Forum Topic

Small bird numbers declining fast

I have suspended a bird feeder high into a large rose bush and watched as a large number of small birds queued to pick up a mix of seeds including a high proportion of sunflower seeds. (It is not suitable for pigeons). I have recently noticed that the amount of seed taken in a given time varies, and this morning I saw a bird of prey, possibly a sparrowhawk, sitting in the same rose bush and taking its pick from whatever arrived. The North Acton area badly needs an additional / alternative location for a feeder.

Chris Bell ● 5389d46 Comments

Decline in the numbers of garden birds has been happening for several years.Grey squirrels are a pest and destroy nests and eggs as do foxes and cats, magpies,jays and any carrion birds.The cutting down of trees and bushes has also destroyed their habitats.

Keith Iddon ● 5389d

People's inability to accept and understand other life forms and share this planet with them also contributes to this.Just look at the number of people who go into a blind panic over wasps' nests with a kill kill kill attitude instead of finding out more about them.  With no consideration for insects which may pollinate plants and be food for birds they are extremely short-sighted.  What happened to the nature table at school?

Philippa Bond ● 5389d

Indeed.Do primary school kids still do the Nature Trail at school?

Keith Iddon ● 5389d

My neighbour whose garden backs on to mine used to regularly go out and turn over some soil in his garden for the robin "Rudolf" as he fondly called him. Sadly he - the neighbour, not Rudolf - was taken into hospital and subsequently died. I saw Rudolf flitting about and so put some food out for him, which he took with alacrity. Given the danger of cats (my garden seems to be the M25 for pussies)I then got a bird table. Soon other birds started to visit.Now I have three feeding poles with feeders and fatball holders, protected ground feeder and bird bath. Result, in a small garden I now have the East Acton Airforce - sparrows,starlings, green finch, goldfinch, blue tits, great tits,collerd doves, black birds etc. Only downside, also get the darn parrots.A very successful breeding season this summer with multiple broods for a number of my visitors.My next door neigbour's grand son now an avid viewer and his highest count was 32 goldfinches in my garden at the one time.They give me a great deal of pleasure and the sound of bird song a consistent delight.So I recommend 'bird feeding' to all, even if you only have a small garden.

Charles Gallichan ● 5389d

Charles,I had these probs. too with larger birds like the woodpigeons nicking all the grub.I now hang fat balls in a couple of bushes where they can't get in.Seems to work.

Keith Iddon ● 5389d

maybe fewer people are putting out less, or unsuitable food for birds.  Mine seem to get through enormous quantities of sunflower seeds, peanuts, feeder mix, and fat balls, plus a bit of any fruit that is left over.  I certainly get fewer than I used to, which I think is partly due to the large number of parrots around here.

Nina Battleday ● 5389d

I've had my garden designed to attract all manner of wildlife, including small garden birds. I've put out two feeders one with nuts and the other with seeds but alas the birds seem a bit weary. I have seen robins, blue tits, and more amazingly quite a few wrens. We in Avenue Road have this magnificent tree which is extensively covered in ivy, I reckon it is a very important home for birds. I make a plea for encouraging bats also, let's all put some bat boxes up, as they are increasingly desperate for roosting places. My Xmas present is going to be two bat boxes and a frog/toad house, I hope I can make small difference but if we all in Acton did similar things wouldn't that be something! A wildlife oasis in the city!

Gareth Sinclair ● 5388d

I moved the bird feeder to the end of a bendy branch so that the squirrels couldn't walk along it and eat all the nuts.The darned things chewed the branch off so that it fell to the ground!

Philippa Bond ● 5388d

Philippa - cheer up - there's no such thing as a squirrel proof feeder!  Some of the bird feeding places sell one that works on weight (you adjust it to suit the weight of a small bird, but anything heavier closes the feeding holes) but it's around £40!  Think I'd rather give the squirrels a bit of food instead - and also my indoor cat loves to watch them!

Nina Battleday ● 5388d

I am using a clear plastic tube feeder with two all-metal opposing fold-up ring perches near the bottom and a metal top cover, branded RSPB. Only small birds can reach the seed. We do not get many squirrels as they rarely get across the road without being flattened.

Chris Bell ● 5388d

You could try suspending the bird feeder on a thick piece of knicker elastic.Squirrels don't like the bouncimg up and down involved when they land on the feeder.You can also make a paste of veg oil and chilli powder and coat the feeder as squirrels hate chilli and it has no effect on birds.It's a bit messy tho'.

Keith Iddon ● 5388d

I hang my fat balls and seed tube cage from the washing line where only the small birds can grip on to and when the pigeons sit on the roof of the extension next door, I put down some loose seeds on the grass for them so that everyone gets to eat!

Miriam Kerketta ● 5387d

Do the entire universe a favour and please don't feed pigeons...

Keith Iddon ● 5387d

Keith - I would dearly love to cut down on the food that the pigeons take, but unfortunately if you feed small birds pigeons inevitably get quite a bit of it.  Any bright ideas, other than putting a notice out saying 'No pigeons' as to how to stop them?

Nina Battleday ● 5387d

Nina,As I said in an earlier post,hang the food in a bush or tree.The larger birds are usually ground feeders and are too big and clumsy to get into bushes.You can make a hook for a fat ball out of a large paper clip or the like.I've been doing this for a while and it works quite well.

Keith Iddon ● 5387d

Is it just me then that loves the foxes, squirrels, parrots and pigeons?Animal lover W3.

Carl Tamboli ● 5386d

Nah, Not just you!

Miriam Kerketta ● 5385d

It's not that I don't love foxes, parrots etc, it's just that I get quite a lot of parrots that guzzle food which is meant for the native birds, and which is pretty expensive for a pensioner to buy.  As someone who was bought up in the country I had never seen a fox, and didn't see one until I came to live in Acton in 1984.  Squirrels are, like parrots, non native - having said that, I enjoy their antics, but again, they do eat a lot of the food meant for small birds.  So, Carl, I'm not against all these species, just feeling a bit cash strapped!!

Nina Battleday ● 5385d

Hi Nina, yes I totally understand that bird feed is very expensive. Speaking on behalf of the parrot community, I'm sure, like all birds, that they are very grateful.Carl

Carl Tamboli ● 5385d

Carl,Foxes,squirrels,magpies and jays destroy the nests of small birds and eat the eggs and the young.As for pigeons,they are a plague imo.

Keith Iddon ● 5385d

Sadly I have noticed that fewer birds come into my garden since we laid a new patio. Also a large tree was removed from a garden adjoining mine.I just put fresh seed, water and fat ball and just hope they come back soon!

Jean F Fernandez ● 5385d

I like blackbirds and they love scrabbling through and turning over all the leaves on the ground looking for slugs and worms and spiders etc.  They make a lot of noise doing that. The wren I first thought was a mouse because of the way it seemed to run up the bark of the shrub honeysuckle.

Philippa Bond ● 5384d

Keith, that's nature. Dogs chase and sometimes kill cats, cats do the same to mice - it's just instinct.Foxes, like all animals need to eat and feed their own young. Agreed nature can at times be harsh but unlike human behaviour, there is usually sound logic to their actions.Carl

Carl Tamboli ● 5384d

Carl,I know.But foxes have only been urban for 10 years or so,It is not their natural habitat,ditto grey squirrels(American)parrots(South American) and there is no 'sound logic'to the being where they are,Grey squirrels have also aided in the serious reduction in the numbers of red squirrels(native species).They are only slightly larger than the red only twice the mass and much more aggressive.Whenever they enter the environment where reds have lived,they take over.What we have in town's is an altered nature with all species that have been introduced higher up in the food chain to small birds.Farmers,and indeed anyone who adheres to the legislation guidelines,is allowed to kill grey squirrels,If there wasn't a problem,there wouldn't be this legislation.

Keith Iddon ● 5384d

Woodpecker spotted at the top of Goldsmith Avenue yesterday afternoon........Small birds in this vicinity have not diminished, at the last count we have some 13-15 that visit our very small, but woody garden.The key is to put the feeders inside the shrubbery where the large birds/squirrels/rats/mice can't get access.

Dee Cook ● 5384d

Dee - I get a great spotted woodpecker on my feeders most mornings.  A couple of years ago, there were no less than four green woodpeckers on the lawn here, but haven't seen them since.  They seem to be particularly fond of peanuts!

Nina Battleday ● 5384d

Starlings spotted yesterday fighting off Parakeets for feeders in nearby garden.  Have they returned from their migration?

Dee Cook ● 5383d

I thought they had all migrated to the Asda car park in Park Royal

Chris Bell ● 5383d

... so that's where they have come from!

Dee Cook ● 5383d

Yes Dee, you never see them in Iceland.

Charles Gallichan ● 5383d

Parakeets and finches feeding together at the feeder today - they didn't seem to mind sharing.

Angela Peel ● 5382d

I agree Carl, it seems to me that any animal or plant for that matter that is successful in living alongside mankind in a wholly artificial environment is labelled a pest. I for one welcome squirrels, foxes, parrots, mice, crows what ever to my garden. It seems to me that some see wildlife as a beauty contest, small pretty garden birds, ahhhhh sweet, squirrels and pidgeons,, pests! All wildlife has to be managed to a degree in an urban setting but let's not start discriminating among animals because we can't with other human beings!

Gareth Sinclair ● 5380d

We have many birds in our garden and they don't mind the squirrels at all. Each have their own favorite feeder. This morning the squirrels had a plate of peanut butter covered pancakes. We always have a vegetable garden as well as flower garden and the squirrels never dig out the plants.

Audrey Walton ● 5379d

If you welcome foxes, you have to accept that they will kill and eat cats.  I don't have evidence but I think that missing cats have been taken by foxes.

Geoffrey Berg ● 5379d

Geoffrey - unfortunately, I think you are right.  Foxes are not part of the urban scene, and are only too happy to scavenge for food, whether it is in our waste bins or small mammals.  They are likely to prey on cats that are very young, very old, or sick - all the more reason to keep cats in after dark.  Having said that, one of my cats, who was rather more street wise than some, used to sit and look at the local fox - and the fox at him!

Nina Battleday ● 5379d

Gareth,You have it all wrong.The thread is about declining numbers of indigenous garden birds,Nothing about them being pretty.It's not about them living along side mankind,but whether they can survive along side imported predatory species.They are nearer the bottom of the food chain thanks to squirrels,foxes and parrots etc.Allof them imported from either rural or foreign parts.

Keith Iddon ● 5378d

What are you suggesting Keith, that we forcefully repatriate/deport  foxes to the countryside, squirrels to north America and parrots to the Himalayas ? Or that we should cull these creatures? I think you would find a sizeable no of the great British public would take to the barricades to prevent that ! :)) What actual evidence do you have to sugggest garden birds are in decline, my garden is 25 sq foot and so far I've seen blue and great tits, robins, wrens, blackbirds,

Gareth Sinclair ● 5378d

Starlings, and sparrows (sadly very much in decline). I note you make no reference to the impact of man on these creatures  decline, no let's scapegoat magpies, foxes, parrots, these bleeding invasive foreigners! You know I'm sure you don't intend it but I'm struck how similar your views on this subject are to the policies of the NF ! I'm not entirely serious about this last point but let's embrace all of nature and stop being spececist and selective !

Gareth Sinclair ● 5378d

No Gareth.Those ideas are solely yours.I was just explaining why there is a decline in bird numbers.If you doubt this ,the RNIB has all the info.

Keith Iddon ● 5377d

Do you mean the RSPB even ;))

Gareth Sinclair ● 5377d

Duh..indeed I do.Don't know what came over me...

Keith Iddon ● 5377d

A goldcrest was on the fat balls this afternoon - a first for this garden!

Lorna Dodd ● 5377d

The RSPB Annual Bird Watch is on this weekend; it takes just 1 hour of your time and will help identify issues for such declines!http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/

Sarah Allan ● 5351d

I now have more than one feeder, spaced some distance apart, and there are now two large queues fighting for their turns, with a fair variety of species. I have no idea how many turn up as they arrive from a large area including the cemetery opposite, grab some seeds, then fly off again.

Chris Bell ● 5351d

The RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch is next weekend - 28th/29th January - or so my RSPB magazine tells me!We have a lot of goldfinches in our garden, but have noticed a decline in greenfinches, and as for sparrows - a rare sight these days. We have two large squirrel proof feeders, a nut feeder, a niger seed feeder and a holder for bread! We do not put any food on the ground or a bird table now as when we did, it was eaten by pigeons and squirrels, not the birds it was intended for.

Amanda Knights ● 5351d

Most people, the RSPB in particular, advocate keeping your feeders clean by disinfecting them regularly to prevent the spread of disease.  Green finch seem to be particularly prone to contracting trichomonosis, a parasite of the upper digestive tract, which is on the increase.

Andy Sunters ● 5351d