Feeding garden birds

jojo01 · 19/12/10 - 09:27

In this snowy weather I always feel a bit sorry for the garden birds so I've been putting some redundant rice crispies out for them in the garden which 'Bashed Head' the pigeon seems to enjoy!

However, I also have lots of leftover sultanas, raisins, mixed peel left over from Christmas cake making, and I wondered if it would be a good idea to put some of that out as well?

I thought I could make my own fat balls with butter, crispies, left over sultanas etc.

Does anyone know if that would be ok,or harmful to the birds - last thing I want to do is kill them!

aiki · 19/12/10 - 10:22

jojo01 wrote: »

In this snowy weather I always feel a bit sorry for the garden birds so I've been putting some redundant rice crispies out for them in the garden which 'Bashed Head' the pigeon seems to enjoy!

However, I also have lots of leftover sultanas, raisins, mixed peel left over from Christmas cake making, and I wondered if it would be a good idea to put some of that out as well?

I thought I could make my own fat balls with butter, crispies, left over sultanas etc.

Does anyone know if that would be ok,or harmful to the birds - last thing I want to do is kill them!

Morning,

The birds will enjoy the raisins, sultanas etc. For fat balls, you really need to use a very hard fat like suet - softer stuff can easily smear on their feathers and they won't be able to get rid of it.

Mitten Kitten · 19/12/10 - 10:41

The sultanas etc should be fine, but I am not certain about the butter. Last year when I was making my own fat balls for the garden, I remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't give them anything with salt in but I don't know where I found that information. I tried using plain lard, but they didn't seem to like it too much, so when I can next get to the supermarket, I will be looking for suet. I have resorted to shop bought ones at the moment which they are devouring rapidly. Love the fact that you name the birds. I just have one 'Pidge' (despite living in London), but I do have Dave the Dove, Mrs Dave, Baby Dave and this years offspring, the DaveTwins:D I am also in the process of trying cooking the seed before putting it out. As I have a cat, most of the birds are reluctant to pick up the seed on the ground, so it gets left and sprouts everywhere. I found some information on EHow about how cooking it first stops germination, but doesn't alter the nutritious content. I got a flat platorm to hang off the washing line for Dave and family so they are comparitively safe for feeding. Last year when baby Dave was learning to fly, I found him having a rest on the platform while Mrs Dave was keeping a watchful eye on the washing line.:)

MadonnaMIX · 19/12/10 - 10:50

I have been buying big bags of bird seed & the fat balls as

well as the bag of nuts with the three pouches in it out of poundland

Just a tip for anyone who does the same its cheeper

No pun intended & the bags are the same size as the ones

you get in Asda Morrisons or Tesco

jojo01 · 19/12/10 - 11:39

Thanks all. I will avoid using butter, I think I may have some suet in the cupboard somewhere so I shall go and have a look. Good hint about poundland too, stuff can be quite expensive in supermarkets, Homebase etc.

As well as 'Bashed Head', there is also 'Fat Bird' - another wood pigeon that's a right porker!

kelvo · 19/12/10 - 11:51

We've got a mottley collection of pigeons outside the window at the moment. We've got 4 Jays who are regulars at the moment and eating their way through a mountain of monkey nuts - stops the pigeons eating them! Just means we have a load of husks on the lawn where they've broken them open :mad:

Erlang · 19/12/10 - 12:38

Isn't water the big issue during long freezes?

jojo01 · 19/12/10 - 12:51

Erlang wrote: »

Isn't water the big issue during long freezes?

Indeed it is, so I also put a fresh dish of water out for them too.

cats_five · 19/12/10 - 12:59

If you buy fat balls (or any other bird food) in fine plastic net, remove the net before putting them out - the birds can get tangled up in the net.

brillopad · 19/12/10 - 21:00

I melt lard (whatever) in the microwave and mix in whatever breakfast mix is on offer plus any food scraps and (as mentioned) don't use nylon mesh bags to put it in.
If you have trouble with animals pinching it mix in some hot chilli powder which birds can't taste.

Several of use feed the birds and we get a huge variety including Blackcap warblers - we used to get Greenfinches but they all died off through disease spread at feeders so please keep feeding stations clean.

You can attract certain species with specialized foods - Goldfinches will come for Niger seed or Sunflower hearts.

You can learn what the birds are by visiting the RSPB website or buy the Birdguides APP for Iphone/Ipod/Ipad

[Deleted User] · 20/12/10 - 12:39

Mitten Kitten wrote: »

I do have Dave the Dove, Mrs Dave, Baby Dave and this years offspring, the DaveTwins . I got a flat platform to hang off the washing line for Dave and family so they are comparatively safe for feeding. Last year when baby Dave was learning to fly, I found him having a rest on the platform while Mrs Dave was keeping a watchful eye on the washing line.

awwwww too cute

x

CRTHD · 20/12/10 - 14:52

I'm mainly getting Blue-tits and Robins. (Seeds and fat-balls).

The resident blackbirds and sparrows pop in occasionally.

I put out some left over donuts (broken-up) on Saturday and the starlings came from miles around! (The activity also seemed to attract gulls but none landed).

I put out some chopped-up, cooked bacon rind and some ham fat earlier.

I've also left the pond pump running, to stop it from freezing.

Please do try to help the birds. The smaller breeds in particular need fat for energy to keep their body heat up.

molliepops · 20/12/10 - 15:05

Bread crumbs, cake crumbs, peanuts, seeds, pearl barley, left over cereal, sultanas, bacon fat, pork crackling that hasn't gone crackly, fat balls, dried meal worms, bread rolls on strings, coconuts, hazlenuts, cob nuts and dried fish skins.

Seems to keep the wood pigeons, black birds, thrush, robin, blue tits, great tits, wood peckers, magpies and lonely seagull happy. Squirrels look healthy too !

Cat food and dog food seem to keep the foxes happy and made the hedgehogs fat enough to hibernate too.

You_mo · 20/12/10 - 15:16

Good! The birds suffered last year with the weather. I make sure they have some fresh water every morning too by smashing up the ice and refilling. I even have a rabbit that visits. He's so tame it's weird!

stash22 · 20/12/10 - 18:45

I put out food for the birds, I have a nut and seed feeders - I now get such a variety of birds. Recently Ive been getting a greater spotted woodpecker visit a tree at the back and he likes the nuts and fat balls. Also noticed many different birds coming searching desperately for food- such as chaffinches & greenfinches which we never usually get. I have a bowl in my kitchen and any cake or bread crumbs/suitable scraps that we have left get put in there throughout the day- then I tip out those bits on the lawn.
I really recommend fat bricks/balls as most birds seem to love them and its great for their energy levels - it is a cheap and fun to make your own fat balls too. I have two trays for water, in the morning put some boiling water on top and that melts the ice- they always come soon after away to bath and drink so I think thats a desperate need too. Does anyone know what food scraps are suitable- are cheese or rice ok, fruit or veg?
This morning I found a beautiful female blackbird dead on my front drive - felt sad about that

Dimsie · 21/12/10 - 11:35

If you put out tepid water it takes longer to freeze, though in these temperatures you may have to renew it pretty regularly. Everything is freezing so fast when I'm at, it's unreal. As well as feeding birds during the day, we also leave canned cat food out for stray cats and hedgehogs at night, but the food was freezing within a very short time last night. So I checked that dried cat food like Brekkies is ok for hedgehogs (it is) and left that instead. Most hedgehogs are hiberating by now, of course, but we still have a little one that comes most nights and I want to make sure he gets fed.

[Deleted User] · 21/12/10 - 14:25

Mitten Kitten wrote: »

I just have one 'Pidge' (despite living in London), but I do have Dave the Dove, Mrs Dave, Baby Dave and this years offspring, the DaveTwins:D

Glad to see I'm not the only one with names for my birds.

We have Fatboy Pidge (the head pigeon who is a big fat bugger and always gets to the food first) and the Pidgettes (his faithful four fans who follow him around and sit watching him until he gives them the nod so they can eat as well). We also have Mr & Mrs Magpie and the "Family", a group of starlings who swoop down together, have something to eat and then fly off together and Robiny (a robin of course), not to mention all the other little birds, too many of which there are to mention.

Having tried various different ways of feeding the birds over the years, I have been using a feeding station for the last couple of years which has been quite successful. It has plenty of seed feeders and trays on it, but I do think I must have some of the laziest birds around as I have noticed that they will not touch the fat balls/fat cake when it is in the proper holder, but when I crumble it up for them and put it in the trays, they can't get enough of it!

I also have a bird bath near to the feeding station which they like to drink/bathe in. Like others have said, I have found it freezes very easily in this weather, so I just use some boiling water and find that unfreezes it quite easily.

We are quite lucky where we live as there aren't too many cats and the birds feel quite safe. I do think they are quite clever though as my cat is an indoor cat and loves to watch them come down and eat their food and I think they know he can't get to them as quite often some of them will hop up and down in front of the window when he is watching them as if they are taunting him and saying "nah nah, can't catch me!"

RubusRoo · 21/12/10 - 19:02

Better to spread the food out rather than have it in one place such as a ball of fat.

There is growing evidence that these communal feeding sites are spreading disease amongst birds as different species all eat from the same source.

It is not natural for their food to be in one concentrated area. They forage for food in the wild.

brillopad · 21/12/10 - 23:32

RubusRoo wrote: »

Better to spread the food out rather than have it in one place such as a ball of fat.

There is growing evidence that these communal feeding sites are spreading disease amongst birds as different species all eat from the same source.

It is not natural for their food to be in one concentrated area. They forage for food in the wild.

Yep - we used to have more Greenfinches than any other bird but now they are all gone victim to Trichomonosis.

brillopad · 21/12/10 - 23:38

RubusRoo wrote: »

Better to spread the food out rather than have it in one place such as a ball of fat.

There is growing evidence that these communal feeding sites are spreading disease amongst birds as different species all eat from the same source.

It is not natural for their food to be in one concentrated area. They forage for food in the wild.

Yep - we used to have more Greenfinches than any other bird but now they are all gone victim to Trichomonosis.

[Deleted User] · 22/12/10 - 01:54

I'm snowed in in Herefordshire and have 100's of birds visiting for food at the moment. I spend so much on seed I have to buy it in bulk 25kg bags online from 'bird ventures' as garden centers are so expensive for quite small bags.

I also use the 'no mess' without husk variety otherwise I would have to much mold and gunk from all the rotting husks. It seems to work very well with minimal mess.

Have anyone else noticed the high prices for suet bird foods at the moment? Last year or perhaps the winter before I was buying 10 x suit cakes for £9.99 and they are £14.99 now !

If anyone is interested I am making my own suet cakes now using

3 x vegetable atora (the green box)
1/3 of a pack of trex
Chicken fat and skin or fatty scraps added

Stick it all in a pan on a low heat (no. 3 on my leccy cooker) and after about 20 mins and a bit of light stiring you can pour it into old marg tubs, foil trays or coconut shells etc, add a bit of seed while it is still fluid and also on top when it has started to set and place in a cool area and by morning you have some nice food to put out for the birds.

I can fill about 9 or 10 coconut halves with the above.

I do buy the coconut halves with suet now and again and make sure I collect the used shells, brush and dry them well before reusing them.

I had a wren curled up on the door step this afternoon and it kept putting it's head under it's wing so I knew something was wrong. I bought it in but it only lasted about 10 minutes and died. Most of the other birds seem to be doing ok so far but it is really bad out there.

ps. if you make your own suet cakes use a kettle of boiling water to clean the pan and utensils after as that suet is very sticky, but boiling water does the trick.

[Deleted User] · 22/12/10 - 01:56

brillopad wrote: »

Yep - we used to have more Greenfinches than any other bird but now they are all gone victim to Trichomonosis.

I had that here last couple of years too. I clean all my feeding stations and move them in the hope of keeping it at bay.

I have noticed the finches are back this year in numbers so here's hoping.

kelvo · 22/12/10 - 21:19

lazydaisy20 wrote: »

Glad to see I'm not the only one with names for my birds. We have Fatboy Pidge (the head pigeon who is a big fat bugger and always gets to the food first) and the Pidgettes (his faithful four fans who follow him around and sit watching him until he gives them the nod so they can eat as well). We also have Mr & Mrs Magpie and the "Family", a group of starlings who swoop down together, have something to eat and then fly off together and Robiny (a robin of course), not to mention all the other little birds, too many of which there are to mention.

We have two pigeons called Bonny and Clyde - one is a racing or homing pigeon (it has a ring on it's leg) it's mate is a brown and white ferral pigeon. Always see them together. Morris and Doris are two magpies and Jack and Jill two Jays. Woody is a woodpigeon.

Doll Feet · 22/12/10 - 22:42

My neighbour has chosen now to complain about me feeding the birds

Mitten Kitten · 23/12/10 - 02:54

Doll Feet wrote: »

My neighbour has chosen now to complain about me feeding the birds

What on earth is their problem? I am lucky, last year my neighbour bought me a large box of birdseed as a thank you for attracting birds. She too has a cat but nowhere safe to hang feeders, so gets enjoyment from seeing them feeding in my garden. Mind you, I don't think the people the other side of me have got the hang of it. They put up a feeder in their tree, then lopped the tree hard so there were no branches left and never bothered to refill the feeder when empty. Don't think they really like nature:(

CRTHD · 23/12/10 - 13:01

Doll Feet wrote: »

My neighbour has chosen now to complain about me feeding the birds

I hope you wished them a Merry Christmas! :eek:

Hey there!

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