Bird table or feeding station?

Certainly if there's no flat surface for the bigger birds they won't come, Denise. Is there any way you can strengthen the top part?

With just hanging feeders you'll only get the little birds.
Bonkersbon is very good at this - maybe he can suggest something.

Why not post a photo, too, so that we can see the problem??

Is the actual stand itself wide enough to drill through and push some dowelling into which would serve as perches, thats how we did it when we had an aviary...........

Having more than one feeding station/bird table works well.
And it is quite a good idea to move these around the garden at times if possible. This helps to prevent the spread of disease in birds, by their using the same perching places too often when approaching the feeders...

it doesnt matter which i use, as the squirrels get to it before the birds in my garden im trying to think up some ingenious way to stop them !

I have some squirrel-proof bird feeders... globe shaped.

Sparrows and bluetits can get in through the outer grid to the peanuts or fatballs inside, but squirrels and bigger birds can't reach the bird food.

Thank-you I think I will also get a feeding station, keeping the table for the bigger birds. Just keeping it clean is the problem. I dont get squirrels in the garden never known why as we occassionaly see them in the trees in the fields. The pheasants come every day make a lot of noise then go.

thanks terratoonie i will definately be on the hunt for one of those i have tried everything else.you will have to ge a mini hoover drc726

My globe-shaped squirrel-proof feeders are by Gardman..they are a good design, except I've found the black paint peels off them after not many months outdoors...
They can be fixed to metal poles, so looking like lollipops, or they can hang from a hook...

I don't have squirrels in the garden... I bought mine to deter the starlings from pushing the sparrows away from the feeders... the very slim starlings and young starlings can get in... so only the chubby well-fed starlings are excluded.Lol.

I also feed the collared doves elsewhere.

aw thats good, thanks for tip ill look out for one in garden centre next time we go

I get crows and some starlings which is why I think these hangers would work for me Terratoonie.

I have the hanging "globes" for the birds a little way down my back garden. Those two feeders remain there all year...

All day, about a dozen sparrows are flying in and out of them... no large birds...

Then in the autumn I fix a pole near my studio window on the back lawn, and put an extra globe on there (lollipop style) and this means I can watch the sparrows, robins, blue tits etc. from indoors, throughout the winter months. I remove that one in the springtime.

I think I have photos of my globe bird-feeders taken earlier in the year.
If so, I'll try to put one on GoY tomorrow...

The section inside the globe which contains the bird food comes in a choice of two designs... either with mesh to contain peanuts etc,. or a see-through plastic tube to hold smaller seeds and nuts... I have both types...

The feeders would certainly deter the crows and most starlings... The only time the starlings used mine was a few weeks ago when young slimmer starlings were around.

Thanks T thats very helpful

I've just re-edited the above comment... a bit tired when I wrote it... It makes more sense now... I think. Lol. :o)

Our doves come onto the grass at the bottom of the feeders & pick up the seeds the others drop so I've started throwing a few handfuls down to give them more. That's even with 2 cats in the vicinity...altho' strictly speaking Phoebe can't catch a flea...but she tries bless her!

We've found the crows take whole fatballs from the hanging feeders plus the feeder itself sometimes so we tie everything tightly to the pole! They are ratbags!!

Thanks Fluff... that's reminded me...

I forgot to say that the globe feeders with the mesh tubes inside will take about 4 fat balls stacked on top of one another...

I do that to Fluff as they fly off with the seed bells to when the bell gets to a certain size. My cat will sit below it sometimes just to keep them away little imp.

Take it from me where there is food they will find away , I have had a pigeon hovering eating off one feeder hung off my line post, I now have a feeding station and they land on that too.

Hi Drc I have had a feed station for about 3 years now and I am wanting to get a bird table/house too, the wood pigeons and doves get to all the food I put out for the robins, so I need one that is small enough to allow the robins in but not the bigger birds. To keep it clean will be a bit of a pain but very hot water and a tiny tiny bit of Jeyes fluid will do it, but you have to do this off planted area's as the Jeyes fluid will kill plants and grass.

I get big gangs of starlings here! Nasty bullying little sods! And crows too! I think I'll get a feeding station. Mind you if I'm around, I just make a noise & they go away, but the tits & sparrows are all used to me so they just come back as soon as the starlings move off!

I've got a friend who is a carpenter who has made me a three tier table. I also hang lots of feeders in the tree next to it, so there's plenty of room for them all :-)

Starlings are scavengers anyway Marie so they will (and do) eat anything, anywhere and yes they are bullies, when they decend, they do it en masse and its like letting out time at the local bird sanctuary and all the other birds scarper :o)))
Ooooh Sue you have the Ritz of bird tables there, you spoil them :o)))

Thanks everyone I am always amazed how quick Tits can empty a feeder. I do want to keep the doves so it seems I get a station and keep the table.

I call it my Bird hotel Bob lol :-)

Sounds like a five star gourmet restaurant for birds !

LOL ! Had a flat table when I first started about 12 years ago, then they just seemed to get bigger and bigger !! :-)))

:o)

I might have missed a response or two, Drc, so if someone's said this already, ignore me! I had a similar problem with my bird table and I've found the answer - I went to the local carpet shop and asked for vinyl flooring offcuts - they had odd pieces in a bin outside, so I brought a suitable one home, cut it to size and shape, made two small holes either side for drainage (although my table has a roof) and then fitted it to the table. Hey presto, wipes clean - I do it every 4 or 5 days after the table's empty with Mr. Muscle and kitchen roll (and rubber gloves, of course). Then I use an old cloth with just water to wipe any residue of Mr. Muscle off, let it dry, and replenish the food.

Good idea, bamboo, my table's wooden & a b to clean, but I think I've got some lino scraps around! I'll give it a go!

Ive got some vinyl in the garage thanks Bamboo.

Think you ll find Drc that most birds rub along together and sort their own pecking order.

Trying to exclude certain types of bird is problematic so as we live under a large rookery and also get invaded by starlings we make them fat feeders during winter months.

They love it and this frees the little ones to concentrate on seeds they prefer.

We get no magpies or jays as rooks wont tolerate them and smaller birds even nest in same trees as rookery ..so they cant pose too much of a threat.Collared doves dont mind them but go nuts if a jackdaw appears .

Thats an interesting idea bonkersbon we get magpies and jays and starlings as well as crows so we are going to try 2 areas, 1 hanging for small birds and the table for larger birds, with the ground feeding birds under both?

Dunno if you do this already, Drc, but I always reserve any fat from a roast, specially duck, reheat it and chuck loads of broken up bread and seeds if I've got them into it to soak it up, then I put it out on the bird table. To be done when it is very cold indeed, and not past the end of February, when the birds might be nesting and feeding young.

I've uploaded a photo of my globe-shaped feeders. These are loved by the sparrows and other little birds which come to my gardens.

Just looked at your large feeders Terratoonie certainly would protect the smaller birds while feeding. I do use fat from roasts Bamboo also very aware of what not to give them once they have young, but I hadnt taken on board its as early as the end of Feb so willl stop it a bit earlier next year.

Hi Drc...
Yes, the feeders are the most suitable I've found.
The sparrow population has increased locally ! :o)

I think its just the bread that's the problem after end Feb.

Think it was Clarice who suggested putting porridge oats in the fat or lard . Along with crushed peanuts and raisins not expensive to make ..we put in a large dish but bring it in each evening as left overnight too tempting for Ratty.

Larger birds often the first to visit the garden and as morning progresses they get smaller in size - if magpies and jays a real problem a suggestion would be to minimize whats left out over night and top up tables esp in the morning.

Oh yea, forgot to mention the oats, always put those in, plus raisins or sultanas, plus any fragments of nuts I haven't eaten. They also love apple cores, chopped up.

Thanks everyone I now have a new top covering on the table which should make it easier to keep clean and am going to make some fat balls after tomorrows roast.

Mmm, roast ... don't set me off on food again....

Well now its colder we tend to have roasts