If they are hungry they will come.. LOL

but I'd also make sure there are no "helpful" cats or other dangers.

But if that's where you like the feeders they will eventually use them.

Are the feeders mostly shaded? They're in a tree right? That's good.

Birds are funny creatures. Give them a couple more weeks. Whenever they see something "new," even if it's food, they will be very cautious. My birds get hysterical when I simply re-arrange the feeders. Today I was changing things around from "winter feeding plan" to "summer feeding plan." They'll fuss and fume the rest of the afternoon.

How far are the feeders from your sitting/viewing area?

Cardinals love sunflower seed, espeically the black oil sunflower seed (BOSS), but they do prefer to feed on the ground. Could you put some of the BOSS on the ground, or in a 8-10 inch (or larger) terra cotta (or brown plastic) planter saucer for them? Just use something wide and shallow, and not too bright or colorful. They like tray-type feeders, too. Same BOSS seed, just different styles of feeders will attract various birds.

My woodpeckers are sucking down the suet right now. They're eating far more of it now, or I've got more woodpeckers, than they did all winter.

Its been a few years since we got Uncle Gene his feeder, can't remember how long it took.Like Terri said, they will find it for sure. THEN they tell all their friends! LOL Gene has TONS of birds now.
When we put out our nyger seed sock it took a week for the finches to find!

Ditto what Terri said.

If this were winter, you'd get a quicker response from the birds. The feeders would be easier to see, for one thing, with leaves off the trees. Plus the birds would need more fuel to keep warm.

You might add a hummingbird feeder for the spring/summer.

My birds got cut off from seed a month or so ago, when bears came out of hibernation.

Thanks for the answers. I have the black oil sunflower seeds in a feeder in a tree about 30-40 feet from where I sit to watch. The suet feeder is on a shepard's hook near a couple of small trees and is closer to where I sit. I do have one cat and a stray that hangs around, but I've never seen either of them in the area where the feeders are. I have 2 hummingbird feeders hanging from the edge of my front porch and have 3 hummers who come to eat. Cujo, my cat sits in the area where the hummers feed, but she has never shown any interest in the birds or them in her.

I'll keep them where they are for a while longer. I also want to add a bird bath to the area.

I missed the part about suet. Just so you know, it's not a good idea to put out suet this late in the year. With temperatures this warm, it'll turn rancid in a hurry. Even here up north, I take the suet down once the temperature goes up into the 40s.

I agree with Alisande, I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that birds don't need the suet once it warms up and that's it's actually not good for them. You might want to pop that suet into the freezer until November or December, MaryAnn.

We have hung feeders and waited weeks for customers, I swear the birds in FL were so stupid, it took them forever to start using it, but once they did, it became a popular spot. So give it some more time, sweetie.

I think it's going to be a crazy year for hummingbirds, our feeder in the back is being swarmed by females and the males are all posturing out front. I've made more nectar so far this year than any other year by early May.

I make my own suet (lard, peanut butter, oatmeal, flour and cornmeal)and put a cake out every day (it's gone by noon!). The squirrels eat most of it unfortunately.

I agree with everyone else that you should give it more time.

I'm not seeing a lot of hummingbirds yet.. guess they are staying in ARK this year. lol I have a lot of Orioles though.

PS Got the book. Thank you. Wasn't sure if you got my email.

I don't put suet out right now, nor in the summer because the starlings will clean out a cake in about 2 hours!!!

Right now they are stealing dog food..so if I see her food sitting..it gets put away..I figure she'll eat the next time her food gets set down..

BIRD POOP EVERYWHERE! blech..

In the spring and summer I only put out hummingbird feeders and finch socks.

Starlings aren't interested in either of those.

I guess I'll put the suet away. They had such a large display of it at WalMart that I thought it was time to put it out.
Several years ago I put a feeder closer to the house and the birds were there right away. It was too close to where we park our vehicles and the birds were making a mess, so I took it down. I do have another spot in mind if the feeder doesn't work out where it is.