New bird feeder - how long to wait

[Peeta]

Hi all,
How do I get birds to come to my yard? I purchased a feeder with wild bird feed and have put it out but so far no luck. The weather is just starting to warm up here but just wondering how long I need to wait.

thanks
Peeta

[MGD]

It may take time for the birds to become aware of the feeder but they will come. Make sure it is in a place where they birds will feel safe and can take shelter quickly. Having a bird house nearby may also help. Other things like a bird bath where they can get a drink and wash helps too. Kind of like a mini resort for the birds.

It can take some time but be patient... they will come.

[tomf]

Make sure you clean the bird feeder often to prevent the birds from getting sick. Also clean a bird bath often; I use a scrub brush on mine.

[shadylane]

Is it an open feeder? They tend to be visited more than the enclosed types...To attract birds to your yard give protection such as shrubs, trees. Also running water will quickly attract them. Nesting materials for those bird homes, like cut lengths of yarn, best that I have seen work is to let your grasses grow (in an area, if you are lawn tidy) and through the winter they dry out, which are easily broken off when birds go seeking for nesting materials. It takes time.

[kcal34]

Sorry for the late post! I hope you are having luck attracting bird to your yard! I have only had a bird feeder for about a year now....but I found that the type of food really makes a difference.
after trail #2 on bird seed my boyfriend and I bought some bird seed from the brand scotts-and since I live in Ohio we bought a northeastern songbird mix. we even got it pretty cheap off of amazon.com. anyway, we suddenly saw tons of birds of all different varieties! our bird feeder is very simple, and just about all of our neighbors have a feeder. Ours is filled with birds while the neighbors feeders are empty! and they manage to eat all of the seed in a matter of days.

bottom line, buy a bird seed for your area and I have great results with scotts. The bird seed seems to be a good quality.

[shadylane]

One can not go wrong using black sunflower seeds...there are many many birds that enjoy those...try different types. Niger seeds for American Gold finch and House sparrows. Song bird seed is great also.

















Using different types such as fruit for this baltimore Oriole

[shadylane]

This one I have no idea...does anyone know the name of this little guy..I thought it might by an young female Red breasted grosebeak but not sure..almost looks Albino

[rainbowgardener]

Beautiful photos!

I basically also feed the black oil sunflower seeds and niger/ thistle seed. In winter some suet and in summer some dried mealworms. And I grow lots of things with seeds and berries that birds like. We have shrubs and trees, a big pond, a little (artificial) pond and a birdbath. We always have lots of birds around.

If you like the goldfinches, it is worth it to invest in an upside down feeder:



It has the perches above the feeder holes instead of the other way around. Goldfinches can hang upside down like that to feed and house finches can't. Otherwise the house finches mob the feeder and you won't see very many goldfinches