Friday 22 September 2023

HELPING YOUR BIRDS SURVIVE THIS WINTER

Mixed finches at feeding station   L Bimson


  As you sit snugly by the fire this winter, spare a thought for our feathered friends. Their survival skills are tested to the limit when winter tightens its grip and food becomes hard to find. Freezing weather is a potential death sentence for many birds, but with just a little water, food and shelter, gardens can become a vital haven for birds and other wildlife

In days of yore the RSPB held a ‘Feed the Birds Day event’ every year on the third week of October.  Nowadays we advocate people feed our birds all year round and the events have ceased. However we at RSPB Liverpool think it’s still a good time of year - as the nights draw in and our birds have less time to feed, to give out a timely reminder. 

October is the month the clocks go back and the winter nights start drawing in - it's the time when birds and other wildlife need a little extra help as the first frost looms. So please fill your feeders, clean your bird tables, put out some water and give a helping hand to the wild birds around you. And the sooner you start feeding them, the more birds you'll see when you sit down to enjoy the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch in January! You may be surprised how the number changes according to the food you put out. And don't forget a place to sleep, start putting up nest boxes now to provide roost sites for smaller birds. They will then be used for breeding later in the year.

 


IN COLD WEATHER IT IS ESTIMATED THAT SMALL BIRDS NEED TO EAT 30-40% OF THEIR BODY WEIGHT EACH DAY’

Feeding suggestions.
·         High calorie wild seed mixtures, and straight seeds i.e. sunflower hearts
There are different mixes for feeders and for bird tables and ground feeding. The better mixtures contain plenty of flaked maize, sunflower seeds, and peanut granules.
Foraging Goldcrest  L Bimson
Small seeds, such as millet, attract mostly house sparrows, dunnocks, finches, reed buntings and collared doves, while flaked maize is taken readily by blackbirds. Tits and greenfinches favour peanuts and sunflower seeds. Pinhead oatmeal is excellent for many birds. 
Fat balls,suet cakes and pellets are excellent winter foods. You can make your own by mixing melted beef dripping and a mixture of ingredients such as seeds, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, cheese and cake crumbs. use about one-third fat to two thirds mixture. Allow to set in a feeding container, empty coconut shell or simply turn out onto the bird table once solid.
Male Blackcap eating fatcake  L Bimson

Mesh bags – a warning- Peanuts and fat balls are regularly sold in nylon mesh bags. Never put out any food in mesh bags. These may trap birds’ feet and even cause broken or torn off feet and legs. Birds with a barbed tongue, eg woodpeckers, can become trapped by their beaks.




·         Bread: has very low nutritional content and is essentially filler, ideally it should only be fed as part of a varied diet. Soaked bread is more easily ingested than stale dry bread.

·         Windfall and over ripe fresh fruit i.e. Apples, pears & other soft fruit. Dried fruits must be soaked before putting out, sultanas, raisins, currants.
Mistle thrush  L Bimson

·         Peanuts: are rich in fats and are of major importance to tit and greenfinch flocks during the winter and cold spring months. Salted peanuts should never be used for bird food.  

·         Rice and cereals: Cooked rice, brown or white (without salt added) is beneficial and readily accepted by all species during severe winter weather.  Porridge oats must never be cooked, since this makes them glutinous and can harden around a bird's beak. Uncooked porridge oats are readily taken by a number of bird species. It is best offered dry, with a supply of drinking water nearby.

·         Coconut: Give fresh coconut only, in the shell. Rinse out any residues of the sweet coconut water from the middle of the coconut before hanging it out to prevent the build-up of black mildew. Desiccated coconut should never be used as it may swell once inside a bird and cause death 
· 
   Salt: Garden birds are practically unable to metabolise salt, which in high quantity is toxic, affecting the nervous system. Under normal circumstances in the wild, birds are unlikely to take harmful amounts of salt.  Never put out salted food onto the bird table, and never add salt to bird baths to keep water ice-free in the winter. 

Blackbirds fighting over cake  L Bimson
·   Other kitchen scraps: cake crumbs, a little mild grated hard cheese, leftover cooked potato - plain baked, roast and pastry.

·    

   Wiggly worms? Mealworms, yes I know they look like shiny maggots, but they are not so squishy, and handling them is rather like grabbing a handful of animated rice! More to the point the birds love them. Serve live or dried. It is very important that any mealworms fed to birds are fresh. Any dead or discoloured ones should not be used as they can cause problems such as salmonella poisoning.
Robins loves mealworms  L Bimson

'Wild birds are incredibly important in the lives of many people; the RSPB's celebrates this special relationship and encourages everyone to feed garden birds.

Good hygiene at bird feeding stations is sensible.  

When a large number of birds are attracted into an area to feed, the danger of disease increases.
Prevention is always better than a cure, and is the best thing you can do to help the birds.
Monitor the food you put out regularly. If the food is taking days to clear either from consider reducing the amount of food offered. Use a bird table and/or hanging feeders. A ground feeding tray is  easier to keep clean and moved if all the food hasn’t been ate before nightfall.* Rats are attracted to leftover food and often carry diseases, which can affect birds or humans.
Keep bird tables and surrounding areas clean and free from droppings or mouldy food, thus avoiding the risk of infection by providing breeding grounds for parasites and bacteria. Clean and wash the bird table and hanging feeders regularly using 5% disinfectant solution, and try and move feeding stations to a new area frequently to prevent droppings accumulating underneath. Water containers should be rinsed out as droppings can accumulate in bird baths. Your personal hygiene is also important. Please wear gloves when cleaning feeders and bird tables, and always wash your hands when finished

Where is the best place to put a bird table in my garden?

Bird tables should be placed where the birds are safe and will be able to feed undisturbed. Avoid putting them near fences or dense hedges, where cats can easily get to them.  If there is a small bush nearby, birds can use this as a look-out point to make sure it is safe. 
Where cats are a problem, avoid putting food on the ground, but use a bird table where cats cannot reach it.
Place feeders high off the ground but away from surfaces from which a cat could jump.

Place spiny plants (such as holly) or an uncomfortable surface around the base of the feeding station to prevent cats sitting underneath it.

Make the table-stand slippery using a metal post, or plastic bottles around non-metal posts.

Fieldfare and Redwing on Pyracantha.
Plant wildlife-friendly vegetation, such as prickly berry bearing bushes like pyracantha, berberis and cotoneaster and thick climbers in the garden to provide secure cover for birds. These should be close enough to where birds feed to provide cover, but not so close that cats can use it to stalk birds.  This kind of planting may also provide food and nesting sites.💚




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