Bird Table Help

Kimberley

I'd like to set up a Bird table in my garden for the wee wild birds to snack food on. Has anyone done this and how and what do I need? Like is it best to have a Bird house attached to the house or just a standing Bird table?

Hintza

You could pay lots of money and get a proper table. But to start why not get a couple of hanging feeders.

I have:-

One for Niger seed (goldfinches and green finches)
One for peanuts (tits, sparrows, chaffinches)
Window mounted ones for most others (including dunnock)
Fatball
I also put some on the ground (probably not a great idea) but that brins in the reed bunting.

These are all hung in or around a hawthorn hedge. My advice just start small and see how you go.

Once you get started try and buy in bulk it can get very expensive.

My highlight yesterday was a Sparrowhawk trying to eat the wee birds.

olias

Hi, all you need to know is here

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/index.asp

Olias

Kimberley

olias wrote: »

Hi, all you need to know is here

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/index.asp

Olias

Thank you. Seems i'm a bit late then for the table until October

hethmar

No, we have tables all over the place. You can just make one up yourself. I have fat balls hanging from my line for them or from tree branches.

We feed ours year round because when they have babies its still important for them to get to food and back to the nest. Just dont put out things like peanuts then as that can choke the little ones.

Its very unlikely they will nest next to the bird table So the table would be fine. Remember to clean it now and then as bacteria can form and hurt the birds.

YorkiePud_3

Brilliant stuff! The more folks are feeding the birds, the more they will thrive!

I have a bird table which I fill with the Bill Oddie Seriously Wild seed. You will be amazed what birds love that! Starlings, dunnocks, blue tits, coal tits, long tailed tits, blackbirds, robins, goldfinches, greenfinches ... collared doves, thrushes ... they all love that stuff!

I also throw a handful of dried mealworms on top of the seed because the robins love those.

My bird table has a roof to it and stands in the centre of the garden, so it makes it harder for the neighbourhood moggies to jump onto it from the fences (which they would do if it were closer to the edge of the garden). I have NEVER had a cat jump onto it or take a bird from it whilst it has been in the centre of the garden.

I used to have those little bird feeders you can stick onto your window, but beware that some birds are not good judges of where to land and by the time you have buried a few poor things that have flown into your window and killed themselves, it makes you realise they aren't great to have at all ... well, not going by my own experiences!

A cracking food to feed them though, and which ANY bird will eat and love, is the Webbox dog food. Morrisons sell it ... it's like a big fat sausage and 49p.
Am giving away my trade secret here cos all the neighbours try and puzzle out why I get so many birds in the garden ha ha ha ... if you chop it up into very small pieces it is full of goodness for the birds but it also has a high moisture content so if the birds have a hard time finding something to drink, you know you are giving them some moisture.
Also, you get no waste or mess at all because the birds eat it all up within a few hours of it being put out!

I also have those half coconut things filled with a suet seed mixture and the starlings go crazy for them but they eat them so quickly I can't always afford to keep buying more each week!!

Put a table out at any time of year ... the birds aren't daft .. they know it means another food supply and will soon come visit it!

If you put any of the expensive seed mixes out and have dogs, make sure they don't have raisins in them because they are VERY bad for dogs if they eat them.

I just put the seed and webbox out daily and now and then I cube some red leicester cheese (very small) and throw that out.

In the warmer weather, I get a tin of Del Monte mixed fruit (in fruit juice NOT the one in syrup), chop it up and put that out for them and they love it!

Bread is a big no no though ... it has nothing in it for them and just makes them feel full without having any nutrients. Plus, a lot of babies struggle to eat it when it goes hard.

Good luck with your birds .. hope you get lots!

YorkiePud_3

.. just to back hethmar up ... once you start feeding the birds, they will come to rely on there being food there year round, so it is imperative to ALWAYS put food out for them!

They don't just get hungry in Winter!

foreign_correspondent

Kimberley, the frst thing you have to do (and this is very important) is head off to Wilko's, find a young male shop assistant, and ask him, very loudly "excuse me, do you have fat balls?" ... every time I am in Wilko's I swear someone asks a shop assistant this, and the lads never fail to go bright red and try not to giggle... try it and see!

olias

Kimberley wrote: »

Thank you. Seems i'm a bit late then for the table until October

Not so, have a read of all the links! This is what they say about Spring/Summer feeding:



Spring and summer

"Only selected foods should be fed at this time and good hygiene is vital, or feeding may do more harm than good.

During the summer months birds require high protein foods, especially while they are moulting.

Black sunflower seeds, pinhead oatmeal, soaked sultanas, raisins and currants, mild grated cheese, mealworms, waxworms, mixes for insectivorous birds, good seed mixtures without loose peanuts, RSPB food bars and summer seed mixture can all be used.

Soft apples and pears cut in half, bananas and grapes are also useful foods. Some people use soaked dog or cat food and tinned pet foods, but these may attract magpies, crows and cats. Avoid using peanuts, fat and bread at this time, since these foods can be harmful if brought to nestlings. If you feel you must put out peanuts, only do so in suitable mesh feeders that will not allow sizeable pieces of peanuts to be removed.

Home-made fatballs can go soft and rancid in warm summer weather, and should be avoided. Commercially produced fat bars are suitable for summer feeding but discard any remains after 3 weeks.

Temporary food shortage can occur at almost any time of the year, and if this happens during the breeding season, extra food on the bird table can make a big difference to the survival of young."

Olias

Kimberley

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

Kimberley, the frst thing you have to do (and this is very important) is head off to Wilko's, find a young male shop assistant, and ask him, very loudly "excuse me, do you have fat balls?" ... every time I am in Wilko's I swear someone asks a shop assistant this, and the lads never fail to go bright red and try not to giggle... try it and see!

Lol ok i'll try that

Thank you everyone. I'm off to buy a Lawnmower to mower the grass to get my gardan all tidy and then i'll sort the Bird table and food out.

Does anyone have any photos of the birds on their tables?

I'm going to love watching my Bengal cats drool over the birds when they are in their cat run and there would be nothing they can do

hethmar

Ive got some beautiful bull finches out there at the moment. Just come in. I love the long tailed tits (fc, dont..) I always imagine them as a bunch of Japanese school girls for some reason as they go round in little groups and are so lively and twittering to one another.

We get a green wood pecker and a jay (which I thought was a parrot when I first saw it). Down the road an old chap has an orchard and did used to get parakeets in there.