Why Dont The Birds Like The Food

[Biccylova]

I buy large sacks of bird food which is not cheap, but have found recently that the sparrows just throw the seed (mostly wheat)all about so there is piles of it on the ground, why are they doing this? the tits and finches don't do it with the sunflower hearts and nijer seed, its got me puzzled as I have been feeding the same way for years.

[TonyV]

Have you changed the supplier of your bird seed, if not, have they changed their supplier, I'd give them a call and tell them about the issues you are having. IME birds much prefer fresh food nature supplies at this time of the year.

[khaleesi]

maybe they're board of it? The birds in my garden go crazy for the leftovers of the peanut butter treats I make for my pup ( 1 cup peanut butter, 2 cups wholemeal flour, splash of milk, mix into a dough, roll out, cut up and bake on medium for 20 mins) I've got 2 magpies, a robin and lots of more common birds frequently in there now

[TonyV]

I'm not good at bird identification, don't put anything on the floor, just in bird feeders I already have a few rats or mice to deal with.

[MallyJ]

The small birds in my garden steer clear of the larger seeds but will eat up the smaller seeds etc that I buy from Wilkos....I have wonderdered if the larger seeds are toomuch for them

[johnk]

Is it whole seeds they leave or just the husks?

[Barmaid]

We buy a mix that is wheat free. At last count we had over 50 different species either in or over the garden.

This time of year tho there is a lot of natural food about, plus many birds will moult so they hide up so the feeders will be quiet.

[Cloverjo]

I’ve noticed that there are loads of birds coming in around my feeder to eat off the ground. I assume some little birds are getting to the feeder and chucking out the bits they don’t like.
This is my first sack of bird seed, so don’t know if anything’s changed. Perhaps yours are just fussy :)

[Chipchopper]

Some bird food suppliers seem to bulk-up with heavier things like broken dog biscuits and wheat, as a make-weight.
I find a lot of birds don't like linseed.
Might be worth changing the brand.

[spathiphyllum]

Sounds like they're picking out the bits they want and throwing the rest on the floor. They do that to my seed when i buy the seed that has suet in it. They go for the suet and move anything else onto the floor.

[Biccylova]

the problem is, it seems to be just the wheat they chuck out, and its the sparrows mainly, we watch them a lot, they don't often come to the other feeders as they are closer to the house, the sparrows like sticking nearer the hedge at the bottom of the garden but as TonyV says we don't want to encourage rats, so we don't want seed on the ground. we have been out today and bought a different brand, will see how that goes, and maybe fix up some sort of tray to catch some of it, just wondered why they have started doing it, Thanks everyone.