Feeding the birds in winter
- awoolcott1
- Dec 7, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 20
Now that winter is here, it’s important to look after the birds in our gardens over the next few months to keep them fed and happy as the cold weather starts to set in. Some of the smaller garden birds such as robins, sparrows and finches can be particularly vulnerable, especially if there’s snow on the ground or if the soil is so frozen that they can’t forage for worms or bugs. If there’s nothing around in your garden to eat, then it’s a good idea to supplement their diet. So, its important to always try to leave some food out, either on bird tables, bird feeding stations or hang fat balls or apples in trees and shrubs. Some smaller birds like wrens and goldfinches can be quite shy and don’t use the bird table so leave some bird feed sprinkled on the beds and borders.
If you can plan ahead and grow plants in your garden that you know have great seed heads that the birds can enjoy. I always try to leave some seed heads on my Miscanthus grasses and Verbena bonariensis for the finches to eat. These sorts of perennial plants are also good at providing overwintering habitats for insects which again can provide food for the birds. Growing plants that have berries is also a good idea. Plants like holly, rowans and hawthorns. Ivy is also really good as it has quite big berries that are starting to ripen now.
Its also important to leave some water out too, I’ve got an old metal bird bath that the starlings particularly enjoy, but I also use some old plant saucers filled with water in various parts of the garden.
Most winter-bird feed is high in energy and protein and easily purchased at garden centres, pet stores, online or even some supermarkets. Here’s a few types below with some online suggestions of where to buy them.:
Sunflower seeds – smaller birds such as tits and finches seem to love these as they are rich in protein. You can get sunflower hearts or crushed sunflowers are are also quite good because it means that the birds don't have to exert energy breaking into the husks. These can be put out on the bird table or in a bird feeder or if you or the kids have grown sunflowers this year and still have a big sunflower seed head why not hang the whole thing up in the garden.
Wild bird seed mixes - of course you can buy sunflower seeds in mixes with other things. This is good because it means there's something for everyone. Larger birds like pigeons and doves will eat the larger seeds whilst smaller birds like finches and tits will go for smaller seeds.
Mealworms – dried mealworms can be bought easily and are high in protein and essential fats – great for robins and thrushes .
Suet balls and fat balls – again easy to buy but very quickly eaten, especially by the starlings.
You can make your own my melting lard and mixing it with seeds, nuts, kitchen scraps, cheese and dried fruit, stir thoroughly and pour into a container and set. You can then either scope out as needed and put on the bird table or pour into smaller containers or old coconut shells or small plastic plants you haven’t thrown away and hang around the garden.
Nuts – especially peanuts which are rich in protein, again good for smaller birds like blue tits and sparrows. These can be bought in bulk and stored so that you can regularly fill up your bird feeders when you run out. (Make sure you get the natural peanuts and not salted or roasted).
Apples – some people hang out old apples or pears as they have a high moisture content and have some fruit sugars. If you have lots of windfall fruit in the garden then this is ideal. Cut in half and hang in trees or leave on the bird table. Sometimes I leave some on the ground as birds like blackbirds seem to be happier feeding on the ground in my garden. Apples are also supposed to be a great treat for waxwings, but I’ve not seen them in my garden yet.
There's just a couple of things to remember:
Keep the feeders topped up regularly. This is because the birds will get used to it and will keep wanting to come back.
Hygiene: keep your bird table and bird feeders clean and don’t allow old food to build up, you want to provide a clean healthy environment for the birds.
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