A festive feast for birds

Many foods we enjoy are also hits with the birds, especially during the colder months when there are fewer natural food sources available and they need extra calories to stay warm. 

Try sprinkling some of these treats on your bird table and see which birds come along.  Maybe you'll see  robins or starlings or you may be lucky enough to see a winter migrant bird such as a redwing. 

Some ideas : 

• Cheese – mild grated cheese is a classic hit with robins, dunnocks, blackbirds and song thrushes. 
• Unsalted bacon rind – chopping it up means a lot of birds will be able to have a nibble. Magpies and crows are liable to fly off with the whole lump otherwise! Make sure there’s no salt in it as it is toxic to birds. 
• Ripe or bruised apples and pears – thrushes, tits and starlings are fans.  
• Pastry – uncooked or cooked, either is good as long as it’s made with real fats. 
• Dried fruit – raisins, sultanas and currants are favourites with blackbirds, song thrushes and robins. Be aware though that they can be dangerous to dogs and cats so this is one to avoid if you have pets in the area. 

 Not everything we eat is good for birds, however. Here are some foods to avoid: 

• Anything with salt – salt is toxic to birds, so make sure to keep it off your bird table and don’t put salt in your bird baths to keep it ice-free.  
• Cooking fat – leftover fat from roast dinners could smear onto birds’ feathers and ruin their waterproofing and insulating qualities.  
• Cooked porridge oats – they are glutinous and may harden around a bird’s beak. 
• Milk – birds can’t digest milk so it can make them seriously ill. 
• Dried coconut – it can swell up in their stomach and make them sick.  

​Another great option is packaged food. Sparrows, tits and finches will visit feeders containing nuts, fat or seed mixtures. Insect-eaters including  dunnocks, robins, starlings and wrens prefer mealworms, while suet-based products are an all-round crowd-pleaser, their high calories providing a boost for  birds through the cold nights. 

As for drinks – water is key for birds, both to drink and to clean their feathers so they’re in tip-top condition to fly and keep themselves warm. Birds can find it harder to find water in the winter as ponds start to freeze, so they appreciate a bird bath. Even a dustbin lid with some stones at the bottom for grip will do the job. Water keeps freezing? Try floating a ping pong ball on the surface.  The slightest gust of wind will keep the ball moving and stop the water turning to ice. 

You can also help your neighbourhood birds  by taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch. Every year for the past four decades the RSPB has asked people to look outside and let them know which birds they see over the course of an hour. This helps keep track of how garden birds are faring. Last year a record-breaking one million people joined in. You can take part on the 28, 29, or 30 January 2022, so for your FREE Big Garden Birdwatch guide, which includes an RSPB shop voucher and advice on how to help you attract wildlife to your garden, text BIRD to 70030 or visit  www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch. Registration opens 8 December 2021.       (images copyright Ben Andrew/ Chris Gomersal/ RSPB)

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