RSPB wildlife advisor Charlotte Ambrose offered the following tips for garden bird feeders:

1

Variety is the spice: Provide a variety of food all year round if you can, but during winter, calorie-rich foods such as mixed seed, niger seed, sunflower seed and goodquality peanuts (not in a mesh bag) are particularly valuable.

2

Make your own: If the shop-bought version are proving expensive, fat balls or homemade bird cakes only take a few minutes to make using lard or suet and are an excellent full-fat winter food – include seeds, nuts and sultanas.

3

Spare some scraps: Kitchen scraps such as mild grated cheese, old fruit, cooked rice, unsalted bits of fat, roast potatoes and raw porridge oats will all be gratefully received. Leave windfall fruit lying, too – thrushes love this.

4

No thank you!: Never put out cooking fat from the roast or Christmas turkey – this sticks to feathers and damages their waterproofing. Other foods to avoid are dried coconut, cooked porridge oats, milk, and mouldy or salted food.

5

Keep it fresh: Fresh water for drinking and bathing is essential all year – a pond is great, but a good bird bath is fine too. Float a pingpong ball, or similar, on the surface of the water and even a light breeze will stop it from freezing over.

6

Warmth is key: Nestboxes are not just used in the breeding season – many small birds also use them on a winter’s night for roosting in and protection against the weather. The record number of birds found in one box is 63 Wrens!