Many birds are naturally shy and will be very selective about the places they choose to feed. Your feeding table should be clearly visible, with several entrance and exit routes so that the birds can avoid trouble from any direction. If cats occasionally pass through your garden, keep the table away from any routes that they take and make sure that you don't position the table where predators can easily stalk, out of sight.
You'll probably want to have the table in a location where you can easily watch the birds, but also have a good viewpoint of any potential predators stalking the table. Birds are also usually most attracted to a source of fresh water, so try to position both in a suitably safe place.
If you can provide a suitable habitat for your birds then you'll find that your visitors stay for a lot longer than a few minutes at feeding time. Some trees and bushes provide a great source of berries for birds during autumn. Ferns and thistles provide great nesting materials. Conifers and laurel give a good source of cover from the weather and predators. Cotoneaster, pyracanthus and holly are some of the shrubs your could consider planting as a source of natural food for visiting birds.
You can usually find bird feed in pet shops, superstores, garden centres and markets as well as a variety of online stores. Wherever you choose to buy your seeds, make sure that the products display the BSA standard as a sign that they are guaranteed to be of good quality and free of mould. You needn't spend a fortune on bird seed, but if you find some that is particularly cheap, you should maybe think twice about the quality of the product.
As well as great quality food and fresh water, the type of bird feeder that you provide may also greatly influence the number of birds that visit your garden. Some of the anti-squirrel feeders can often be quite unattractive to birds and they will only spend the time chipping away at the almost totally unobtainable food, if they don't have anywhere else to feed. As an alternative, you should maybe look at other ways of keeping squirrels from your feeders.
