Inexpensive Ways to Feed Garden Birds

Inexpensive Ways to Feed Garden Birds

There has been much in the news recently about the decline of our native British birds, and as it is coming up to Autumn time, now is the perfect time to start leaving food out for them. For those worried about the cost of bird food, there are alternatives to buying the traditional bird seed; which not only saves you money, but is a fantastic green solution to the problem of food waste.

Birds prefer to have a bit of cover when feeding, so try and put the food out near a tree or bush so that they can fly somewhere safe if they feel threatened.

Here are some suggestions to help attract birds into your garden and to help them stay healthy.

1. Fat Balls
You can buy fat balls from most bird food suppliers, or you can make your own. Typically, you’ll want to achieve a mix which is one third suet or lard to two thirds yummy ingredients such as cheese, stale cake crumbs, chopped nuts, dried fruit or uncooked oatmeal.

To prepare a fat ball, melt the fat in a pan and stir in the dry ingredients. Take a yoghurt pot or plastic container and make a hole in the bottom of it. Thread a piece of string through the hole so that you can hang the container up. Pour the mix into the container and allow to harden before hanging in your garden.

Don’t use margarine or low-fat spread to prepare your fat ball as this can harm the insulating properties of birds’ feathers.

2. Pastry
Birds enjoy pastry – whether that’s the leftover cooked or uncooked puff pastry, or stale cake crumbs. So next time you have bakery leftovers, don’t throw them in the bin – feed them to the birds! Cheese pastry will espcially go down a treat.

3. Rice and oatmeal
Rice is a great thing to feed birds with in the winter however ensure you have cooked it fully otherwise it can swell up in their insides.

Conversely, never leave out cooked porridge – always feed them raw oats – as the cooked oats can form a hard shell around their beaks. If you feed them raw oats, make sure you also leave a supply of clean water nearby too.

4. Potatoes
Any form of potato, whether that’s boiled, mashed or roasted, will be eaten in a jiffy. The one sort of potato that birds tend not to like is chips.

5. Fruit
Soak dried fruit such as raisins and sultanas in water before leaving out on a bird table. Dried fruit is ideal in spring and summer.

Birds also like fresh fruit so if you have fruits that have gone squishy, consider leaving them out for the birds. If you are lucky enough to have fruit trees in your garden, freeze some of the windfall so that the birds have a good supply of fruit all year round!

6. Pet Food
This might seem like a strange option, however pet food can act like a substitute for worms. Birds will also enjoy dog biscuits that have been pre-soaked in water.

Finally, here is a list of things that you should never feed birds:

• Mouldy food. Mould won’t do them any good. If you have a little light mould on a slice of bread cut the mouldy bits off before leaving the rest out for the birds.
  
• Salty foods: Birds can’t metabolise salt so don’t feed them salty foods such as salty bacon or cured meats.
  
• Dried pulses: Although seeds are very good for birds, don’t leave out dried lentils as these will swell in their stomachs and could kill them. Dessicated coconut and other dried produce should not be left out unless pre-soaked for the same reason.
  

Posted by The Checkout Spy: 27th August 2009, 03:14

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