Feeding the wild birds

[Miggimeggi]

When we moved to the new house one of the first things we noticed was that despite being deep in the country there were almost no birds in the garden so off we went to the local supermarket and purchased a bunch of the balls of fat stuffed with seeds etc and hung them on every tree we had.  We almost wish we hadn't bothered because as fast as we put the fatballs up they are empty.  Suddenly our garden is stuffed full of birds and we are almost broke buying the things and the birds, nervous at first are fast becoming very pushy and demanding.  On cold mornings they really do squawk at us for refills and if you don't already know,  I can tell  you, it is not always  lots of fun trying to tie the things on the trees at 7 in the morning when your fingers are freezing.  Anyway, what I wanted to ask is, are the fatballs all that they need, other than water, or should we be supplying anything else?    I do also throw down bird seed (millet etc )for the sparrows and fieldfare types but  do believe that bread is not a very good thing and actually never put it out but what about the worm and insect eating birds like the blackbirds?  Sorry to be such an ignorant idiot but in Durban you don't really have to worry about feeding your freezing birds so I am a bit low on experience.

Anne

 

[Iceni]

Buy a feeder and a bag of sunflower seeds. When you fill the feeder throw a handful or two on the ground as well to help those who cannot cling on.

Leave a corner of your garden "wild" so that some can feed on weed seeds as well.

Start a veggie patch  - the backbirds etc will find it easier to dig in the soil.

Good luck.

John

and

[Patf]

We put a birdmix out on a sort of table.But there are always several of

them in the chicken house sharing the poultry food ie granules and

Maize. They also appreciate a bowl of water especially when it's frosty.  Pat.

[Russethouse]

Have a look at http://www.haiths.com - although they are a commercial company there are lots of clues there as to which birds like what.

I throw down outmeal (porridge oats) for Robins, and dried fruit for Blackbirds etc.

This year we dug a small pond and made 'steps' for the wildlife to get in and out, the birds use it for drinking and bathing, watching them has given us lots of pleasure.

We have a wide range of bird visitors to which we have recently added 'Black caps' and at last, a Thrush.........(used to be so common, not now though)

[Miggimeggi]

Thanks everybody, will try to do all that.  We do already have a wild patch - most of the garden.  The place was unoccupied for a long time and the garden is only distinguished from the surrounding fields by the fence, a few trees and a so-so attempt at mowing.   The wild bird mixture I first bought is mostly wheat and the birds don't seem to like it (the wheat) so I bought a dove mixture which looks like millet and other small seeds and they are loving that.  We haven't decided (OK, agreed on) where we want to have a veggie patch yet but there is a patch we could just dig over a bit to make the worms easier to get at and I hadn't thought of the dried fruit and oatmeal.  What a good idea, will do that.

What are black caps? Are they they the little tit like ones with the black heads? We have masses of those and along with the robins  they are the cheekiest. Haven't seen a thrush yet but will keep looking.  Saw a list yesterday of the creatures that it is legal to shoot and it included both kinds of thrush.  I am outraged!

Thanks again, I am off now to check out Gay's link.

Anne

[Russethouse]

Black caps look rather like slimmish Sparrows with the top of the heads having a little black cap.

I wonder if the birds you have are Greattits or Coaltits ? The RSPB have a good website, http://www.rspb.org.uk/

Our garden had got very overgrown so we completely re designed it this year. We were concerned that we were destroying some habitat but by regular feeding, providing bird baths and the pond we seem to still have a good, diverse bird population. I never cease to be amazed because we really in the suburbs of Reading, although there is countryside less than a mile away. We see Herons fly by (we are fairly close to the river) and Red Kites, which were quite rare here.

You can always make your own fat balls, although I have to say te birds in my garden preferred the commercial ones :(

 

 

[Miggimeggi]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Black caps look rather like slimmish Sparrows with the top of the heads having a little black cap.I wonder if the birds you have are Greattits or Coaltits ?

[/quote]

Yes, after my last mail I looked on the site for the birdfood people and they have pics.  They are definitely Greattits or Coaltits.  Not sure which as I haven't yet been able to see if they have the white patch on the back of their heads.  There are so many, perhaps we have both.

Anne

[adrianpmills]

Would also recommend growing bushes that produce a lot of berries - holly, hawthorn, pyracantha, etc.  Growing sunflowers and leaving the seed heads for the birds is good too. 

[Miggimeggi]

Obviously sunflower seeds are good because everyone is suggesting them and also they are included in the wildbird mixtures you can buy but I had thought that they were only OK for parrots and budgies and so forth - the ones with the heavy duty beaks.  My ignorance is embarassing me!

Anne

[chris pp]

Another feeding method which will attract Woodpeckers and Nuthatches is to take a log and drill some deepish holes in it, stuff these with peanuts and fat and then suspend the log or attach it to a tree at about 2 to 3 metres high.

Watch out for Marshtits which will also visit gardens, very similar to Coaltits.

Chris.

[Christine Animal]

And keep feeding them 'cos, as my American friend always used to say, it's as cold as a witch's tit out there !

Edit:  Sorry, I thought that would come out as *** as for Chris until he must have stuck the two words together.  Maybe it has to be plural to be censored. 

 

[Gastines]

One of the pleasures of looking out of the kitchen window.We have a bird table,of sorts, and over the last 3 yrs have watched our few bird visitors grow to dozens. At present we have a regular 9bluetits at one feeding,plus about 40 sparrows/greenfinches,quite bossy,/wrens/blackbirds/thrushes,new family this year of 3/ + robins/great tits/European goldfinchs and one baby owl. Love sunflower seeds/peanuts and especially coquillets,small pasta when we cook too much. Sunflower seeds being the cheapest to buy and this year we grew a row in the garden and the flower heads were soon cleared.

Made the mistake of putting an owlbox in a big Bay tree but eas advised by: "Driving Horses" that Bay trees are a no-no to most birds. This year I'll try the Walnut tree.

Regards.Nr.St.Malo.

[Viv]

I put out a lard birdseed ball and the next day it was gone, net and all. Thought it may have been foxes so left bits of meat for them - found out it was a disabled seagull, who eats anything and everything!

[Junlesley]

I keep a plastic container in the freezer in which I put scraps of cheese, bacon rinds, fat, basically anything the birds will enjoy, when its full, which dosn't take long, I put it out for the birds as an extra treet, defrosted of course.

[Miggimeggi]

[quote user="viva"]

I put out a lard birdseed ball and the next day it was gone, net and all. Thought it may have been foxes so left bits of meat for them - found out it was a disabled seagull, who eats anything and everything!

[/quote]

Poor thing.  I hope you are still feeding him.

Anne

[Alcazar]

[quote user="viva"]

I put out a lard birdseed ball and the next day it was gone, net and all. Thought it may have been foxes so left bits of meat for them - found out it was a disabled seagull, who eats anything and everything!

[/quote]

I hope he has his own parking space with easy access?

Two years ago, my sister in law bought me a bird feeder. This summer I was intrigued, ( I think that is the word I was looking for), to find cannabis plants growing in the border below it. Hmmmmm[ip]

Alcazar

[RayB]

Hi Chris -

I swear that I read somewhere someplace that feeding wild birds was bad. As I recall it keeps them from migrating where only the fittest survive and therefore keeps the quality of the species strong. As lush as the countryside is here, I can't see birds starving. I think the article also said that feeding birds was for the selfish satisfaction of humans wanting to watch them and not good for the birds.

[chris pp]

It’s a dilemma!

 

I tend take a fairly hard view regarding wildlife, which of course includes birds, preferring to concentrate on habitat management issues. Unfortunately the wildlife in the world we live in today is confronted with an unprecedented onslaught from all directions with many scientists putting forward the view that we are already “into” the 6^th great extinction.  Sticking with birds, many have either lost or had their natural food sources reduced mainly as a result of agricultural changes, monoculture, pesticides, more efficient grain harvesting and storage, removal of hedgerows, reduction in grazed pasture and the list goes on and on and if we add to this climate change, the way we construct new buildings, chemicals in the environment, road kills etc. it starts to look as though giving nature a bit of a hand may be required.

 

Selfish?   Sure it’s selfish, everything we do is selfish, even if it only makes us feel good, but if that feeling good can be directed towards a beneficial result, well why not?  I am more than aware of the harm that can be done by good intentions, I come across it all the time but I am not to sure that in this instance it prevents birds from migrating ( but I may be wrong about this).

 

Lush French countryside???  I think you will find that it’s not all it appears to be “at a glance”  According to Le Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris  bird populations have seen an overall reduction in numbers of 10% during the last 13 years with some species seeing a reduction of 75%.   It would be fair to say at the same time that some bird species have seen an increase in numbers and range, but not many.

 

I think it is, on balance, more likely that good rather than harm is likely to result from feeding “garden birds” and making sure that they have access to water. Part of that feeding can of course involve creating a habitat that supports a natural food supply, not using, or substantially reducing the use of chemicals in the home and garden and as others have said leaving some (or all) of the garden “a bit untidy”.

 

Sorry, got a bit carried away...  Happy Christmas,   Chris

 

[Russethouse]

Well here in the UK it is bitterly cold and I am taking the view that if the birds are here now they will appreciate the food I put out, so they are being fed and I am doing my best to break the ice around the shallow parts of the pond and on the bird bath ( use cold water for this - it lasts longer than hot for some scientific reason I now can't remember)

The birds seem to be making the most of whats available and we have had several visits from a Jay, which although we have seen before is fairly unusual here.

Don't forget your feathered friends [:)]

[Iceni]

Word has spead in the bird world that sunflower seeds, fat balls and water can be found chez Iceni and the numbers of t*ts and finches increases daily. Unfotunately the neighbours cat has noticed and is now sitting under the tree watching and waiting hopefully.

John

not 

[Patf]

Motivated by this thread we bought some more seeds and fatballs and

husband made a special table. What happens? The hens find it and soon

clear it up! Pat.

[chris pp]

A suspended or hanging bird table with the seed / nut container hanging over it would not only stop the chickens from getting the food  ( apart from any that drops on the ground ) but also it keeps the cats at a fairly safe distance most of the time.   If there are cats around they are bound to catch the odd bird from time to time but this is fairly insignificant compared to the numbers that just don't make it through severely cold nights from lack of body fat.

Chris.

[Miggimeggi]

[quote user="Patf"]Motivated by this thread we bought some more seeds and fatballs and husband made a special table. What happens? The hens find it and soon clear it up! Pat.
[/quote]

Yes, the family fauna can be a problem. I think they feel that they have priority rights on any goodies going.   Yesterday I found my Great Dane on his back legs, front ones up a plum tree  grabbing and making off with a fatball (he has a mouthreach with a jump of more that  2.5 metres).  Now instead of kitchen steps I have to use a ladder to hang the fatballs high enough to get them out of his reach.  If he really wanted it he would be welcome to the occasional fatball but I worry that the net and attached string may not be too good for him.

I am happy that Chris is willing to concede the occasional bird to a cat.  We are a bit OTT with the birdseed etc - we are the only people within a couple of km who feed them - we are very isolated - so perhaps we tend to overdo it a bit,  We put out far too much for bird tables so we just chuck out seeds on the ground and hang up 15-20 fatballs in the trees and have ended up with flocks of small brown birds along with blackbirds, various t*ts, finches, robins, wagtails etc.  We feel a bit guilty for perhaps making them somewhat vulnerable because we suspect that we have a feral cat somewhere close.  Never seen it but have seen and smelt the signs of it and the dog knows it is there.  He thinks it lives in  the roof of a semi-derelict barn here and he wants it!!!  In the past  few days we have also seen a few raptor type birds - sparrow hawks, kestrels, whatever patroling the place but they have to eat and nature is nature.  On the credit side, we have not yet found any carcasses, feathers etc or other evidence of murders.  I suppose if we save 20 over the winter and the predators get 10, we are still in credit.  We do what we can and are rewarded by a garden, previously rather barren of wildlife now absolutely heaving with the stuff.

Anne

 

[chris pp]

In my garden I have a hanging bird table, it's an old window shutter hanging on a long nylon rope from a huge cheery cherry tree. It is about 1.6 metres from the ground and the rope above is about 5 metres from a branch.

I buy pork fat from the butchers counter in the supermarket, cut it into strips and fry it slowly. the result is a lot of liquid fat and some remaining solids, I put the solids in a shallow plastic dish, mix wild bird seed mix with the liquid fat and pour it over the top and let it set, this then gets put on the bird table attached with a strong piece of wire through a hole I have made in the pot, this quantity normally lasts a week.

OK, the last two times that I have put it out the lots gone by the following morning, all the fat anyway, with the seeds strewn all over the place.

Now, if as well as feeding the birds I am going to have to feed the **** or the **** I am going to have to do a deal with the butcher.

So, whats eating the fat???

Chris

 

 

[chris pp]

Photo : LPO Aveyron Grands Causses

Feeding the wild birds?  That big bird table's for Red Kites, fancy that in your garden?

Couldn't resist it, Chris