I wanted to get some insight as to why most of our birds have stopped coming to feed, every winter we've had many small birds of all sorts, and each winter usually a few new species, we've made a few changes that may have played a part in this, the tree the feeders are hanging from had to be removed last fall, I replaced it with a pole in the same location, with the same amount of feeders hanging from it, the birds didn't seem to mind this setup, but I'm wondering if it could've been the feed, I bought a cheaper type of feed from Canadian Tire in Penticton, it contained some strange flakes which I've never seen in birdfeed before, I'm not sure if it was even food, I tossed all that feed onto the ground and filled the feeders with the usual Topcrop wild bird food, but still those feeders remain untouched. today I noticed a dozen or so small birds in the yard but they won't go up to the feeders. any help would be much appreciated.

What I've noticed in Vancouver is that with warmer temps birds switch over to foraging for insects quite quickly.

Also you might try another position for the pole feeder-closer to whatever else they perch on, right up beside it if possible.

How long have they been gone? I'll 'lose' all of my birds up to a week when the merlins, sharpies, jv coopers are making their bird feeder rotation,, or if resident NPO is perched really close to the feeders for a few days. As soon as the larger birds come back,, like the Stellars, Redwing Blackbirds,,, the little birds follow, usually within hours.

Do you have any shrubs or immediate cover for the little ones? If you have just the pole now,,, no where to hide at all,,,,,, I think they feel like they are display for an all you can eat buffet for the raptors. lol
Good luck

Thank you Sam and Wannabe. the birds have always loved the yard as we have lots of hedges and trees to play in, but yes the pole feeder must make them feel more vulnerable than usual, the closest tree is now maby 15 feet away, the feeders are very close to their original locations but without the branches, perhaps adding a roof to the pole will provide some security. I did notice a few dozen birds had returned recently and were using it again