Feed the birds
IT’S autumn, already – this year seems to be dashing by so quickly. This is the time when birds find longer, colder nights more difficult to survive as they follow on from shorter days and reduced feeding time.
Cold is not so much the killer as a lack of energy, so putting out food becomes ever more important towards winter. Bird food can be grouped into scraps from the kitchen, traditional seed and nut mixtures, newer commercial types and more imaginative food and feeding techniques that you can try out and develop yourself.
First, if you have not already done so, give your feeders a good clean, with a stiff brush and plenty of soapy water. Sadly, disease is all too easily spread around feeders and good hygiene is essential.
Kitchen scraps are a cheap and often an invaluable food source. These can include tinned dog and cat food, but not dry biscuits. Cooked rice is good, though uncooked rice is less likely to attract birds. Breakfast cereals including uncooked porridge oats work well. Fresh coconut is OK, but desiccated coconut is a definite no-no.
Butter is fine to hold drier foods together, but avoid low-fat spreads: birds need fat! Cooking fat, however, is bad news. Suet and lard are better. Cheese is excellent, cut into small chunks or spread into rough tree bark (one of those imaginative things that you can experiment with!).
Bread is usually fine, but don’t put out vast amounts and try to mix it with seeds. The latter can be scattered on a lawn (there are various no-waste mixes available), put on a raised table that you can see from an armchair indoors (an important consideration, as providing food for birds can also bring them in close and give you stunning views). They can be hung in wire-basket-type feeders, but not plastic mesh ones. Larger seeds are good for pigeons
(but Yellowhammers also take large grains in preference to small seed), while smaller seeds such as millet and pinhead oatmeal, or crushed or flaked grains, appeal to many species.
Traditional peanuts and sunflower seeds remain ideal for many species and are perfect for wire-mesh feeders, while dried fruit such as raisins and sultanas are great for thrushes and European Robin. Nyger seed needs a special feeder and is brilliant for Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin and a few others – but you might need to persist for a while before they ‘discover’ it.
Look carefully at proprietary seed mixes before you buy – big chunks of biscuit or large, whole seeds may be used to add volume in cheaper mixes and are best avoided. You will soon learn to recognise ‘known names’ and these better brands are worth paying out a little extra. Bird cakes, bars and other mixtures held together by melted fats and solidified into hanging balls and so on are usually excellent for birds and ideal for watching them, too. But please remember one of the few rules about feeding birds: avoid plastic mesh, which can trap birds by the feet.
Birds must also drink. Stick to clean fresh water. Shallow edges to a bowl, bird bath or pond are important; and never add anything to water to keep it free of ice (except for a floating ball, maybe). Rob Hume