Our garden birds - Harsh winter weather can spell doom

[MsAnneThrope]

I always look after them but the feed i buy in Woody's doesn't seem to be taken by them so much (ie they leave most of it), i tried grated cheese instead this morning, will check to see if any was taken.

Any other ideas for common food scraps that would be especially appreciated by them are welcome.

Cheese is a particular favourite of robins and most birds eat it too. Fruit of all types, including the peel, cooked potatoes and peel, cooked rice or pasta, pretty much anything. You can buy a large bag of Tesco oatmeal flakes for like 80c or so and most birds will take it readily. Raisins, sultanas, you'll find lots of stuff around the house if you can't get out. Natural breakfast cereals. Wet/moist bread. Leftover toast, crusts (again moistened)

Always remember that nothing is wasted in Nature, not even the tiniest crumb.

[SAHM]

We are leaving out seeds and bits of bread etc. The number of birds visiting our garden as easily trebled and they are getting braver. I never thought of water. I assumed they would drink from the rivers and streams.

[imokyrok]

I always look after them but the feed i buy in Woody's doesn't seem to be taken by them so much (ie they leave most of it), i tried grated cheese instead this morning, will check to see if any was taken.

Any other ideas for common food scraps that would be especially appreciated by them are welcome.

If you feed regularly it would be worth buying your bird food from a farmers supply merchant - the kind of place that does hen feed, wheat, bales of hay etc. They sell large bags of mixed bird feed which works out a fraction of the cost of buying in the DIY stores and supermarkets and of course you are less likely to run out at a time when the birds have developed a dependency on you. I used to keep mine in a metal dustbin beside the feeding stations.

[Thranduil]

Your a genius! Thanks for the tip.

Yes, i second that. Great thread. Very useful primer reminding people to do something that is important in and rewarding, hopefully it may persuade a few readers.

[Lightning Rod]

I never intended to have so many but with many feral cats in the neighbourhood stray kittens just kept popping up.

Tits in my back garden can empty a seed feeder in an afternoon, they eat the sunflower and Niger seeds and throw the rest on the ground where the finches and sparrows set to. Unfortunately mice discovered the banquet recently and established a home in my attic directly above my bedroom, they're sleeping now.

[Malbekh]

Hi, I'm Malbekh and I approve of this thread.

Nice pad Beanie.

On Magpies, did you know that Magpies are the only birds that mourn each others passing? They'll peck the body to see if it's dead, then fly off and get some funeral grass and lay a wreath. I like Magpies, they're cheeky buggers and I get a great laugh when they scold our dog and nick her dog food.

[toxic avenger]

I put out ground-food for song-birds in the back and front gardens, there are many of them poking around all day (when I'm at home anyway) between the frozen fallen leaves (they seem to enjoy the hunt underneath them). Loads and loads of chaffinches, a regular solitary robin, a pair of blackbirds, an occasional blue-tit, passing wagtails, and a few little brown jobs. I don't mind the pigeons or magpies who join the hunt either. The water is more vital than the food, access in these freezing days is almost impossible (The Lough across the road is now effectively an ice rink - the geese and swans are all hiding in the centre island of willow trees, though there are plenty drunk eejits out visiting them every night), it's vital to break the ice or refill the water feeders for them.

[Malbekh]

- the geese and swans are all hiding in the centre island of willow trees, though there are plenty drunk eejits out visiting them every night), it's vital to break the ice or refill the water feeders for them.

...for the drunk eejits?

[toxic avenger]

...for the drunk eejits?

Well certainly I'd like the ice to break for the ones screaming and shouting at three in the morning when I had to be up at five to drive to Dublin this morning (which was great fun....)...

Parents/Grandparent of said eejits in 1962/3 freeze-up (the geese were hiding then too)...

[Lightning Rod]

I melt the birdbaths with a boiled kettle-full each morning but we live near moving water that never freezes so I reckon the birds in my area are ok for water anyway.