What do your garden birds enjoy eating?
- Thread starter Dave7
- Start date
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Accy cyclist
Legendary Member
- Location
- The hills of Accrington
I've bought 9 loaves of white bread,wholemeal bread,seeded batch and hovis over the last two days. All were 6p each as they were for sale at closing time in the local supermarket. I'll take a couple out with me whenever i go out and just break up and chuck the slices around the local park and cemetery. I've bought the bird seed,fat balls stuff,but most of it tends to get left,yet the bread always gets eaten.
Edit..Yes i know the local park and cemetery aren't 'my garden',but those birds i'm feeding might just fly into your garden!
Edit..Yes i know the local park and cemetery aren't 'my garden',but those birds i'm feeding might just fly into your garden!
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biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Std garden bird mix from either b & m or where ever else is cheap
mudsticks
Obviously an Aubergine
There's an abundance of berries, seeds, and insect life available on the farm here because of the way its managed.
No pesticides, or herbicides,- even 1/4 acre of standing sunflowers with their seeds available, plus all the varieties of wild plants that the neat freaks will insist on calling 'weeds'
Loads of trees planted for shelter, and fruit too.
But I was really pleased to see one of those massed bunches of finches, green, gold, and some other sorts, marauding the gone to seed lettuces, for their seeds in late autumn.
Feels like a big bonus, from just leaving things be, where possible,
And there's often several pairs of buzzards circling, or being mobbed by crows, I guess there's a lot of voles available for them in the long grass field margins.
Green woodpeckers in standing deadwood.
And so many owls, it can be a bit deafening at times..
'Standard' farming practice has tidied things up so much, that there's barely any room (or forage) left for birdlife.
It's not really the farmers fault they are just trying to produce commodity food on impossibly tight margins.
But its decimating the birds food sources and habitat .. It's the bug life at the bottom of the food chain that's key.
Slightly more wild and woolly gardens are really good for birds, for sure .
But maybe instead of buying expensive bird food, ppl could consider the kind of food they buy for themselves, and whether it's production is helping all the birds out there, in the wider world..
eg a bit of organic British beef, or lamb, or dairy produce, same of vegetables would make a contribution, and taste nice for you too.
(sorry I think I ended up writing a mini treatise - that was meant for elsewhere - but I'll let it stand
)
No pesticides, or herbicides,- even 1/4 acre of standing sunflowers with their seeds available, plus all the varieties of wild plants that the neat freaks will insist on calling 'weeds'
Loads of trees planted for shelter, and fruit too.
But I was really pleased to see one of those massed bunches of finches, green, gold, and some other sorts, marauding the gone to seed lettuces, for their seeds in late autumn.
Feels like a big bonus, from just leaving things be, where possible,
And there's often several pairs of buzzards circling, or being mobbed by crows, I guess there's a lot of voles available for them in the long grass field margins.
Green woodpeckers in standing deadwood.
And so many owls, it can be a bit deafening at times..
'Standard' farming practice has tidied things up so much, that there's barely any room (or forage) left for birdlife.
It's not really the farmers fault they are just trying to produce commodity food on impossibly tight margins.
But its decimating the birds food sources and habitat .. It's the bug life at the bottom of the food chain that's key.
Slightly more wild and woolly gardens are really good for birds, for sure .
But maybe instead of buying expensive bird food, ppl could consider the kind of food they buy for themselves, and whether it's production is helping all the birds out there, in the wider world..
eg a bit of organic British beef, or lamb, or dairy produce, same of vegetables would make a contribution, and taste nice for you too.
(sorry I think I ended up writing a mini treatise - that was meant for elsewhere - but I'll let it stand
)
glasgowcyclist
Charming but somewhat feckless
- Location
- Scotland
I found that hanging a couple of strips of bacon fat over the branch the feeder hangs from deters squirrels. I've watched them scoot along the branch, heading for the peanut feeder, only to stop dead at the bacon. A couple of sniffs and they go into a full speed retreat.
There's no need to shoot them!
mudsticks
Obviously an Aubergine
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
The Grey Squirrel was actually imported as a food source.Unless yr going to make squirrel pie
mudsticks
Obviously an Aubergine
The Grey Squirrel was actually imported as a food source.
I know.. And they forage pretty 'clean' wild food - they don't rummage in bins to my knowledge.
So why not eat them?
Grey skwurls are a menace to newly planted, or regenerating woodland.
Plus they make it near impossible to produce a viable commercial nut crop on this country (bad news for the folks who want non meat, but local sources of protein)
So us eating more of the furry tailed darlings would make a lot of sense
Chris S
Legendary Member
- Location
- Birmingham
I don't know about the birds but my neighbour's cat enjoys eating them.
We put out fat balls, fat squares with mealworms, mixed seeds, niger seeds but not peanuts or we are inundated with squirrels and parakeets.
We also have a bird table that we put out any other left over food. Cereal, porridge, roast potatoes, spag bol, curry, pastry etc. It all goes!
We also have a bird table that we put out any other left over food. Cereal, porridge, roast potatoes, spag bol, curry, pastry etc. It all goes!
swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Wholemeal toast with Frank Cooper's Oxford marmalade. Has to be Frank Cooper's Oxford - they don't like cheap marmalade.
Yes, the problem is (as I see it) you want to feed them but you dont want everything gone in a day.
We used to get flocks of Goldfinches but the odd one now if we are lucky. TBH I think the last bag of niger seed was poor. Maybe I should try again.
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We got rid of our bird table as the squirrels and magpies would just clear up in no time.
But I dont want pigeons and gulls in my gardenI've bought 9 loaves of white bread,wholemeal bread,seeded batch and hovis over the last two days. All were 6p each as they were for sale at closing time in the local supermarket. I'll take a couple out with me whenever i go out and just break up and chuck the slices around the local park and cemetery. I've bought the bird seed,fat balls stuff,but most of it tends to get left,yet the bread always gets eaten.
Edit..Yes i know the local park and cemetery aren't 'my garden',but those birds i'm feeding might just fly into your garden!
Accy cyclist
Legendary Member
- Location
- The hills of Accrington
Do any of you who live near the seaside feed the gulls? if so you must remember to give them proper seagull food,not stuff which is bad for them! Their staple diet is choc ices,pies,chips,butties of all kinds,ice cream cones,crisps, toffee apples etc. Please don't give them anything that's bad for them!
