A Beginner's Guide to Feeding Wild Birds
Setting Up a Feeding Station the Birds will Love
Sep 28, 2009
Birds come in all shapes and sizes and are so common that we can take them for granted. You might see a blackbird hurtling itself across the road in front of your car or hear its scolding “chack chack” if you unexpectedly walk too near it. You might hear and see the wood pigeons cooing from the top of a chimney. You might even catch sight of a jay, a strange pink and blue bird, about the size of a magpie, perched near a road-side. Birds bring the wildness of nature closer to us, and they are fascinating to watch.
How to Set Up Your Garden to Attract Birds
There are plenty of different kinds of products out there, so choose something that is versatile. You can buy poles that you can add attachments to – hooks for the feeders, round net dishes for bread or ground feeders and dishes for water. The more hooks you can add on, the better, so that you can cater for the tastes of a variety of birds. Fresh water close by is also very important and a dish on the feeder pole itself means that the birds can drink safely. When choosing your feeder, you also need to consider how easy it is to take apart and clean. Investing in a special brush for the purpose is a good idea.
A wooden bird table can look attractive and needs no extra support, but look for one that is easy to keep clean.
Placing Your Bird Feeding Station
Before they feed, birds like to check that it is safe to do so. Your feeding station or bird table will need to be out in the open, away from any cover where predators may be lurking. If you own a cat, then you will need to consider carefully if you can safely attract birds to your garden. A bell on a cat collar may help however, cats can be adept at losing these. An alternative is to find a local nature reserve where your wish to watch birds does not clash with the wish of your pet to catch them.
Choosing the Right Bird Food
Go to your local garden centre and there is an amazing array of bird seed available. The feeders will have information to tell you what they are designed to carry. Niger seed will attract finches – especially goldfinches and it requires a small feeder. There are suet feeders or dried mealworms.
As a good basic, choose a no-mess mix such as sunflower hearts to avoid large piles of sunflower husks on the floor round the feeder. Buy the best quality food that you can afford – your birds will thank you for it. If the food is to be stored in a garage or outbuilding, then also invest in a sealed container to store it in to avoid attracting mice or worse!
Good Hygiene
Recent studies by bird organisations have pinpointed the importance of keeping your bird feeders clean. It is a good idea to move bird feeding stations around the garden, so that there is not a build-up of droppings in just one place. You need to clean your feeders regularly, at least once every two months, removing all the used food and washing them thoroughly. There are products on the market which will disinfect them. This is for your health as well as the birds you cater for – no one wants diseased birds in their garden.
It will take a few days for the birds in your garden to decide that it is safe to feed, but once the first visitor has been, there will be no stopping them. Clean your windows and keep a small camera, preferably with a zoom lens nearby and see how many different birds you can spot. It is now recommended to feed the birds all year round and you may get different visitors to the table depending on the time of year.
Invest in a good bird book and amaze your friends with your knowledge. Most importantly place a comfy chair in view of the window and sit down and prepare to be amazed at the variety of nature.
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