How Many Different Bird Types Visit Your Garden?

[gracie 10]

Owlschick... Try planting some shrubs or plants that will attract wildlife. I never had a goldfinch in my garden until i planted some Teasel plants, now i get plenty feeding on those and some niger seed feeders. The teasel will also self sow , so you will only need to plant it once.

[taxman 12]

We've only recently moved. Our new place has lots of Leylandii and next door has one of those pristine, clean gardens with boring lawn and gnomes.

 

I've put up a birdtable and started scattering seed but there is nowhere to put hangers. In the past fortnight I've had blackbird, woodpigeon, wren and dunnock. When I've stuck a few more shrubs in and placed a few more feeders I hope to see an increase in birdlife.

[mikeG 16]

We put fat balls and seed out. The fat balls are popular with small birds, I think tits (blue, coal, great, longtailed etc.) but I dont know the difference. Maybe a chaffinch. Blackbirds try but cant get in the feeders. Nor can pigeons and magpies. Occasional crow and sparrow (hedge I think). Robins are the birds which come very near to us. I did see a thrush - just the once. Last summer a pheasant lurked - lucky I didn't fancy it for dinner. Must have got lost. Unfortunately the grey squirrels will get at anything and unfortunately take a great deal of what we put out. I know of nothing to scare them off, apart from a .22 air rifle? The cat is 18+ and can scare off nothing.

[OwlsChick 10]

What have you put out? Is it a general bird food? Some of the cheaper ones are full of wheat, split peas and even bits of dog biscuit. Pigeons are the only things likely to eat the wheat. Maybe try a few fat balls?

 

How long have you been putting it out? Birds do take their time sometimes to find a new place, but I'd have thought with the weather the way it is, they might have found you a bit faster.

 

---------- Post added 22-01-2013 at 21:32 ----------

 

 

I got the 41st species of bird in my garden last week - one I've been waiting to see for a while - a brambling.

 

Ive tried them with 5 in 1 complete? This dosent mean much as im a novice.We have planted a few green plants but they will take yrs to establish ect...

[redted50 10]

I'm not too clued up on bird types but along with the regulars,sparrows-starlings-loads of magpies-crows-ring neck doves-robins-wood pigeons-various tits a couple of unusual looking birds have visited us the last couple of years,I've had a look on the web at various species and the nearest resemblance is the mistlethrush.They are beautiful looking birds and feisty too.They don't stand for any bullying from the magpies,in fact,they chase them off.Does that sound like the mistlethrush? I mean I really don't know.

[irenewilde 10]

I'm not too clued up on bird types but along with the regulars,sparrows-starlings-loads of magpies-crows-ring neck doves-robins-wood pigeons-various tits a couple of unusual looking birds have visited us the last couple of years,I've had a look on the web at various species and the nearest resemblance is the mistlethrush.They are beautiful looking birds and feisty too.They don't stand for any bullying from the magpies,in fact,they chase them off.Does that sound like the mistlethrush? I mean I really don't know.

 

Could be. If it's that feisty I'm thinking it could be a fieldfare which is quite like a thrush but with a grey head. Did you have a look at one of those? Or there's a redwing which is also quite similar. And there's song thrushes but they're smaller and tend to be quite shy. But fieldfares are quite aggressive towards other birds. All the thrush family are gorgeous birds!

 

---------- Post added 23-01-2013 at 22:00 ----------

 

Ive tried them with 5 in 1 complete? This dosent mean much as im a novice.We have planted a few green plants but they will take yrs to establish ect...

 

That looks like good stuff. Not sure what the answer is other than patience

Edited January 23, 2013 by irenewilde

[redted50 10]

These are predominantly brown but their chest is a very bright colour of yellow & fauny speckles.They are bigeer than a starling but a bit smaller than a magpie.They make me laugh because they are hugely out-numbered by as many as 15 to 2 with the magpies but they stand their ground.As I said,they appeared last winter then,to our surprise returned again this winter.

[Chumley 10]

At the moment there's a goldcrest working his way through the hedge just outside the dining room window. I've never seen one so close before - he's about two or three feet away at times.

 

Last night, thanks to the bare branches and snowy background I finally saw (albeit in silhouette) the tawny owl that sits too-wooing outside most nights.

 

We also get:

 

- regularly; chaffinches, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, long tailed tits, wood pigeons, magpies, jays, crows, rooks, blackbirds, robins, dunnocks, wrens and moorhens.

 

- occasionally; nuthatches, treecreeper, greenfinches, bull finches, goldfinches, mistle thrush, grey wagtails, redwings, collared doves, greater spotted woodpecker, lesser spotted woodpecker, heron, mallard, mandarin ducks.

 

- rarely; blackcap, sparrowhawk, barn owl, dipper, kingfisher.

 

That's 36 in total. I've never once seen a sparrow or a starling in my current house - when I was a child that's all we ever got.

[stressconsul 10]

We have attracted a huge variety of small birds over the last couple of years just by putting out sunflower hearts. The bullfinch sits in the feeding tray stuffing his beak and seeing off all comers until he has had his fill.

[mikeG 16]

Further to my previous post, I have seen the occasional starling but its a rare sighting. Where have they all gone? Our garden in Crosspool 55 years ago was full of them . Sparrows too, loads of them.

[Jordan 1989 10]

One - the Bombay ****ehawk.

[mabel lily 10]

So what do you put out for them Chumley?