A FEW SEEDS CAN DELIVER SWEET TWEETS
IF there’s one small thing you can do this winter that will be utterly rewarding it’s feeding the birds.
Research has shown that garden birds which receive supplementary feeding are more likely to stay in the garden to nest the following spring and summer, and charm us with their singing.
Winter feeding of garden birds has become very popular and has been credited with helping to maintain wild bird populations. A much bigger range of feeders and feeding materials is available and the casual throwing out of a few crusts now seems very antiquated, nor is it good for birds because human food generally has too much salt.
Foods for wild birds are based on nuts and seeds and, in some cases, added fats. These are intended for seed-feeding species, which are mostly the birds you want to visit. The seed and nut-feeders, such as bluetits, finches and siskins, are more acrobatic in flight and in taking food from nut-feeders.
Some garden birds are not as agile and must feed from a flat bird table, or even just from the ground, and include robins, blackbirds and the various sorts of thrushes. Sometimes thrushes will only feed at ground level, along with wrens and dunnocks.
Most people who feed birds are not too concerned about having a wide range of birds in the garden and they mainly want the active species that are fun to watch, especially if the feeders are placed near a window where the birds can be watched close to. But when you have gained some knowledge and expertise about feeding birds and providing viable nesting sites, you will then be in a position to encourage some of the more unusual birds also to visit the garden. For instance, the blackcap often takes up residence in a single bush and defends it all winter, while the red woodpecker has reappeared on the east coast, notably Wicklow, largely it is thought because of the presence of well-stocked bird feeding tables.
However, bird feeders can create problems. Big birds such as crows and magpies can rule the roost, especially in a rural garden, quickly gobbling up food from a bird table, and chasing other birds away. It is difficult to deter these big birds, short of covering a bird table with mesh that allows access for smaller species. Squirrels, too, are increasingly becoming a problem on nut feeders which they simply break open, and on bird tables. This is a big problem in other countries and some manufacturers now offer squirrelproof feeders. Bird food laced with chilli powder is used to deter squirrels, the chilli apparently not bothering birds.
Bird-feeding stations can become a focus for predators. There has been a big increase in raptor birds around the country, and hawks often swoop through a garden in rural areas intent on ambushing feeding birds. In towns, cats stalk bird tables for a chance to kill an unwary bird. And rats can be encouraged by food thrown out on the ground, intended for birds, especially ground feeders such as dunnocks and wrens.
When setting up feeders, make sure there is a big, bushy tree or shrub close by for the birds to quickly escape to. Tables and feeders should be washed down and disinfected from time to time as bird diseases, notably salmonella, can be spread inadvertently.
Apart from their beauty, movement and song, garden birds help to control pests in summer, such as caterpillars, and slugs and snails which are important food for blackbirds and thrushes – the best singers!