How fast do birds empty feeders (2 Viewers)

[Euan Buchan]

Isn't it amazing as soon as you put new food out on the feeders and in the nest 2 or 3 days its half empty or completly empty. I think it is I had filled up both feeders on Sunday I think it was and now some are half empty, the squerril proof feeder has a few peanuts i left but the other one is half empty. When I filled them both up I had finished my bag of peanuts. So last night I went to the petshop Pets At Home has a great range of bird supplies there so I'll be filling it up later on. do you have to fill up your feeders in 2 or 3c days or do you wait a week? sometimes it takes a week before I fill up my squerril proof feeder. :'D

 

[pduxon]

When my folks were on holiday I found that I had to fill them up every day!!

 

[Tammie]

Hi Euan,
For me, it depends on the season. In winter, the feeders are filled every single day, sometimes twice a day. The birds eat LOTS of seed when it's cold out! They need the power! At this time of year, I'm down to filling maybe once or twice a week. I let the feeders run really low between fillings as there is lots of natural food out there for them now... bugs, seeds, etc.
I tend to save a bit of money on seed in the summer!

 

[Gill Osborne]

My feeders are being emptied at a rate of knots just now! I have one with mixed wild bird seed in which the House Sparrows love and which I also scatter over the lawn for the Woodpigeon and Collared Doves...perhaps THAT'S the reason why my lawn does not resemble a bowling green LOL
The other feeder I have just started filling with niger seed over the past fortnight. I was being visited by a couple of Goldfinch but since supplying niger I often get six or seven at a time! And yesterday we had our first youngster begging to be fed by it's parent...lovely sight!
I also put a few mealworms out on the bird table twice a day but they don't last long once the Starlings and Blackbird cotton on to them! Quite amusing to see a starling trying to cram as many as it possibly can in into it's beak then, upon trying to pick up just one more mealworm,dropping the whole lot and frantically having to start again!

Haven't actually worked out how much it costs in seed and mealworms each week but as I don't have any other pets and the birds give us so much entertainment we don't mind!

GILL

 

[Euan Buchan]

Tits have been so busy feeding on them infact when I filled up my feeder I left some on my hand and a Blue Tit actually laned on my hand and ate the peanutes that was a great expereience you could hardly feel it as it was soo tiny and cute

 

[AndyC]

If I didn't fill the feeders every day, I think the birds would be knocking on the door to find out where the food was!! At the moment its parents feeding the youngsters, but the greenfinches chuck the food everywhere and the blackbirds and pigeons tidy it all up.

AndyC

 

[Ruby]

I suppose the answer is... 'It depends..'

Sometimes my sunflower feeders need to be re-filled daily (particularly if the squirrels have taken a hand!)

On the other hand, I have just re-filled by Niger seed feeder for the first time - a firend and I have had it in one or other of our gardens since about Xmas...

It's finally getting some regular attention from the Goldfinches.


Rgds... Ruby

 

[pauco]

Every day, with all those mouths to feed it must help the adults by not using a lot of energy finding food. and then comes winter and the need to keep up thier energy to keep warm. so full all year round. keeps the pocket light.
bert.

 

[Sleeper]

Hi Euan

I must admit it was getting to the stage where I was filling up feeders regularly but as i was at work most of the day it baecame impossible to keep up with demand. I eventually decided to go over kill and purchased the 4' feeder from CJs I was away for 3 days at the weekend and when I returned the feeder was half full!

It really does depend on the time of year in my garden as it is just starting to pick up due to young being fed etc.

I became aware early that buying small and cheap feeders was going to cost more in the long run so I went mad and bought several high quality large feeders, which apart from the cleaning, do not regret one bit.

Now amounts of food being consumed is so scary I dare not tot up the amounts.

You obviously enjoy the birds in your families garden which will sure appreciate your feeding habits....and good for you!

 

[Geoff Brown]

Euan, At least every day at the moment with all the young chicks about and also a 500 millilitre jug of wheat scattered on the ground also vanishes in no time. It can be an expensive item but well worth it to see the birds.

 

[digi-birder]

We have a very large feeder with sunflower seeds and it only takes a day (at the moment) before it's almost empty. What with the 40-odd House Sparrows (including lots of young) and the Goldfinches on the niger feeder and Greenfinches and Collared Doves and Woodpigeons, we can't keep up. We also have a number of smaller feeders and they, too, empty rather swiftly.

 

[pduxon]

I don't know about anyone else but I love this time of year whether in the garden or out birding seeing the young ones really cheers me up.

 

[John N]

I don't know about anyone else but I love this time of year whether in the garden or out birding seeing the young ones really cheers me up.

I couldn't agree more Pete. At the moment Euan I have two feeders of Sunflower hearts that are emptied every day, and 3 peanut feeders, that last about 3 or 4 days and a fatball lasts a couple of days. John.

 

[Tammie]

Grrrrr!!

:C
Yesterday, I had to remove 4 of my large feeders and put them away because of at least 4 squirrels that were eating more than the birds were!!
I now have out only 3 tube feeders and the purple finches are happy again... they get the feeders to themselves now! The evening grosbeaks will manage with these feeders too.
As for the squirrels, they are banned to the ground only!!! :C

 

[RichUK]

I have to fill mine almost daily purely because the Sparrows in my area are fussy. They seem to spend most of the time throwing seeds on the floor rather than eating them. The Greenfinches and others aren't so fussy.

Rich.

 

[Euan Buchan]

Just been filling up mine today yep that meant I had to go in the awful rain but I don't want my feathery pals thinking Ive forgotten about them. Even I have to chases that blooming squerril again

 

[gillian]

Every day here too although they would like it if we went out twice a day I think!

Goldfinches, greenfunches tits have been joined now very regularly by two tree sparrows. They are spreading the word around here I think.

It is expensive but I love to see them all and feel they 'pay' for the food they eat with the entertainment they offer us.

Gillian

 

[Janshorty]

The Nyjer Seed lasts about 3 days, but mixed seed, peanuts, peanut cake and sunflower hearts need daily attention. I also put out monkey nuts and hazelnuts for the Jays.

The sunflower hearts and hazelnuts probably break the bank more than the rest. On average my monthly shopping list for the birds alone is as follows:

20 kgs mixed wild bird seed
20 kgs premium sunflower hearts
4 kgs nyjer seed
5 kgs peanuts
5 kgs monkey nuts
2 kgs hazelnuts
32 peanut cakes.


............... and that is probably why I can't afford a decent pair of bins!!!!!!

but still worth every penny!!!!!!!!! :bounce:

 

[Norbert]

I was quite shocked the other day when I suddenly realised my sunflower seed feeder had been emptied some 24 hours after I had filled it. It is being visited by countless young blue/great/coal tits at the moment so it is hardly surprising. I think it must have been a good year for blue tits - I don't remember seeing quite so many young as there are this year.

The goldfinches and siskins have started to return too, so the Nyjer seed is going down, but this doesn't usually need refilling all that often. Least popular is the peanut feeder - this doesn't seem to get much interest lately. In fact, more often than not I throw about half of them out - when they start to look a bit old!

I don't mind the expense of all this food one bit though - it gives us loads of pleasure watching so many birds.

 

[Ben Dickinson]

Aye I always find this time of the year and also winter the feeders go down far quicker than at other times of the year. I used to have Niger seed in the garden but the Goldfinches didn't seem to cotton on and none of the other birds liked it, so since then we've filled it with black sunflower seed and all the garden birds seem to love the stuff! Far more popular than normal sunflower seed I've found...