Wild Bird
Top Tips for Autumn & Winter Feeding
Top Tips for Autumn & Winter Bird Feeding
Birds must fatten up in Winter to ensure they can survive the coldest of nights. Now more than ever, your local and visiting birds will appreciate any food you can offer. As with all wildlife, we can lend a helping hand by providing a welcome source of extra food in colder times.
What to feed.
The best way to attract the maximum amount of species is to offer variety. We’d recommend one regular feeder that you can use seed in and one peanut feeder as they’re the favorite of so many birds. In order to really look after them, offer out some fat balls. They last a while, don’t melt and are full of essential energy over winter.
Offer a variety of feeds to maximize your bird table’s pull factor.
Peanuts – Tits, Woodpecker, Greenfinch
Mealworm – Blackbird, Wren, Robin
Suet – Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Woodpecker, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Starling
Seed Mixes – Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Sparrow, Wren
Sunflower Hearts – Tits, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Sparrow, Nuthatch
Nyjer Seed – Goldfinch
Why Feed Fat?
Birds require high-energy (high fat) foods during the cold winter weather to maintain their fat reserves to survive the cold. Fat balls and suet-based products will provide excellent nutrition and ensure birds can maintain essential warmth when it’s coldest.
Keep them hydrated.
Providing clean, freshwater alongside food is very important, particularly for seed-eaters such as Finches. They need to drink regularly to counterbalance their dry diet.
Keep it up.
Once you start feeding birds, remember to top up their food regularly. While most visitors will adapt and move to new feeding grounds when natural food gradually runs out, a sudden drop off in feeding puts added pressure on them to find a new food source quickly.
Top Tips
- Know your birds
Different species eat different things. Sparrows and Finches like seeds, Tits like fat, and Thrushes and Robins like fruit and worms.
- Water
Ensure birdbaths and ponds do not freeze over in winter, either by adding some hot water or leave a floating ball on the surface.
- Quantity
Only put out what will get eaten within a few days. This is important if you want to avoid unwanted visitors and moldy food.
- Location, location, location!
Position your feeders high up away from bushes and undergrowth so cats can’t pounce on your birds.
- Keep it clean
Dirty bird feeders and bird tables can help spread diseases. Make sure you clean them regularly to keep your visitors healthy and happy. And always wash your hands after feeding the birds!
For any further support don’t hesitate to pop in to store and ask one of the team.
For more Top Tips for Autumn & Winter Feeding be sure to pop into our stores and speak to one of the team or go to our shop now and stock up on all your seeds and suets you need.
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