How To Make Wild Birds Flock To Your Garden
Beat the January blues by making your garden the tweet of the town! Birds can suffer throughout the winter months as the frosty weather can make food difficult to come by - so why not help them out? With the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch coming up (29th- 31th January), there’s never been a better time to invite some feathery friends into your backyard. Follow our top tips today and enjoy watching various beautiful birds from the comfort of your own home.
Make Your Backyard A Home!
With the harsh winter weather, it can be difficult for birds to come by shelter and food. By popping bird feeders and healthy bird food into your backyard, you can invite all kinds of hungry and tired wildlife into your home! Nesting birds will look for somewhere cosy to stay, so having materials like wool, twigs and straw available will be very attractive. Encourage your birdie pals to take up a permanent residence in your home by:
- Nesting boxes – all birds will be intrigued by an welcoming shelter that can protect them from the cold. On FabFinds, we have a beautiful range of nesting boxes, bird baths and bird boxes which will look lovely dotted around your plants.
- Plants and planters for a bloomin' brilliant garden.
- Allow bugs and other invertebrates to stay. Creepy-crawlies might not be your cup of tea – but birds like Blue Tits love to feed on various insects, so put that pesticide away!
Food…Glorious Food!
Wild birds are guaranteed to be a regular visitor if you provide them with a consistent source of delicious food. Different bird feeders and bird food attract different types of wild birds. Greenfinch and tits are particularly partial to sunflower seeds and hearts – whilst the sparrows, woodpigeon and collared doves cannot get enough of large grains. Woodpeckers and starlings delight in fat balls and bird peanuts – whilst robins and thrushes enjoy protein-rich mealworms and live foods. If you want an easy way to stock up, then FabFinds is a great place to start! A simple combination of fat balls, sunflower hearts and suet pellets are the perfect way to start enticing various wild birds into your humble abode. All of these options are calorific, high in protein and unsaturated fats.
Fat balls are especially nutritious and provide a high energy snack that birds will be craving during the winter season – so these are well worth picking up in time for the Big Garden Bird Watch.
It is important to buy bird seeds from reputable sources, as these will have been grown with the environment in mind - and offer energy and nutrition to your birds. Refrain from offering foods like multi-purpose pet food and large quantities of bread (this is an empty filler that is not nutritionally dense). If bread is the only option in a snatch, then try to scatter soaked breadcrumbs rather than stale ones.
Top Tips to on How to Help your Wild Birds Survive the Winter:
- Offer fresh water on a daily basis – but check that it doesn’t turn into ice!
- Place feeders and food in various areas so smaller birds don’t have to compete for food
- Disinfectants and affordable cleaning supplies to make this job easy-peasy.