The question is what kind are you using. I use a hand mixed combination of sunflower seed and cracked corn this time of year. The birds love it.

'Nice viewing areas' makes me think there is not a lot of cover for the birds near the feeders which means they will not use them. The feeders need to be sited near enough to a hedge or trees so the birds don't feel exposed. Also which particular birds do you have in the garden as different birds like different feeds. We get lots of different tits and finches and they happily eat sunflower hearts and peanuts from the feeders but if you have, say, blackbirds they don't go onto feeders and need a bird table with food in it.

Now, you say they need cover close to the feeders. Well, ours is right out in the open and are well populated with all the birds we normally get. We have our feeding stations out in the open to fool the cats and the squirrel.

And when the sparrow hawk flies through Oldb? I'm not saying put them so close that a cat could climb up and attack the birds but that in our, and our friends experience, somewhere to retreat near to the feeders is necessary.

The best set ups that I have seen here are overhung by deciduous trees, and with a few evergreen shrubs nearby, but with good sight lines to the house and/or a seating patio, etc. The vegetation is pruned back at least a couple of meters from the feeders, though the hummingbird feeders just hang from the tree branches. Hmmm...thinking that some of that may not work elsewhere, because of squirrels, which we don't have, here.

I have the same problem as you, Bramhall. There are plenty of birds flying around my garden but the only ones eating are starlings. They are so clever too. I bought two Homgar squirrel proof feeders, not because of squirrels but to keep the starlings off all the seeds and allow the small birds access. The food has lasted a long time because there are few takers but finally the starlings have worked out how to get at it. If they stand on the perch the opening closes because they are too heavy so they cling on to the plastic trellis covering the pergola post and reach across to the seed opening. There is nowhere else I can site the feeders where the birds are protected from the marauding sparrowhawk that flies over from time to time.

I've now run out of ideas and just hope that maybe the small birds will decide they like my food after all.

At pres 1 feeder is on a tree 6 ft from a tall fence & the other is by a fence in a very quiet spot where blue tits,sparrows & blackbirds play. Robins go where ever. Quite a lot of birds are on the ground & in small bushes. Cats & squirrels are rare. We have a Cairn but he spends time in a different part of the garden & really birds are quite near him at the bottom of the garden where I'd need binoculars for any feeder.

We have only seen starlings once in our garden in 25 yrs.Last time a saw tons was at an ASDA trolley park in centre of M/cr.

Neither blackbirds nor robins will eat at feeders, you need a bird table for them to eat.

When the Sparrow hawk flies through, I get out the camera. They have to eat as well, you know.
There does not seem to be any rhyme nor reason as to why birds will feed or not feed where we put out food for them. Here no other food sources other than natural so they either eat where we feed them or do with out. In an Urban setting where there may be an abundance of food for them, they can be a lot more choosy.
At present there are 5 woodpeckers vying for the three peanut feeders.

I agree Owdb. the sparrow-hawk has as much right to live as the little song birds. Yes in an urban situation there is a lot more food... we simply have masses of birds and keep the feeders in the same place all the time :)

our robins take food from the feeders and one male blackbird will swing on the feeder to dislodge seed too.
I wonder if they are reflected in the glass and that is 'scaring' them.

Have you tried sunflower hearts? Our birds go mad for them, and there are tits, goldfinches chaffinches and the occasional greenfinch queuing up to take turns.

It seems all our birds like the sunflower hearts,in preference to nuts,mixed seeds and fat balls.They all started going mouldy,as none of them were getting eaten..so I stopped buying them...The only other food I buy now,apart from the hearts,are the suet/mealworm pellets,which I put on the ground for the Blackbirds. and Robins..the latter also go to the feeders,which I was surprised to see for the first time this year..I shall watch out to see if the Blackbird has a go,Sbg..:o)

We crossed there,Stera..and ditto..:o) Especially getting the Goldfinches back,which was lovely..So much for the Niger seeds they are supposed to prefer..not in my garden ! Sunflower hearts are their favourites,and a lot cheaper...

The magpies have learnt how to extract the peanuts from the feeders as well. Robins take the nuts as well. The blackbirds hang around underneath waiting for the seed to be dislodged. We put out apples for them

Just noticed - Bramhall ? About 5 miles from me.

It has been a relatively mild winter so there may be plenty of alternative sources of food nearby. At least one of our robins has found out how to get inside the squirrel proof guard and chases any other bird who comes near.

Just occasionally we get a greater spotted woodpecker - he only has to turn and point his beak at the littlies and they all fly away...

I've got a little cup and saucer feeder hanging from a hook on a wall. It took a couple of weeks for the birds to find it and now three different robins feed from it all day long. It has mealworms in it which they prefer wet. however, no birds seem to like the seed feeder for some reason.

I don't think it is the birds that are 'awkward' it is us expecting them to use feeders rather than feed naturally :) I regularly watch finches clambering up and down the roof struts of the bulb house and eating all the wee bugs... If they use the feeders they use them if they don't... tough! Ours do both.

I think the small birds round here are lazy - they prefer open dishes to feed from. If I put those out though the starlings, of which there are quite a few, guzzle all the food before the smaller birds have a chance.

Looks like I shall have to settle for what I've got.

I have a concrete bird bath that's too shallow. I suppose I could put food on it in a dry period. I'm not able to move it & its at the side of the garden by bushes & an amelanchier.
I tried filling a pot base full of water but leaves kept falling in

I'd just let then get on with it Bram. if they really want he food they'll use the feeders :) Ot sunflower hearts are mobbed every day by a mix. of gold finches, green finches and siskins... the peanuts and the fat balls go down more slowly

I came across a possible solution. Chicken wire! You fix it to the feeders, leaving some space between it and the tube. The holes in the wire are too small for starlings but small birds can still get in.
Currently I've hung a suet block feeder on the fence as a decoy several feet away from the feeders and have now noticed the smaller birds eating while the starlings devour the suet. So, hopefully chicken wire will work too.

In my last garden we had a large apple tree and the blackbirds were always feeding on the windfalls, they loved them. Here, I've put out apple pieces but the blackbirds (there are several) seem to prefer worms. So I've stopped the apple for fear of rats as we adjoin two gardens which are messy wildernesses. One in particular is an absolute tip with old boxes, empty animal cages, grass about two feet high and all kinds of rubbish just left out. I'd rather the blackbirds eat something else than tempt rats.

Seed is going down ...so they eat while I'm not looking

My fat block decoy is definitely helping to keep the starlings off the feeders. I placed it on the fence about 10-12 feet away and while the starlings (up to a dozen) are flocking to that it leaves the feeders free for the smaller birds who are now eating the seeds and sunflower hearts.

There is one slight drawback though - the fat block disappears in about a day and a half. It's getting expensive!

Your butcher might give you free marrow bones - ours does. You can render them down very slowly to extract the marrow for stock and you finish up with a good layer of dripping on top. The birds really love it.

I bet they do, Stera. The problem might be though that because surrounding gardens are neglected in varying degrees rats might find their way to the meat fat though I do realise that any food will attract vermin. One garden, in particular, is a wilderness containing old rabbit huts, empty boxes, a shopping trolley and heaven knows what else, as well as housing 3 or 4 dogs which are left alone for hours and hours at a time, sometimes all night. I've already found evidence of what I think might be a rat hole which I've now blocked up with stones. I'm reluctant to tempt any more. Mice I don't mind, but rats? Definitely not!

As far as the dogs are concerned, as long as someone enters the house once in 24 hours the RSPCA aren't worried, even if that person stays less than five minutes.

Meanwhile, I'll stick with the fat block for the time being. I'm fighting a losing battle with starlings as last evening there must have been thirty or more in the sky. Alas, not enough to show off their aerial displays.

Sorry to hear about the horrible mess in your neighbour's garden - why do people live like that?
The dripping goes on the bird table and it disappears very quickly. I think the cat would deal with any stray rat that might venture over from next doors chickens. We had a couple of carcases of young ones in the dining room a couple of years ago - she ate the lot.
Its good to hear you have starlings. Until this year we have been a gathering place for evening murmurations - 15mins or so of deafening racket and lots of mess on the drive before they suddenly all took off to go to the roost a couple of miles away- but this year none at all - wonder what has happened to them.

Sadly we don't see any murmurations and their aerial displays though we saw them frequently in Herefordshire over open countryside. Maybe your starlings have come here! They make a nest in the corner of the roof directly over the bins. Fortunately we have a mobile bin cleaner so his van collects the all the mess. Last summer after the nests were clear a local handyman put wire and other stuff in the roof corner to prevent a nest this year. What did the starlings do? Pulled the whole lot out and dropped it on the ground. So they're back again this year. Not sure what else we can do.

Oh the joy of an enclosed rubbish free garden.
I have a delicate tree peony & the birds have pecked at a stem with a bud...breaking it. Bird vandalism.

Not really vandalism... something the birds do naturally!