First and foremost, be patient - it can take weeks, especially if your area does not have a lot of bird habitat or birds to begin with. Second, scattering seed on the ground under and near your feeders can help bring the birds in to where they will find the feeders. Third, consider offering water - that will attract birds faster than anything else, especially if it is moving or dripping. Good luck.

Two other factors to consider: the weather you have been having and the past growing season. Seems like whenever we have a warm spell here the feeder activity can sometimes drop off sharply, which I am guessing has to do with animals needing more calories in cold temps. I have had feeders up and running for the last three months (I don't often feed anything thru the summer) and the numbers are down although there are birds poking and hopping and scratching about EVERYWHERE ELSE.
Which brings me to my second point, which is that if your past growing season was a very good one, the natural food sources are likely still offering lots of easily available nutrition. This will probably change as winter deepens.
Give it time...they will come.

Fret not, they will soon find it, word will get out and every bird in the area will be looking for a handout. Black oil sunflower is the most popular in our area. Suet too.

Thank you so much... I will just be a good girl and be patient.. I will also look into buying a bird feeder on a stand. The only one I have right now is a cast elephant ear which I can't use, since my little boy is too atracted by it and as a blast creating mud in it..

bamakrautie, about the bird houses, what kind are they? Are they decrative or do you plan on trying to attract birds to nest in them? If you plan on having birds nest in them please please get information on how and where to place them. If they are decrative plug the holes, you can take a thin peice of wood and paint it black to place behind the hole that will not ruin the look. Most people don't know the responsibilities that go with providing homes for cavity nesting birds (I didn't)there is much to learn to avoid a horrible outcome. It is however the most rewarding and exciting thing I have done in a long time. Some cavity nesting birds are Blue Birds, Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers. Here is a site that will give you a lot of good information www.sialis.org Hope this helps!
Lisa

Sorry, I did mean I will get a bird bath on a stand, the elephant ear cast is also a bird bath. I wasn't using my brain when I wrote the last post.
Lisa, I did plan attract birds to nest in. I was already succesful last year and had 3 blue birds families nesting. I schooled myself about the dangers of predators after I had one nest eaten by a snake. I know I should have learned more about it last year before I hung the houses on fence poles, but i won't do the same mistakes again . We already bought a load of pvc pipes for the new houses and DH is looking forward to install the houses coming spring. Thank you for your link Lisa, I found some new info I didn't know about before.

Just to let you know there is a Blue Bird forum with lots of nice helpful folks on it, they will also help with any other cavity nesting bird you may get. I was a newbie myself last spring and I got a Chickadee nest AND a Blue Bird nest at the same time. They helped me every step of the way and all the babies fledged!
Lisa

Lisa forgot to mention that there is also a Bird Watching forum, with helpful people there as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird watching forum

OH yes I did neglect to mention that Elly, sorry. Just so you know Elly is one of those very nice helpful people in the Bird watching forum, she is a rehabber and will take the time to help you with any bird! ;D (I just got cought up on nest boxes)So stop on by , you will be glad you did!
Lisa