Bird Table News

Guest Post – which is in reply to a comment made on BBC Breakfast site that fat should not be fed to birds. 

I would like to make a clarification in the hope that we do not confuse and therefore stop people feeding birds.

Solid lard wether bought or produced from cooking such as beef, lamb etc should be fine just remember not to leave them for days if the birds don’t consume them.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have lots of birds visiting their garden butby putting out a little fresh food each day you will see more and more birds visiting your garden/patio.

If you don’t have any bought bird food please do put out what lefovers but make sure

• they are not left for long,
• put them on a tray so it can be cleaning off regularly
• and replace with fresh food stuff

If you do this  you should find you are rewarded with the sight of birds feeding regularly.

Also please don’t forget those of you who own cats please put a bell on their collar.

Cheers L

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Thanks for that.  It is really clear and useful advice. Cheers.

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I made a note on Bird Table News of the last time I bought some bags of bird food.  Here is the article -

THE DATE I LAST BOUGHT A 12.75 kg BAG OF BIRD FOOD

The date I last bought a 12.75kg GUARDMAN NO MESS SEED MIX – Price £15.49  was on 31st JANUARY 2010!  It is now 21st February 2010.

It has only lasted 21 days!  And I buy other bird food as well.

I thought it would have lasted longer than that.

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This Guardman No Mess Seed Mix can be fed on the ground, on birdtables and in bird feeders.  It is a useful, good quality bird food.  I suppose that is why I have used to much – I have been putting it in three places every day.

I suppose it works out at just under £1 per day.

But it still begs the question is it right that wild birds rely so much on my bird food.  Also I won’t always be able to put bird food out as I do now.

Yet on the other hand – when I see small  ‘flocks’ of a variety of birds doing aerobatics round the bird feeder and frantically pecking at this bird food on the bird table  and in the feeders I know I must be doing a bit of good. 

Seeing these birds so close together the different colours of these garden birds often amazes me.  The blue tit, the chaffinch, the robin, the sparrows, blackbird, thrush.  There is blue, white, orangy, black, brown, red, yellow (beaks) all flitting before my eyes.  They do leave a trail of colour near the bird feeders

As I live in the countryside the fields and scrub areas nearby provide a habitat for many birds.  And these birds just have to flit over the fence from the field to my garden.

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Another bag of bird food that I bought on 31st January was 

12.75kg OF NATURE’S FEAST FEEDER SUPREME.  Price £10.99
It is a seed mixture that includes sunflower, dari and millet.  It is for seed feeders.  This bird food  attracts a lot of birds including  Great Tits and Coal Tits, blackbirds, chaffinches, greenfinch, goldfinch, doves, starlings, tree sparrows and house sparrows

This bird food cannot be put in bird feeders, but I do put it on the bird table and ground feeder every day. 

I also like this bird food as it is blended to feed a lot of birds

I still have a lot of this bird food left as I don’t put it in the bird feeders.

As I’m writing this there is a chaffinch on the bird table.  It’s been there for a few minutes pecking away – now a female blackbird has taken over the bird table and a sparrow has now joined it and the chaffinch has flown away.  I wish I had my camers as  watching a sparrow and blackbird  close together  you get a good view of the exact difference in size.  It’s a bit like Little and Large

Have a good day.

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I received a question the other week asking if  any bird seed / bird food  is genetically modified.  I do not know so I could not answer.

I was also asked -  if we  buy bird seed which is generically modified  and then put it in our feeders – would wild birds know it was different and not eat the bird food?

These are two good questions. 

Does anyone know the answer?

I know bird food is produced to the highest standards, but can it be separated from GM crops and does it matter if bird food is genetically modified?

I think I need help here to figure this one out.

Trisha from Bird Table News

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In winter birds use a lot of energy searching for food as  natural bird food is scarce.  Putting food out does help birds survive.

Putting any left over Christmas food out is a good idea. 

Here is a list of food you can feed to birds

YOU CAN FEED

• Mild Cheese – grated or just crumbled and broken
• The fat from the cooking can be used. I soak bread in water and then soak this bread in the melted fat before putting it out for birds.  The fat can also be used to mix with bird food.  This way there is double energy – bird food and fat in one meal. 
• Any left over cakes and buns
• Chopped up apples.
• Dried food that has been soaked. 
• Left over roast potatoes. 
• Christmas Cake and Christmas pudding.  These are a really good food for birds. 
• Unsalted nuts – and we have a lot of those at Christmas

Here is a list of food you should not feed to birds

YOU SHOULD NOT FEED

• Stuffing
• Chocolate
• Cooked vegetables
• crisps
• salted nuts
• cooked meat

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First thing in a morning birds are hungry
After surviving a cold night birds need energy to keep them going through the day. For this reason putting bird food out first thing in a morning is probably the best time

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I am still using Guardman’s No Mess Seed mix every day.

It is a very useful bird food.  I put it in a hanging bird feeder, on a bird table and use it as a ground food

Click the blue link below which will take you to  the article about why I use this bird food

ARTICLE ABOUT GUARDMAN’S NO MESS SEED MIX

Does anyone have a favourite bird food that they use?

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Chris Packham gives such good advice.  He sums up why it’s important to keep on putting bird food out through the year.  He supports Garden Bird Supplies and this is what he says -
 

At this time of year keeping your feeders full with a constant supply of good quality food is really important. In the winter birds try to conserve as much energy as possible to keep themselves warm at night and to help them find their next meal. Once they find a constant supply of food they’ll stay nearby ensuring the energy they gain from their food is greater than the energy they spent looking for it.

There’s no better way of knowing you’re doing your bit to help the birds survive the coldest months of the year than when regular visitors have appeared to ‘set up camp’ in your garden. If there’s a constant supply of food, why go anywhere else?

Remember, a trip to an empty feeder is a waste of valuable energy – your garden birds are relying on you to keep your feeders full during the winter. Stock up and keep them visiting!

Chris Packham

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I so wish I could sum things up as well.  Lets just Feed the Birds!

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Blackbirds, thrushes, robins and wagtails are amongst the birds that DO NOT have a beak that is good for cracking seeds.  Because of their beaks these birds are called SOFTBILLS 

Garden Bird Supplies have a very good Soft Bill Mix which is a blend of wheat, barley, oats and maize together with sultanas

Garden Bird Supplies soft bill mix is also good because -

1. It gives you great bird feeding results with no waste

2. It is a special mix which has good quality bird food for soft bill birds who have difficulty eating most seeds and grain.

3. Gives softbill birds their own food source  in winter 

4. It is pre treated to make it easy for these birds to eat

5.The softbill mix is a boost and a help to these birds in Spring when they are busy laying eggs and rearing their young.

6. Birds such as blackbirds and thrushes will definitely eat this softbill birdfood.  Because of the shape of their beaks they have difficulty with the tough outer skin of most seeds and grain that we feed other birds so this is a treat for them.

7. This softbill mix can be fed all year round.

8. You can enjoy watching the results of feeding these ground feeding birds. I know I do.

9.  Quite often the more traditional garden bird gets left behind when it comes to feeding.  This mix caters specifically for our ground feeding birds.  Sultanas are amongst the bird mixture and these are popular with our soft-fruit loving birds.

10.  It can be put on the bird table or put on a ground feeder.

Garden Bird Supplies

BUY NOW

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Take a look – Bird Food Delivered to your Door! – Click the link below -

http://www.gardenbird.co.uk/on/demandware.store/Sites-GBS-Site/default/Search-Show?q=softbill+bird+food

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A favourite bird food in my garden at the moment is Nature’s Feast High Energy Supreme Bird Food.

I certainly see a lot of birds round this bird food when I put it out on the different tables and feeders.

It ticks all the boxes and feeds many birds –  

• Blackbird
• Song Thrushes
• Robins
• Great Tits
• Blue Tits
• Coal Tits
• Chaffinch
• Greenfinch
• Gold finch
• Woodpecker
• Dunnock
• Collared Dove
• Starling
• Tree Sparrow
• House Sparrow

I think I’ve seen all of those birds  except the woodpecker, greenfinch and goldfinch – but there is time yet.

It also attracts siskins, finches, larks and buntings.

It is a bit more expensive than some of the bags of bird food I have bought, but it is worth it because I know when I put this bird food out it will feed a lot of birds.

I like the fact that Blackbirds and Thrushes will eat this bird food.

This Nature’s Feast High Energy Supreme Bird Food can be put on

Bird Tables

Ground Feeders

Tube Feeders

Nature’s Feast High Energy Supreme is, of course, a high energy food. 

• It is rich in sunflower hearts.
• Has a husk free formulation
• Attracts many species
• Contains fruit and nut suet pellet
• Has added vitamins and minerals.

I’ve just been sitting enjoying watching the birds from my kitchen window (it’s a very easy way of bird watching).  What colour and life they bring to my little garden corner.

I purchased my 12.75  kg bag of Nature’s Feast Wild Bird Care High Energy Food from a local Garden Centre and it cost me £19.49.  The sell by date is 12 August 2010.  I think it will all have gone by then!

I  live in the countryside so there are many birds about and, because of it,  I do seem to get a general flock of lots of different varieties at my feeders.  I  have more than one feeder, but it is just as good to have ONE feeder only and put a bit of bird food out.  Every little helps.

Another way of helping birds is to plant a bush / hedge that is bird friendly and will provide shelter, berries as food, and a nesting site – for years to come.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NATURE’S FEAST BIRD FOOD   – CLICK HERE

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I have just been buying some bird food in bulk. I bought some  GARDMANS NO MESS SEED MIX

It is 12.75 kg (28 lbs).

At the moment I’m putting it into one bird feeder, one bird table and two ground feeders .

It is BSA Approved

It is a very useful birdseed because it -

• Can be used on the ground
• Can be used on bird tables
• Can be used in seed feeders
• It is a NO GROW SEED MIX – so nothing will sprout and grow.

Among the birds it attracts are -

• Greenfinches
• chaffinches
• nuthatches,
• blue tits,
• siskins
• dunnocks
• blackbirds,
• doves,
• buntings
• song thrushes
• and sparrows

I’m getting a frenzy of birds feeding at the ground feeders near my kitchen window and also at the bird table.  I get a number of blackbirds, thrushes, loads of sparrows, doves, blue tits and others that flit on and off the bird table.  They really do bring the garden to life and amuse me as I watch their antics.  They have claimed an old fruit bush as their outdoor cafe and I put a lot of the bird food around that area.

 The 28lb bag cost me £15.49 so it should last a long time.  I will keep track of how long this bag of bird seed lasts.

This bag of bird food contains a blend of seeds that is attractive and nutritious to wild birds.  Also it will not generate any messy waste as all the uneatable seed husk has been taken away.

As I live 6 miles from a shop I find buying in bulk is useful, but I have to remember to budget for it! 

I have some dustbins in the back porch where I store the bird food – very useful on a darkm cold morning to have the birdfood in the porch instead of outside in an old shed.

If you have any special bird food you use, or any containers you use for storing bird food please let me know.

To find out more about bird feeding – Click on the image below to find out more or to buy the book.

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