages to deter the 50 strong (each) flocks of rock doves, starlings and jackdaws. I reckon we have supported as many as four broods this year for each of the sparrows, green finches, and chaffinches. The sparrows are still bringing in fledglings now in groups of 20 or so.

Things were little light this morning though as a sparrowhawk took a rock dove near the feeders and ate it in full view. All the birds are a little nervous :eek:
 
Be careful what you wish for :lol: It took just over a week before anything came near our feeder - now we have a regular attendance of Jackdaws, starlings, sparrows, a lone seagull when we occasionally put soggy bread out, and all of Scotlands sodding pigeons as soon as the fresh seed goes out in the morning.
 
Be charming and a good listener, forget the backyard plan though and invite her inside :thumbs:
 
An important factor which I do not see being mentioned is only buy top grade bird seed, a lot of so called "bird seed" has wheat as a main ingredient and is enjoyed mainly by ground rats and flying rats (pigeons). I was in my local garden centre and what they were selling I would only feed to hens it was about 75% wheat!!. Better to buy seed that has no wheat in it at all.
I buy it in bulk, wheatfree @ £17 per 15 kilo bag
Goldfinches can not resist niger seed (thistle seed) and in the winter all birds love the fatballs.
 
Bird seed is good, however i'd also suggest putting out bread for them. Its always worked for me :) And if you do not wish bread to be seen, just edit it out in photoshop :)
 
I live in west london, an area with not much bird life. For about 5 years we have been feeding birds and have a number of different feeders and perches. In my view there are a few things you need to take into account when luring birds.

1) a good quality seed - may cost slightly more but definitely attracts more birds. Different birds will also like different seeds and you will find this when you experiment with different seed types.

2) having areas for birds to stand on - they dont want to stand on the feeders all the time, so a small potted tree or a bush in your yard situation could also act as an attraction to the birds

3) patience - you will have an initial outlay and may not immediately see the results of birds being attracted. When the word gets around in the bird world that you have tempting offerings you will get slowly see more and more activity

4) other food - dont only have one type of seed. have one general mix one but then also have other things as these will attract other birds. The seed balls with fat are well liked as are fruit. Having these will make sure that you get the widest variety of birds possible.

5) season - at different times of year different birds will be around. We find this time of year we have the least activity. This may be because something else is naturally available in another place which they find suitable, whether it be a wild fruit or something else.

6) location - make sure that the feeding station is in a place where it is suitable. Not too close to human activity and not too close to any walls or restrictions to the birds. Also for you, make sure that there is a suitable backdrop for your pictures and that your prescence doesnt alarm them too much.


These are just a few of the important things I have noticed from feeding birds for many years. When we began we had very few types of birds and only at certain times of day. Now we have a wide range of birds and even have indian ringnecked parakeets! We have a bird prescence all day long but do notice "peak" feeding times which is important to note, as you will stand the best chance of getting a good shot at these times!

Hope my post isnt too much of a meaningless ramble and that it has some use! :D
 
i have found that the birds are very aware of there surrondings and because most of them are still young, the slightest movment scares them and they are away. In my 2/3 weeks of observing them, they have been taking the easy feed, i have a dish with high energy nuts which they go for as they have full awarenesss of whats around then.

In your yard i would leave some feeders on stands in the liddle of the yard so that they are not hidden agisnt the walls. Just to allow the birds flying over to see and have a nosy.

My set up is a bird feeder in the centre of my back garden and then we luckily have 2 trees at the back which are part of a park.

When i have the internet set up at home i will hopefully be able to load my pictures up.

(please note this is just from my personal experince and could be completely incorrect advice.)
 
My back garden is small and mostly flagged, what I found was that as well as the usual seeds, nuts, water etc what really brought the more unusual birds in was Sunflower Hearts. Although I live in a housing estate am not far off a wood, but the Chaffinches,Greenfinches,Goldfinches,Tits never came in until I bought those hearts, they are not cheap but if they work for you, buy in bulk.
 
cheers folks, im very inpatient!


ive moved the 2 bird feeders, one is now at the end of the extention and the other is by the gate, i did notice some birds feeding on the back alleyway yesterday when i was relocating them, so hopefully they will come to my restuarant soon.
 
you know, I came to this thread with the idea of just leaving a silly "buy a big car" joke, but after reading it, I am actually serioulsy considering getting a feeder and a bath myself, and seeing what happens.
 
The one food that has been a massive hit with all our birds this year is sunflower hearts. We seem to be filling up 3 or 4 feeders every day of that. It's costing a small fortune I tell you!.

Some really sound advice in the posts above, and it's nice to see you got your first couple of visitors. ;)
 
I fitted a squirrel proof (is there such thing?) bird feeder today?
I've located it at the back of the garden, fixed to the side of the shed.
One half of the feeder is for nuts and the other side is for mixed seed.
I've seen plenty of magpies, blackbirds and other small birds during the summer so I am hoping to attract a few over the coming months.
 
I bought a feeder thing today, the one i got is just 6 what i woudl call string bags strung together, alternating with nuts and then a fat ball, then nuts then a fat ball etc.

Hung it up last night, and will see if i get any interest.

I was looking at a purpose built feeder, but thought this might be a cheap way to see if there are enough birds ( i live in the middle of stoke on trent) in the area for it to get used.
 
got both table and feeding station.

Unfortunately been discovered by a flock of collared doves who can eat a kilo of seed in about 15 minutes leaving nothing for the others.

if I refill they come back and repeat the process.
 
PsiFox said:
got both table and feeding station.

Unfortunately been discovered by a flock of collared doves who can eat a kilo of seed in about 15 minutes leaving nothing for the others.

if I refill they come back and repeat the process.
Click to expand...

That's annoying, I get this problem also with doves, wood pigeons and magpies. Try scattering some seed on the garden so they have to work harder for it and there should be some left for the smaller birds. I only scatter the seed, I don't use feeders for seed - just for fatballs and peanuts.

You could also try suspending the feeder on string/wire as this makes it a more precarious perch for larger birds.
 
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