FEEDING BIRDS ON THE CHEAP CHEAP
Whether you’ve got a garden, a concrete back yard or simply a balcony you can still feed the birds. It’s a great thing to do as they get the food and you get the benefit of watching the fascinating little creatures. Rather like our own food stuff, bird food includes everything from the Value range up to luxury brands. But it needn’t cost a fortune to put on a garden buffet for birds.
Try putting out: cooked, unsalted rice or uncooked porridge oats.. (Also provide drinking water.) Halve an apple and they’ll happily feed on that. If you’ve got sunflower or pumpkin seeds you bought to snack on in a healthy phase that didn’t last long, don’t leave ‘em on the shelf, but give them to the birds.
If you do decide to buy a commercial bird seed mix – buy wisely. Check the label. You want to avoid cheap mixes that’re choc a bloc with barley, split peas, beans or wheat as that appeals more to larger birds (and you don’t want to attract wood pigeons, do you?). If you’re buying sunflower seeds the birds will be more thankful for the black rather than striped ones (to do with a higher fat content). Niger seeds and peanuts (not salted or roasted) are very good too. The RSPB’s website has details of how to make bird cake and food bars. http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/index.aspx
Free ways to persuade birds to stop by:
Provide water. It doesn’t have to be a pond strewn with lily pads. A shallow bowl can be a makeshift bird bath or provide drinking water.
Use leaf mould to mulch your flower beds. Apparently you’ll make the blackbirds happy by doing so.
As with attracting any form of wildlife, don’t over tidy your garden. Leaves, berries, windfall apples, sunflower heads and wood piles all provide a varied habitat and gives Nature that helping hand.
Whether you’ve got a garden, a concrete back yard or simply a balcony you can still feed the birds. It’s a great thing to do as they get the food and you get the benefit of watching the fascinating little creatures. Rather like our own food stuff, bird food includes everything from the Value range up to luxury brands. But it needn’t cost a fortune to put on a garden buffet for birds.
Try putting out: cooked, unsalted rice or uncooked porridge oats.. (Also provide drinking water.) Halve an apple and they’ll happily feed on that. If you’ve got sunflower or pumpkin seeds you bought to snack on in a healthy phase that didn’t last long, don’t leave ‘em on the shelf, but give them to the birds.
If you do decide to buy a commercial bird seed mix – buy wisely. Check the label. You want to avoid cheap mixes that’re choc a bloc with barley, split peas, beans or wheat as that appeals more to larger birds (and you don’t want to attract wood pigeons, do you?). If you’re buying sunflower seeds the birds will be more thankful for the black rather than striped ones (to do with a higher fat content). Niger seeds and peanuts (not salted or roasted) are very good too. The RSPB’s website has details of how to make bird cake and food bars. http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/index.aspx
Free ways to persuade birds to stop by:
Provide water. It doesn’t have to be a pond strewn with lily pads. A shallow bowl can be a makeshift bird bath or provide drinking water.
Use leaf mould to mulch your flower beds. Apparently you’ll make the blackbirds happy by doing so.
As with attracting any form of wildlife, don’t over tidy your garden. Leaves, berries, windfall apples, sunflower heads and wood piles all provide a varied habitat and gives Nature that helping hand.