Feeding the Birds

spendaholic

We're gradually adding shrubs and flowers to our new(ish) garden to attract the wildlife. Anything with nectar is good in the spring and summer, and fruits (such as berries) are good in the autumn and winter. Then there are the insects that the grub eating birds can nibble on.

Tits and sparrows love lupins and sunflowers; the finches like thistles (so leave a small patch - perhaps under those germinating seed feeders!); bumblebees love anything with an open flower or a trumpet they can crawl into; butterflies are rather partial to anything sweet and colourful. And, of course, pests will be kept at bay and pollination will be good.

It's our intention to introduce so many natural feeders that I don't have to spend so much on the unnatural feeders. A true cottage garden, even though our house is a bit modern for that.

pol

Robins and Blackbirds love oats! I've been feeding birds in the garden for years and they just can't resist them. We are lucky that we have lots of birds in our garden and have seen many little 'uns reared over the years. We do feed all the year round though.
The only downside is occasionally we get a Sparrowhawk looking for a meal, but they have to eat too.
Most of my shrubs have been planted with wildlife in mind and there is a huge prickly Berberis for the birds to hide in, and they make full use of it!

spendaholic

We have a pair of sparrowhawks too - but ours tend to go for the collared doves and wood pigeons. Not that this is any better than going for the smaller ones, but they're not as endangered.

The hawks are beautiful to watch - when they're not plucking or devouring our birds, that is.

schoolfundraiser

Sparrows as well as bluetits are very good at ridding your roses of aphids for the price of a few snapped buds and a bit of bread (to make greenfly sandwiches).

Thrushes (if you manage to attract them into your garden) will pick off the snails and blackbirds will sort out the little slugs. I too scatter cheap sultanas and raisins for the blackbirds and thrushes.

Robins seem to like breadcrumbs on the ground. I have a breadmaker and bake new every day so always have heels of bread around for them. They do prefer the homebaked stuff.

We have a lot of hawks around here as well as cats so I hang my feeders from my pyracantha tree ( yes it is that big! 15 to 20 feet high) to give them a bit of protection from being spotted from the air. Sparrowhawks can still get them from within its branches - but what a sight to see a hawk get a sparrow mere feet from your kitchen window! The sparrows eat the pyracantha berries green but then in late autumn/winter the redwings come en masse and finish them all off.

Blackcaps like honeysuckle berries and come every year in February for those. And something likes holly berries and sits in my pyracantha because I find enormous numbers of holly seedlings underneath it every year. I'm saving them to replace my privet hedge one day!

SnowyOwl_2

My wild bird feeding has been going swimmingly...chaffinches, robins, thrushes, starlings, sparrows....all sorts of gorgeous birds and even their babies have been making their way to the food I put out. A local pet food shop sells 20kg bags of seed for less than £8 so it's not in the least bit expensive for the pleasure I get, and the pleasure the birds get of course.

Loadsabob

Blackbirds love sultanas! Just spent a week feeding them in the woods, and they were taking them out of our hands on the second day. Their song is my favourite, so well worth attracting to the garden. They didn't go much on kiwi, and only took that when there was nothing else. Likewise, the seed was the last thing to go, and only if there were no sultanas! Really looking forward to starting feeding in the garden.

scuzz

It's tomorrow Sat 29th Oct. RSPB are reminding us to look after feathered friends this winter.

So instead of throwing out old fats, put them in a yogurt pot with some seeds, let set and hang out for the birdies.

Crumbs, seeds all good. But no salt or big chunks of bread.

More info on their website http://www.rspb.org/feedthebirds/about.asp

RacyRed

Thanks for the reminder scuzz.

Can I add be careful about the peanuts you feed to birds? They can contain very harmful toxins so it is best to get then from a reliable source, such as the RSPB or an RSPB accredited supplier.

scuzz

yes I think you can. Not sure where though

Anyone else help?

Liney_2

Anglian Water are giving away free Fat Traps - there is a link in Freebies, Freebies, Freebies somewhere.
It's a great idea and yoghurt pots will work just as well. Plus they stop all that fat clogging up your sink and drains.
I dug out my George Foreman recently which colects all the fat from the meat and I just pour it into the fat trap with some seeds or oats and let it set hard. It's amazing how quickly it fills up. The birds are currently loving their first cake!
I wish I'd thought of this idea years ago.