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  2. Top Ten Bird Feeding Tips

Bird Feeding Tips - Ivel Valley Bird Food

  • TOP TIPS TO ATTRACT AND FEED BIRDS IN YOUR GARDEN
    1. Feed only high quality food from reputable suppliers.
    2. Avoid cheaper mixes which have a high % of lower cost grains such as wheat and even barley.
    3. Premium mixes typically contain peanuts, sunflower hearts, dried insects and sometimes suet.
    4. Use specialist feeders to minimise waste and discourage vermin such as squirrel proof feeders.
    5. Site feeders in the open, but near enough to some cover for the birds to hide if necessary.
    6. Make sure feeders are not accessible to cats.
    7. Use mesh feeders for peanuts and cage feeders for suet balls and suet blocks.
    8. Use plastic, ported feeders for seed mixes, sunflower seeds and hearts and nyger seed etc.
    9. Make sure that water is always available, especially during frosty weather.
    10. Keep offering food once you have started – birds come to rely on it in cold weather.
    11. Make sure food is all year round from autumn to spring.
    12. Birds especially need support in the winter, in the breeding season and pre migration.
  • TOP TIPS TO ATTRACT AND FEED BIRDS IN THE WINTER
    1. Besides offering food and water, planting shrubs for shelter will improve the habitat.
    2. Berry bearing shrubs and fruit trees will attract blackbirds and winter thrushes (redwing & fieldfare).
    3. Ground feeds are particularly useful for attracting thrushes and blackbirds.
    4. Specialist high quality suet pellets can be ground or table fed as well as with a mesh feeder.
    5. Look for high energy mixes and these can be fed in tubular plastic feeders
    6. Supplement feeding with high quality suet treats typically fed in cage feeders.
    7. Make sure feeders can’t be blown down – use poles or specialist hangers
    8. Likewise secure the bird table so it doesn’t blow over.
    9. A varied garden habitat will provide plenty of natural food as well as shelter.
    10. Birds are up very early so make sure feeders are filled ready for the morning
    11. Do thaw out the water after a frost but don’t put out hot water.
  • TOP TIPS TO ATTRACT AND FEED ROBINS IN YOUR GARDEN
    1. Robins are territorial – most gardens will have one!
    2. Plenty of shrubs for cover will give robins shelter and natural food.
    3. Robins can be attracted to feed with dried or live food such as mealworms.
    4. With patience you can get a robin very tame using mealworms.
    5. Robins will also take suet pellets and special mixes from a bird table.
    6. Robins can be attracted to breed with open-front nestboxes.
    7. Robins also like to nest in outbuildings, wood sheds – please make sure access is not stopped if they start using them.
    8. If you are lucky and they do breed – baby robins are brown and speckled.
  • TOP TIPS TO ATTRACT AND FEED FINCHES IN YOUR GARDEN
    1. Offer a good quality seed mix in a dedicated seed feeder or on a bird table.
    2. Nyger seed will attract goldfinches and redpolls.
    3. Be patient – it can take a long time for goldfinches to find a new food supply.
    4. Greenfinches also like to eat sunflower hearts from hanging feeders.
    5. Chaffinches prefer to eat from the ground or from a birdtable.
    6. Native trees like Alder will also attract finches in winter.
    7. Mixed flocks of finches and tits will often visit seed feeders or peanut feeders, especially in bad weather.
  • TOP TIPS TO ATTRACT AND FEED GROUND FEEDING BIRDS IN YOUR GARDEN.
    1. Use a low level feeder, preferably with plenty of drainage.
    2. Do not just scatter food on the ground (fruit is an exception to this rule).
    3. Make sure that the feeding site is not accessible to cats, dogs or vermin.
    4. Keep the feeding site tidy and remove spoilt food regularly
    5. Water can be offered in a shallow dish or bird bath.
    6. Use quality ground feed mixes or high suet content pellets