I put a feeder out a few months ago and have kept it stocked up with
fat balls.

For months, almost the only visitors (that I saw) were robins. But over
the last month or so, I've not seen any robins at all and the only
visitors have been sparrows.

Sorry for the newbie question but where have the robins gone? Are they
nesting somewhere? If so, they surely still need to eat! And why the
sudden arrival of sparrows? Where were they while the robins ruled the
roost?

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

Richard Cole wrote:
> On 31 May 2006 06:27:10 -0700, willcarter [at] lycos.com wrote:
>
> >I put a feeder out a few months ago and have kept it stocked up with
> >fat balls.
> >
> >For months, almost the only visitors (that I saw) were robins. But over
> >the last month or so, I've not seen any robins at all and the only
> >visitors have been sparrows.
> >
> >Sorry for the newbie question but where have the robins gone? Are they
> >nesting somewhere? If so, they surely still need to eat! And why the
> >sudden arrival of sparrows? Where were they while the robins ruled the
> >roost?
> Take a look at http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/r/robin/index.asp,
> http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/h/housesparrow/index.asp and
> http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/t/treesparrow/index.asp
>
> The robins will now be finding plenty to eat of their preferred foods.
> Either that or if you had fat balls in the orange mesh, they've choked on
> the mesh.
>
> Richard

Janet - thanks for the reassurance.

Richard - Very useful links, thank you. I've had a very enjoyable hour
surfing the RSPB site and have decided to join up, which I guess is
proof that links do their job!

Was a bit alarmed by your comment about the orange mesh. The fatballs
are in green plastic mesh, which I presume has the same potential
danger? Is it recommended then that the fat balls are removed from the
mesh before putting into the feeder?

Thanks

W.

Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)

Richard Cole <ispcrco [at] hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
> On 31 May 2006 12:54:42 -0700, willcarter [at] lycos.com wrote:
>> Richard - Very useful links, thank you. I've had a very enjoyable
>> hour surfing the RSPB site and have decided to join up, which I
>> guess is proof that links do their job!
>>
>> Was a bit alarmed by your comment about the orange mesh. The fatballs
>> are in green plastic mesh, which I presume has the same potential
>> danger? Is it recommended then that the fat balls are removed from
>> the mesh before putting into the feeder?
> Will
>
> I really should have put at least half a smiley after that comment
> about the mesh, sort of a -).
>
> I recall a comment, I think on radio 4 but possibly in the RSPB
> magazine, or in a usenet group, regarding mesh bags, which was
> something along the lines of 'do not use them as they can break of
> the plastic and then choke'. Unfortunately I can't remember what the
> recommended preferred method. (We have a wooden frame with steel mesh
> back and front that takes a block of fat, so I didn't worry too much
> when I read/heard the comment).

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/whatyoucando/feedinggardenbirds /feeding.asp

Last paragraph:
Mesh bags - a warning
Peanuts and fat balls are regularly sold in nylon mesh bags. Never put out
any food in mesh bags. These may trap birds' feet and even cause broken or
torn off feet and legs. Birds with a barbed tongue, eg woodpeckers, can
become trapped by their beaks.

</quote>


--
NK
Follow spamtrap instructions to reply

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It's not all doom and gloom. Our hanging nut baskets balls were visited by
more than a dozen species of birds over the winter. Only tits were
sufficiently confient to manage fat balls.
Tits and greenfinches and gold crest have the natural ability to hang on so
do starlings and woodpeckers (and not observed tree creepers and
nuthatches). Several other birds, chaffinch, robin and house sparrow
developed the ability over the winter.
Collared doves approached the nut baskets along an adjacent branch and
became confused when the end of the branch dipped away under their weight.
Dunnocks and wrens scounged the bits that fell off.
Birds are individuals and the learning of oyster catchers for example is
well documented-it takes then a year to learn to open a mussel- and 18months
before they have the skill to bring up a brood.
I left the nut basket up into the nesting season and it was ignored for a
week as the weather picked up.
During a cold snap they came back and cleaned it out, so I put out the last
cupful of nuts, and our nesting bluetits used it briefly. There is plenty of
food now so after a couple of days they ignored it.
Clean up and wait for next winter!
It is possible the robin in question had difficulty eating from fat balls in
a mesh and would only try when it was extremely hungry. As for other birds,
what is your local natural population? How many cats use your garden?
Feeding is a high risk situation for birds-even the agile tits are
constantly loking around when hanging on a nut basket. Sometimes they feed
in pairs-one on look out.
regards
David T

"Richard Cole" <ispcrco [at] hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:213s72lj35ov4pace7g4k08elb5hru9cba [at] 4ax.com...
> On Wed, 31 May 2006 22:09:16 +0100, "WRabbit"
> <thewrabbit [at] replaceinvalidwithcomgmail.invalid> wrote:
>> http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/whatyoucando/feedinggardenbirds /feeding.asp
>>
>>Last paragraph:
>>Mesh bags - a warning
>>Peanuts and fat balls are regularly sold in nylon mesh bags. Never put out
>>any food in mesh bags. These may trap birds' feet and even cause broken or
>>torn off feet and legs. Birds with a barbed tongue, eg woodpeckers, can
>>become trapped by their beaks.
>>
>></quote>
> Thanks for clarifying that.
>
> Richard
> Web pages: http://www.caravanningnow.co.uk/ - caravanning,
> http://www.rcole.org/ - personal web site and
> http://www.homeindorset.co.uk
> because I loves the domain name for email.
> --
> ...and so, as the Robin Cook of fate wheedles out of the public enquiry of
> destiny, and the Michael Howard of eternity chokes on his own smug smile
> of
> fate... - Humphrey Littleton closing comment in I'm sorry I haven't a
> clue.

Message from david taylor <davidtaylor1 [at] onetel.com> on Wed, 7 Jun 2006
08:34:07 Re: Some bird education please:

>It's not all doom and gloom. Our hanging nut baskets balls were visited by
>more than a dozen species of birds over the winter. Only tits were
>sufficiently confient to manage fat balls.
>Tits and greenfinches and gold crest have the natural ability to hang on so
>do starlings and woodpeckers (and not observed tree creepers and
>nuthatches). Several other birds, chaffinch, robin and house sparrow
>developed the ability over the winter.
>Collared doves approached the nut baskets along an adjacent branch and
>became confused when the end of the branch dipped away under their weight.
>Dunnocks and wrens scounged the bits that fell off.
>Birds are individuals and the learning of oyster catchers for example is
>well documented-it takes then a year to learn to open a mussel- and 18months
>before they have the skill to bring up a brood.
>I left the nut basket up into the nesting season and it was ignored for a
>week as the weather picked up.
>During a cold snap they came back and cleaned it out, so I put out the last
>cupful of nuts, and our nesting bluetits used it briefly. There is plenty of
>food now so after a couple of days they ignored it.
>Clean up and wait for next winter!
>It is possible the robin in question had difficulty eating from fat balls in
>a mesh and would only try when it was extremely hungry. As for other birds,
>what is your local natural population? How many cats use your garden?
>Feeding is a high risk situation for birds-even the agile tits are
>constantly loking around when hanging on a nut basket. Sometimes they feed
>in pairs-one on look out.
>regards
>David T
>

I feed the birds throughout the summer. There are always a few visitors
for sunflower, and tits, blackbird, doves, robin and starlings
appreciate lightly dampened bread. Fat balls and fat cakes are
dominated by starlings. Goldfinches take sunflower hearts and nyger.
Tit and starlings also go for peanuts.

Joe
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