Ground Feeding Birds
Dec 7th, 2007 by Birdy Trish
Some birds happily swing from branches of trees or hanging feeders to get their daily food supply.
Other birds including Dunnocks, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds look for food on the ground.
If they do fly to a bird table it’s usually one without a roof.
Chaffinches and sparrows eat from bird tables or the ground with equal ease.
I have had a lot of enjoyment watching blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows and chaffinches hop about and feed on the ground in one small area of my garden. It seems as though they have their own communal feeding group.
Throwing feed onto the grass is one way of feeding birds. I throw cheese and peeled and cut apples onto the grass along with a bit of bird seed. This lets the larger thrushes and blackbirds feed daily on the ground in one corner of the garden.
The problem with putting feed on the ground is that it could attract vermin. So I only put a little out at a time.
There are caged ground feeders (I have one and it’s brilliant). The one problem with the caged feeder is that the mesh won’t open wide enough to let Thrushes and Blackbirds in. There is a small door on my meshed feeder but if I leave this small door open the Thrushes and Blackbirds don’t go in. Moorhens, starlings and partridges boldly go through the open door (or in the case of the partridge - poke it’s head in to get the food) .
I suppose the answer is a bit of both. Which is what I do.
I put food on the grass on the ground.
I also put bird food inside the meshed feeder (with the door closed). This lets the smaller birds feed peacefully without being pushed away by starlings or pigeons.
There are bird seed mixes that are specifically for bird table or ground feeding. They contain a blend highly nutritious feed for a wide range of garden birds and usuallycontain wheat, sunflower seeds, maize, oatmeal and chopped peanuts.
Tags: blackbirds, chaffinches, dunnocks, house-sparrow, moorhen, partridge, starlings, thrushes
