Feeding British Wild Birds.
Feeding wild birds has become a popular activity in Britain - with over half of adults feeding birds that may visit their gardens. That is a lot of extra help for birds!
Providing wild birds with a supplementary food will bring them closer for you to marvel at their fascinating behaviours & their wonderful colours. Also feeding birds is a great way to enthuse children about natural & its wildlife. In this blog we aim to help you with getting started & setting up the perfect abode for birds to visit, feed, wash & relax at!
With the ever growing industrialising problem in Britain, native woodlands for wild birds to feed at is growing scarce. With this, gardens have continued to grow in popularity for a range of different birds. It’s easy to see why so many birds find gardens an appealing habitat to both feed and nest, as in some ways it replicates their natural habitat –e.g. With more open gardens with lawn, flower beds, wild areas & shrubs, will appeal to birds which also favour farmland and more natural open areas of land – e.g. goldfinches. Plus the other obvious appeal of gardens to birds is that so many people now put out almost endless supplies of food for them!
Setting up a welcoming habitat for birds is a simple progress & with following these steps you will see a huge variety of different birds visiting your garden.
1. Provide a variety of different feeding options
Birds crave a variety, with different types of birds enjoying different kinds of seeds. We supply a wide range of products which contain a carefully selected mix of seeds. Big favourites for birds include: Sunflower Seeds, Niger Seeds, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds & even dried mealworms! Alongside this, especially in the winter months; it is important to have a form suet available in your garden. Suet Pellets or Fat Balls are the best option; they are high in fat & protein to give birds that extra boost of energy needed in the colder weather.
2. Provide different means of obtaining food
A mix of different foods is the start point, but if a particular bird can’t get to its favourite food then it won’t stay in your garden. A good example is the blackbird which, unlike species of tits and most finches, can’t perch on a seed feeder full of sunflower hearts. So, even though sunflower hearts are a favourite food, the blackbird needs them in a place which is the same or similar to where it would find its natural food – i.e. the ground or a bird table respectively.
3. Make your garden as wildlife friendly as possible
This one does not mean have your garden as overgrown as possible! We mean a neat & tidy garden with multiple possible habitats will make your garden incredibly welcoming! Alongside this including plants with seeds which birds eat is great! & an area where birds can bath & drink will also make your garden that extra bit welcoming.
