When to Feed Birds?
Jan 28th, 2008 by Birdy Trish
We should be feeding our wild birds all the time.
A lot of people think that birds should ONLY be fed in the winter months when birds need a high proportion of fat to stay fit, healthy and alive. This is wrong. Birds benefit from being fed all year round.
WINTER FEEDING
Food is important in winter because:
- Winter days are short so the hours a bird has to look for food are short. This makes feeding birds important in winter.
- Cold, freezing weather means birds use more energy to keep warm. (Just like us). Birds need to find food early morning help them build up their enery to see them through another cold, wet or windy day.
- Feeding birds in winter also helps every bird stay in good condition for when the breeding season arrives in Spring.
FEEDING IN SPRING
In spring adult birds still rely on us for their food. Adult birds spend so much time and energy feeding their young they often go without food to ensure their young are fed.
I know from feeding birds over many years that Spring is a busy time at my bird feeder. All the birds seem frantic to get to the bird food.
In November 2007 I noticed there were not many Blue Tits at my feeder so I investigated a bit. What I found out was that 2007 had not been a good breeding season for Blue tits. This doesn’t explain why they disappeared in November 2007 but it unexpectedly showed me how important feeding birds in Spring is.
We look out of the window and see sunshine, greenery and the countryside seems lush with food. But we are wrong.
A warm early Spring and a cold summer made it hard for Blue Tits to find food
Interesting info about Blue Tits
I’m pleased to say the Blue Tits have now returned and use my bird table, my peanut feeder, my fatball feeder and my ground feeder every day.
Tags: blue-tits, breeding-seasons, spring, winter
