Why do birds stop coming to the bird feeder?

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Sometimes you will notice that birds’ presence decreases day by day on your feeder, but you can hear them when you sit in your yard or go out for a walk. So, That time you must think about one question in your head why do birds stop coming to the bird feeder? Don’t worry. Here I am to give you an in-depth explanation of why you won’t see them on your favorite feeder.

Today I try to provide you with five reasons why do birds disappear from your feeder.

why do birds stop coming to the bird feeder?

Natural Food Sources

This is the most common fact in reducing bird activity on the feeder. At different times of the year, birds find a plentiful amount of natural foods like insects, insect eggs, seeds, nuts, buds,  fruit, worms, and more. Those nature foods are favorite among birds. And those natural food sources are relatively easy to pick for birds. For this Birds depend on natural foods instead of your feeder for survival.

Predators

Birds are fragile when they are feeding. So, They always like to choose a safe place.

Cats are adorable and pretty, but when Cats are roaming outside, they are prey on birds’ eyes, which is the cause of birds leaving your feeders.

If you have a cat as a pet animal, try to keep them indoors to avoid this issue, or for neighbor cats, you can talk with them about this matter.

Also, If you notice that small birds ignore your feeder, it must be for predators birds. So, Always try to keep different feeding stations for large birds and little birds or use a cage to keep away predators of birds.

Is your Bird Food Fresh?

Bird foods spoil too. If you wish to watch birds with one-time food service in a month, then it will be your biggest foolishness. Because Birds don’t like to eat spoiled food, and when they notice this on your feeder, they surely avoid your feeder.

If you put food for them for a long time on the feeder, the birdseed or food lost its nutritional value. For example, you can take niger seed when niger seeds dry out, it loses some of their fat content, and birds don’t find enough energy on your feeder. Therefore, It is important to change rotten or spoiled food.

Birds find plentiful natural food for them like a juicy bug or a berry at the of summer, So why they will come to your feeder where you won’t serve fresh food to them.

Dirty Feeder

Placing a feeder means taking new responsibility. So, After placing a feeder, It doesn’t mean your work is done. You sit back in your favorite chair to watch birds. If you really want to attract birds and keep them away from the disease, you need to look at the feeder cleaning. Otherwise, it will cause serious issues among birds, and they fall into serious diseases from your feeder. I hope you don’t want to be a cause of birds’ health issues. So, Always try to clean your feeder once every two weeks.

Also, Birds don’t like to eat from dirty feeders, and they left your feeder and avoid the feeder next time they visit your place.

Neighbour

It is another reason why birds left your feeder. It might your neighbor start feeding birds and do well than you. But It doesn’t mean that your next-door neighbor provides the best one because birds travel mile to mile to find a good food source. So,  That perfect site where birds find the best source may be a mile away.

New Feeder Or change Happen

If you place a new feeder in your yard and hope to watch birds for the next hour, it is an impossible task because birds take time to choose their feeding station before trying it. So, After installing a feeder, it may take a few days for birds to start visiting your feeder.

Also, you will witness birds missing from your feeder because you change the location of your feeder. The main cause of these birds navigate their food by sight and sound but not by smell. So, In this case, be patient and wait until they don’t find the new locations eventually.

However, If you want to help them find a new location, then sprinkle a small amount of seed on the ground to provide them a clue.

Migration

Also, you will witness a specific type of bird missing at the time of migration. For example, from July to September, most migrating birds start migrating to the south for winter.

So, You will miss a few bird species that time but also get the opportunity to watch unique types of birds as migrating birds pass through.

Noise

Birds like to avoid the noisy area and want to take their male to a quiet area. So, If you place a feeder in a noisy area, then birds must avoid your feeder.

Also, You can look at this video to know more.

A freelance designer, writer, and content marketer who also loves to spend her leisure watching wild birds and improving her garden and balconies making safe heaven for birds.

1 thought on “Why do birds stop coming to the bird feeder?”

  1. Since I got a Baffle that sits on top of the birdfeeder to keep the squirrels away, birds no longer come to the feeder. Are the birds scared of the Baffle?

    Reply

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