Fat balls!

[Athley]

Don't know if this is a daft question, apologies if it is, but is it possible for the garden birds to eat too much from the fat ball and get obese.

Mine seem to get through loads of them - they look ok not winged flab monsters or anything but I don't want to cause them damage. I do put out fresh apples, seeds, soaked dried fruits, water, seed bread occasionally.

Thanks and once again apologies for my stupidity!

:o)

[bensmum]

Wild birds will almost never eat more than they need but they do need a lot especially during cold weather. Have you noticed what sort of bird is on the fat balls? Sometimes starlings get on them and tend to rip them to pieces so they seem to go quicker. Also quite a lot gets dropped so you may see bits underneath the fat balls which ground feeders will hoover up! You are putting the right sort of food out so just enjoy the birds!

[Cetti]

Not a daft question at all Athley, but the only birds that eat far more than they need are the avian vacuum cleaners - known as the Wood Pigeon, so don't worry unless your visitors can't get off the ground :-)

Birds aren't stupid and will always go for the easiest option, fill up, then make a quick getaway, and fat balls meet all these needs. Clearly, just eating these lumps of fat all the time is not a good thing, so if you think they are concentrating on these alone and not going to any of the other goodies on offer then don't put them out for a while as it won't do any harm, although not during bitterly cold weather.

[B00]

Well there's an attention grabbing title if ever I saw`one....lol

[Thunderbird+]

Dont feel stupid Athley, it's a good question.
It seems you're putting out a good variety of food to help them survive the winter and fatty foods are just what the doctor ordered.
But on a serious note, there have been a lot of reports of birds becoming entangled by their feet or tongues in the mesh which is around the fat ball. It's probably a rare fluke if this happens but I think it would be wise to take the f. balls out of the plastic mesh and then put them in the hanging wire cages like that. Good Luck Tbird+

[Athley]

Right I have taken off my pointed hat with a D on it and am out of the corner now.

Thanks all of you I feel reassured. Sometimes the fat balls do get hoovered by the thugs 'magpies' but its usually sparrows, blue tits, and robins. The blackbirds feed off the floor. I will take note of the net and their feet getting tangled a very good point. I can attach the balls a different way thats not a problem. If they start to look a bit like the bird version of the Roly Poly tap dancers I'll leave the fat balls off for a day or so.

BOO - made you look!!!!

Thanks everyone.

:o)

[gen2]

As others say Athley You have nothing to worry about - they are self-regulating. You are lucky to have any birds Athley. This summer I was refilling the seed feeder three times a day, getting through 3 fat balls a day and refilling the peanuts about every third day. Now I hardly see anything and just need a slight top-up once a week. The decline started at the end of October when the sparrows went down from 40+ to 8 and the starlings went down from 12+ to 4. (At the same time though the sparrowhawks went up from zero to 2 - m & f) Now I only see an occasional blue tit, great tit, robin and blackbird - the last sparrows and starlings have disappeared, even the dunnocks have gone. At this rate I'll have nothing to report for the Great Garden Watch later this month.

[Athley]

Sorry gen2 that your bird population has dwindled. Hopefully in the spring you'll get them back.

I'm quite lucky in that I have a lot of trees in my garden and back onto a forest too. Don't know if that helps keep them around.

They are great to watch. My cat loves to watch them too and has got quite used to them and doesn't even bother them, well only to drink out of their birdbath!! They have been known to chase her into the house!!

:o)