Last year when we were in England we bought a bird feeder to hang in the olive tree outside the back door. For a long time it hung there unused. We just assumed Italian birds were stupid or as a friend said “if you spend your life being shot at by hunters then using a bird feeder isn’t a wise move”.
However, the local birds have now discoverd the feeder particularly the blue tits and we can’t keep up with the feeding. They empty the seed feeder in a day. We started by watching them from inside the kitchen but now they treat us as part of the furniture and feed happily while we are having a coffee on the terrace.
Needless to say we have the Alpha male bird who pushes the other birds off when he wants to feed. We also have the fussy feeders who pick out the seeds they like and throw the rest (mostly sunflower seeds) on the ground for other birds to pick up or to sprout in our new lawn.
One down side is that more cats seem to be coming around. Obviously word has got out that there may be some easy pickings.