Attracting Birds to Garden without using Bird Feeders

Hello all

I Hope you are Well.

I started getting Field Mice in the Garden which I do not mind, however, over the last Week I have noticed Brown Rats which are apparently coming under the Fences from Next Door.

I have someone visiting from the Council on Friday to deal with the Rats.

In the meantime I have decided to remove the Bird Feeders.

As I understand it, if I can attract Insects to the Garden they in turn will attract the Birds.

This is My Back Garden as of This Morning:



Many of the Plants are said to attract Pollinators and others have Berries or Fruit.

Should these be enough to attract Birds without resorting to Bird Feeders?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

 

Your lawn will attract blackbirds @Kevin Cowans searching for worms, so keeping it well mown like you seem to do will help. I can't see whether you have a bird bath. In my garden, it's a very popular destination for blackbirds, robins and sparrows for drinking and splashing about!

 

Hello @Plantminded

Thanks for the Reply.

There is the Water Feature just the other side of the Weigela in the Foreground which does attract Birds for Drinking and Bathing so hopefully the Birds will still visit for the Water.

Kevin

 

Birds are a bit like us humans, always looking for an easy meal...

 

We don't have any feeders in our garden due to rats, but our garden is full of birds. There's a large hedge that runs along the back of our garden that the birds use and we leave parts of the garden untidy to attract the bugs.

 

Hello all

Thanks for the Replies.

I have decided to remove the Bird Feeders permanently, I think

Many of the Plants are said to attract Pollinators, and many also have Seed Heads, Berries or Fruit, hopefully that will be enough to keep the Birds visiting.

I have the Councils Pest Control visiting Tomorrow (Friday) Afternoon to hopefully deal with the Rats, hopefully.

Thanks

Kevin

 

I made the same decision @Kevin Cowans when I saw a rat appearing several times under the fence from next door to visit my bird feeders in late winter. (Why do neighbours like to harbour rats and not feed them properly? )

 

We also do as many have said but also we leave many of the seed heads of the plants in our garden so that they can benefit seed eating birds in autumn/winter. Many gardeners may look at this as being untidy but our garden is for us and the wildlife.

 

A row of properties. One thinks that rats are coming under the fence from next door. Next door regularly sees rats coming under the fence from next door too and so on............

All animals inc rats know no boundaries other than their own territorial boundaries which won't be the same structures that we see as boundaries, fences, hedges etc.

Your neighbour may not even be aware that "you all" have rats.

This one will probably hurt............. rats like any other animal require food, water and shelter. One house is maybe providing the food and water in the form of bird feeders and a pond, whilst the other neighbour is providing the shelter in some form, such as a shed or raised wooden patio.

Rats are an important animal in the greater scheme of things like crows, badgers, foxes and some raptors such as buzzards and kites, without them, we would be knee-deep in rotting corpses.

I have rats, but without my wildlife cameras i would never of known. The most i've seen on one of my videos is six together at the same time.

Nobody at any moment in time is more than 50yds from a rat wherever you are.

Let your neighbours know and collectively do something to reduce their numbers, you'll never get rid of them, though. Don't say to your neighbour, "You've got rats, do something about it!"

"We have got rats, can we get rid of them together in some way"

 

Expect all the Council will do is put down some bait traps and offer general advice, but realistically that will doubtless not cure or stop the rats.

We found putting the bird foods in a heavy terracotta saucer which is then placed in a larger deep plastic tray to catch any scattered seed is a better method, But you have to lift and remove the tray each night to avoid the rats coming back.
Foods like mealworms can be placed in a tray of water so they are not blown around by the wind, plus the birds seem to prefered moistened ones.

As @akwe-xavante said, just because a rat is running in from another garden does not mean they are they cause of a rat problem, they might not even know the rats are running across their land, so would suggest you tread very lightly there, if at all.

Concentate on ensuring your garden is free of easy food for any rats, so they go elsewhere for easier pickings.
Again as also said, do check for any places like under sheds or composters that they might try and make a nest in.
Regular use of a hose pipe will soon deter them there, as will poking around with a long spike or folk.

Afraid as they say, rats do not live on their own, they are always around everywhere, even if you do not see them.

BTW - your garden looks Grand !

 

I've had the odd rat around here, but usually found dead a few days later, probably the large amount of cats around here.

The cats also kill the birds.

you cant win really.

Animals dont recognise fences so I always think its strange when people say the offending animal comes from next door, they probably say the same when they see it coming the other way.

 

You mustn't stop feeding the birds altogether, though. Well, maybe now and then for a couple of weeks if the rats become a problem to you.

They don't upset me, they have an important role to play in the greater scheme of things.......... organic hoover uppers. I'd rather see an occasional rat than have to tidy up other dead birds and small mammals from the garden on a regular basis.

It annoys me when an infestation of rats is seen as a problem, as if it's the rats that are the problem. This is not true, we are the problem because we create what they need in the form of shelter, food and water in some way and if there's enough of it the rat population explodes. The rats take advantage and do well.

 

We have rats here, seen both in the daytime (just once) and on a trail camera at night in the hedge. My neighbour's patio edge can be seen from our garden as it is on raised and sloping around. Underneath are holes where something is living. But there are other holes in the adjoining bank and I have evidence of wood mice, bank or field voles and shrews all using the same holes. It's like one big community. I haven't seen the rat(s) going in and out of the holes, but they do pass by.

I'm not convinced that anything other than wood pigeons and dunnocks eat the spills of my bird feeder. So it's not coming down.

When I last checked our council now charges to come out for rats. If bait was put down it would kill all the other bank dwelling residents too.

My neighbour opposite has seen a rat crossing his drive on CCTV. Sometimes it's best not to look - you wouldn't know they were there.

We have lots of owls here helping out too!