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Has anyone got any tips on where to buy bird food for wild visiting garden birds?

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  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,774 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    Savvy_Sue said:
    I was thinking of this thread earlier, as we worked out how to stop the coconut halves from being swung round the branches by pesky squirrels and devoured in 24 hours, and replenished the fat balls. 

    I also threw away half a feeder full of the black stuff which is supposed to attract finches and the like, moved it to a different tree and spoke sternly to the surrounding birds: this is their last chance, if they don't start visiting and eating the stuff then I'm not putting any more out. The sunflower hearts go slowly, but they do go. 

    While we were doing that, there was a VERY noisy bird I could not see, no matter how hard I looked. Then DH spotted it, but I still couldn't. As I went to go indoors, he'd moved into the conifer - and it was a robin, framed in a small opening in the branches. A delightful picture, which I was unable to capture ... 
    They've emptied 3 feeders full of sunflower hearts in 2 days in our garden.
    My sister puts it out and they aren't that fussed.
    Bonkers! It's about time they started being grateful for what they are given. LOL

    They get very noisy if we fill the feeders and put suet pellet and mealworm down and don't go straight back into the house.
    On Thursday we put out clean feeders and I wanted to get the old ones washed and ready to go back out next month.
    So I sat on my little stool in the garden with my rubber gloves on, bucket of hot water (I use an empty tub that had 50 fat balls in) and bristle brush and the cacophony was deafening.
    I translated it as 'Hurry up and go inside and leave us to feed'.
    Funny...during the summer when we spent a lot of time in the garden, they seemed to get used to us filling up the feeders and then either sitting or working in the garden.

  • donnac2558
    donnac2558 Posts: 3,638 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hmm!   I really don't want to put this here, but, there is a bird flu outbreak with wild birds in the UK.   At the moment farmers being told to bring in all domestic fowl and keep indoors.  I can see the government telling not to feed wild birds coming.

    This did happen the last time there was a bird flu epidemic.
  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,479 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    So humans are in danger inside, but birds are in danger outside?
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,774 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    Hmm!   I really don't want to put this here, but, there is a bird flu outbreak with wild birds in the UK.   At the moment farmers being told to bring in all domestic fowl and keep indoors.  I can see the government telling not to feed wild birds coming.

    This did happen the last time there was a bird flu epidemic.
    From NHS:

    Bird flu, or avian flu, is an infectious type of influenza that spreads among birds. In rare cases, it can affect humans.

    There are lots of different strains of bird flu virus. Most of them don't infect humans. But there are 4 strains that have caused concern in recent years:

    • H5N1 (since 1997)
    • H7N9 (since 2013)
    • H5N6 (since 2014)
    • H5N8 (since 2016)

    Although H5N1, H7N9 and H5N6 don't infect people easily and aren't usually spread from human to human, several people have been infected around the world, leading to a number of deaths. H5N8 has not infected any humans worldwide to date.

    Bird flu in the UK

    No humans have been infected with H5N1, H7N9, H5N6 or H5N8 bird flu in the UK – this includes the type of H5N6 virus recently found in humans in China. Plans are in place to manage any suspected cases.

    H5N8 bird flu has been found in some wild birds and poultry in the UK. H5N6 has also been found in some wild birds in the UK but is a different strain to that seen in China.


    https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bird-flu/


    GOV.UK says this in relation to bird flu:

    If you find dead wild waterfowl (swans, geese or ducks) or other dead wild birds, such as gulls or birds of prey, you should report them to the Defra helpline (03459 33 55 77 - please select option 7).

    No swans, geese, ducks, gulls or birds of prey in my garden.

    Alive. Or dead.

    A document on # cases in wild birds in 2020 mentions wildfowl and 4 birds of prey (buzzard, peregrine falcon. sparrowhawk & kestrel).

    A total of 115 birds.


    According to RSPB:

    Is it safe to feed the birds?

    Wild birds are incredibly important in the lives of many people. The RSPB values this special relationship and encourages everyone to enjoy feeding garden birds.

    It is extremely unlikely that avian influenza could be transmitted to people by feeding birds in the garden. Nevertheless, good hygiene at bird feeding stations is always sensible, both to protect the birds that feed in our gardens and ourselves. Follow the links to the right for further advice.

    It is, of course, always sensible to wash your hands thoroughly after feeding ducks or other birds, or if you come into contact with bird droppings.

    You are advised not to touch any sick or dead birds. If you find any dead waterfowl (swans, ducks, geese), any gulls or birds of prey or five or more of any other species in one place, you should report them to the Defra helpline (tel: 03459 335577) or in Northern Ireland to DAERA on 0300 200 7840.

    https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/disease-and-garden-wildlife/avian-influenza-updates/


    I've followed the government rules and guidelines on covid to the letter.

    The only way they will stop me feeding wild birds in my garden is to remove all stocks of bird food from sale.

  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 47,327 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    We do occasionally get a bird of prey visiting gardens around here: they live nearby and sometimes sit in the trees opposite our house, neighbours have had them in gardens too. They're generally very much alive (what they've visited for, not so much ...)

    Anyway, our anti-squirrel measures seem to have worked so far on the half coconut. It used to hang from a single string: somehow it would yank the string up and fling it around the branch until the coconut was accessible. We've now put a second string at an obtuse angle to another branch. Caught the squirrel inspecting the string from both ends, but it hasn't (yet) worked out how to shimmy along it. 
    Signature removed for peace of mind
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