Feed The Birds
January 12, 2010 by Bird
Filed under Blog, Fauna, Good Stuff, In The Garden, Wild London, Winter
When running in my local park just before the big snowfall I marvelled at how so many birds seemed to be in full and frantic song, as if it were summer almost. The unseasonal display was quite disconcerting. Are they singing so early to establish territory in harsh weather? Birdsong is more than a pretty sound, it’s a territorial display, and birds would not waste their breath unless something pretty important was at stake. In winter, food and water and a safe place to roost are all that matters.
According to the RSPB this exceptionally harsh winter may be “the single greatest wildlife killer of the new millennium”. Food is hard to find under a blanket of ice and snow, and the extremely low night time temperatures mean that birds and other animals face death if they have not eaten enough to give them the energy to stay warm. Good quality food with a high energy content is vital, as is clean fresh water; many birds and animals suffer when ponds, puddles and lakes freeze. Urban and suburban gardens will be seeing unusual avian visitors as birds are forced to search further afield for food. On my frosty run last week I saw a beautiful flock of goldfinches gleaning frost twisted thistle heads beside the pond. And during the worst of the snow I could hear greenfinches twittering and whirring throught the back gardens; I’d be surprised if they’d found much to make it worth their while that day. I’ve mentioned my reluctance to feed the birds in our cat infested garden before, but seeing these hungry refugees inspired me to buy nut and seed feeders in the hope of helping them out.
Of course you don’t need to spend huge amounts of money on feeding the birds – as you can see, an upturned bucket or bin works well as a low level feeder, and I sprinkled this one with porridge oats and a bit of muesli. It was gone in a flash, and while the neighbours cats remain safely tucked up indoors I’m going to continue using this as a temporary bird table. Next time I will be brushing the snow and any debris off first!
The peanut feeder has been a more modest success – from what I can see, only one solitary nut has been pecked. However I believe it can take some time before birds can bring themselves to try a new feeder, just in case it’s a trap. Once the local birds know that it’s not, they will be eating happily, so I have to be patient. It doesn’t help that due to the design of our flat there is no window looking out onto the garden so watching the birds eat involves opening the back door – which disturbs the birds and freezes me. I did get to see one unusual little visitor quite close up though – a female grey wagtail, soaking wet (from having a bath? I guess so…) appeared like a conjuring trick in our kitchen window box while we were eating breakfast.
A lousy picture which makes her look more like a pipit or thrush, but I wasn’t willing to move the curtain and risk disturbing our guest. At first she barely moved, then set about fluffing up and preening the water from her feathers, flashing a beautiful long tail as she did so. Apart from this being an unexpected intimacy with a lovely little bird I’ve never seen in these parts before, her appearance inspired me to try my luck with a window mounted feeder. I haven’t bought one yet, but I’ll let you know how it goes when I do.
There are a few things to bear in mind when feeding the birds, such as keeping them safe from predators, what they can and can’t eat, but really it’s not rocket science. For lots of really helpful information on feeding the birds in the UK, check out the RSPB bird feeding advice. Another great resource for USA specific species is from Cornell’s project feeder watch. But to be honest, wherever you are in the world there are just a few basic rules you will need to know. Here’s my short rundown of helpful do’s and don’ts:-
Bird Feeding Do’s and Dont’s
Do…Leave out clean fresh water for the birds as well as food. Even in winter birds must bathe to keep their plumage in the best possible condition, and drinking water provided in gardens is vital when all other water has frozen.
Don’t… Give birds milk or foods soaked in milk – they cannot digest it and it will make them ill. They can’t eat dried, dessicated coconut either, as it will swell up inside them. Fresh coconut is fine.
Do… Be aware of predators – feed birds in a clear area away from overhanging bushes or anything that could hide a cat.
Don’t… worry if you buy a bird feeder but the birds haven’t started using it yet. It can take them a little while to get used to new feeders, a couple of weeks sometimes. If the feeder is in a safe space and stocked with food which that particular feeder is made to hold, they will come.
Do… remember to carefully clean bird feeders and tables every so often with a mild disinfectant, and rinse carefully. This will help prevent the spread of infectious diseases between birds and ensure that harmful mould does not grow.
Don’t… feed the birds mouldy food – certain kinds of mould can make birds seriously ill and even kill them.
Do… remember to save your apple cores or bruised bits of banana for the bird table. If you know where the blackbirds forage in your garden, an apple core is a tasty treat for them to find! Want more ideas of things to feed the birds? Check the RSPB’s advice on what birds like to eat here!
Whether you feed the birds on an upturned dustbin, a well established bird table or feeding station, a window feeder, or even from the palm of your hand I’d love to know your tips, too, so why not leave them in a comment here?
PS:- The wonderful Michelle of Rambling Woods has a website stuffed with bird feeding tips and has offered to help answer any questions you may have on the subject over at her blog. Although she claims to “not be an expert,” I can highly recommend a visit to this helpful, resource rich and informative site.
I was thrilled to see this post…I have been reading how awful the weather is and how much of wildlife is not going to survive. You are so right about not needing a special feeder. I sometimes use plastic boot trays for the ground feeders like doves or put peanuts on the deck railing for the blue jays. If you have your feeders up, the cats will have a hard time. In the short run you help many more birds than the cats can kill. This is a super nature post…Michelle
Thank you Michelle, the weather has been so harsh for so long now and in our part of the world the wildlife is not prepared for it – in fact so many birds that migrate from colder climates for our milder winters must be wondering why they bothered. I’m going to write more on this subject and find ways to feed wild birds and other wildlife outside of my garden too. I am sure that I am already making a difference as yesterday the birds finally settled to using the bird feeders, so even when the cats return there is a safe place for the birds to go.
I’ve been putting lukewarm water in shallow plastic trays for the birds to drink and bathe in and there is evidence of those being used too. In fact, this morning the birds were actually waiting for me. Anyone else reading this – I can’t stress how important feeding and giving water to the birds is right now, you really can make a difference and save lives, and you don’t need to shell out for feeders if you don’t want to.
Great post, thanks for writing this. I’ve been doing what I can saving up all bread crumbs and more. Threw out three old cut up apples that I only bought for photographing my crocheted fruitbowl (not a big fruit eater, me) and was happy to see a little blackbird coming for them, so my purchase wasn’t wasted in the end. Didn’t think about the water! Thank you, I’ll do something about that as soon as I come home.
Hello Le Chat, and thanks for dropping by!
Blackbirds and thrushes LOVE apples so your apples certainly didn’t go to waste through your good deed. And they will be very greatful for the water too, which is best in a shallow container 
Birds can eat many kitchen scraps – cheese, crumbs, dried fruit, breakfast cereal (without milk!) Thank you so much for feeding the birds – they need all the help they can get right now.
Hi Bird…great information you’ve shared here. I’ll have to give feeding the birds around here a second thought. I haven’t fed them in a few years, as the food brought rats! I know, disgusting. There is a small maple tree outside our kitchen window and one day I looked out to see a rat…the size of a small kitten…balanced on a limb and eating from the feeder. Ugh. I hope that the birds fare better around here since it is heavily populated, but I don’t know. I do miss watching them at the windows, though. May have to start putting out seed again and get out my rat gun!
By the way, I love yours pics, especially of the birdie through the curtain!
Rats can be a problem – we have a LOT of rodents here despite the cats, and though to some extent I don’t mind if they nab a little of the food (and stay OUT of my house while they do it) they are a problem if they are terrorising the birds. I’ve hopefully solved the problem by hanging our feeders off a tall metal pole which the rats and even squirrels (so far) can’t climb, so I don’t know if that’s an option for you but you could try something like that, or screwing a bracket onto your wall onto which the feeders could hang. It’s a hassle but then you’d get to watch the birds and not the rats!
I wanted to thank you and everyone else for feeding the birds. I found this link with more information, Feeding Birds from RSPB. But I don’t know how this platform accepts html. I was going to say that I have info on feeding birds on my web site and would try to answer any questions….Michelle
Hi Michelle, I don’t think the RSPB site is at all interactive, so you won’t be able to ask questions or give suggestions. But thank you for the offer of more help; in fact I am going to put a link to your site in this post so that anyone with more questions has somewhere helpful to go. I hope that is ok!
My website has a series of page options that the top that have to do with birds and bird feeding. Also along the sidebars..I am not an expert, but I could try to answer a question.
This is from Cornell’s department of ornithology which has lots of advice too
Cornell-Bird Feeding FAQ
Bird Feeders and Rats
Rodents are attracted to seeds dropped beneath feeders. Once a population is established, it can be very difficult to discourage. The first step is to discontinue feeding for a couple of weeks to encourage the rodent population to disperse. Next, consider ways to feed without any waste falling to the ground. There are several feeders available that will catch dropped seeds, but most of the catch trays aren’t big enough to really do the job. You may want to look into constructing a large catch tray to place under your feeders that you can clean out or remove each night or that can be hung off the ground. The key is to prevent rodents from getting to any seed. Also, it is important to clean any catch tray that you construct, because bird droppings contaminated with bacteria may survive on the catch tray and cause disease among your birds.
Michelle, thanks for the extra help with what to do about rats in the garden – I’ve also linked to you at the end of this post so I do hope you’ll get some interesting questions!
I have a very different take on feeding birds. The best way to feed birds is a diverse organic garden. Let the birds ( the species vary according to season and so do the plants) choose what they need to eat-insects, seeds, leaves, flowers.
I just keep a pot of clean water in my small garden and find that the birds visting the garden are happy about that. They may eat away some of my spinach in summer and peas in winter-but if you love birds we do not mind sharing.
That approach isn’t as different as you think, Susan! We keep an organic garden already, and foraging birds visit all year round – the habitat is great for them despite the cats and they are very keen gardeners! I would recommend an organic garden planted with native ornamentals and veggies to anyone. And it’s very refreshing that you don’t mind sharing a little of your crop, I think that might be the hardest part of organic gardening for many – I know it is for me
However, the problem in the UK, continental Europe and much of the USA right now is heavy, long lying snow which means that no matter how many organic goodies lie beneath it, supplementary feeding is essential as the birds cannot forage as normal. Snow is a killer – it saps body temperature and makes it impossible for many species to hunt for food or obtain water. We may lose up to 90% of some species this winter due to the abnormal conditions. Sometimes having an organic garden just isn’t enough – although in better conditions it’s an excellent way of helping all our wildlife, not just birds, to survive. Thank you so much for dropping by and reminding us!
Good advice.
cheers Lana!