Do You Feed The Birds?

[Georgiesmum]

Do you feed the wild birds? I always have done but not so many people seem to these days. Ive always pastry scraps, fat balls, and dried meal worms for them that I put out every day.

[burlyshirley]

Yes, I feed them ever day. They love the dried meal worms and coconut feeders with suet in. I always put fresh water out as well.

[nailit]

I feed all wildlife. I often bring home from work out of date bread etc.
I hate to see food waste. What we cant consume is often a meal to wildlife.
Out of date meat is a dinner to foxes. I chuck nothing away.

[ichkeria]

Only a baby pigeon chased from its nest by a magpie.
Fell in the neighbour’s garden so we put it in a hanging basket out of reach of our cat. We started feeding it, but the mother came and fed it daily.
Huge, fat blob of a thing: amazed it ever took wing, but fledge it did.
Apart from that, no :-)

[ichkeria]

We used to feed a fox, come to think of it.
Then it bit me as a way of saying thanks :-)

[ubasses]

Yes back in the nesting season our garden looked like a scene from a Hitchcock movie.

[Ryzen]

My wife buys 5 packets of digestive biscuits a week for the birds..we have the only type 2 blue tits for miles around.

[Tilly2]

We spend a fortune on bird food, sunflower hearts, mixed seed, fat balls and calcium enriched mealworms. We also feed our foxes and hedgehogs on a nightly basis with basic cat kibble and any scraps we have from the table.

[Baldric]

No idea what we put in 'em, we have 8 feeders around the back garden, the girls look after them, they appear to be quite popular.

[david small]

Yes. Six bird feeders placed strategically around the garden. We purchase seed by the sackful.

[Barmaid]

Yes. We've got 3 static feeders each with 4 hoppers and a couple of hoppers hanging off trees. We buy seed, peanuts, sunflowers, nyger and suet blocks. They also get bits and pieces of fruit as well. But water is so important all year round.

We've had over 50 different species in and around the garden.

[Captain2]

We have fat ball feeders and seed cages, but the best thing we have is mounted on our first floor lounge window, like this

https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/window-feeders/window-bird-feeder.html

It's absolutely wonderful to watch them only 2-3 feet away from you - couple of robins just stare into the room for ages sometimes.

[woofgang]

Yes when they want it. From early to mid june until maybe october, my garden is full of birds but they don't want my food. I have a garden full of insects and berry bearing plants and they want these instead of the bought stuff. Around october they turn up at the feeders again and follow me around the garden and then I know its time to start giving them extras. I don't feed foxes and won't encourage them likewise rats. Rats carry weils disease and foxes carry mange and ticks, also I have got two tortoises so I don't want predators.

[Barmaid]

I've got one of those Captain. It's on my bedroom window. The tits and robins (and the odd chaffinch) are lovely to watch whilst laying in bed.

[Captain2]

Sounds divine BM. :)))

[Barmaid]

I also put out the remains of rabbits caught by the cat for the kites and buzzards.

[woofgang]

My favourite time is when the bats are out. They are very tame in my garden and fly past me really close.

[choux]

During the recent very hot weatherI have picked up 5 dead birds from my garden, 3 green finches and 2 gold finches none of which bore any signs of having been predated.I know green finches are very prone to disease but I think all 5 birds died of the heat. In the last month 2 birds have been taken by sparrowhawks. Such is avian life (or death) I am afraid.

Yes, I feed the birds throughout the year at some expense. Whenever I make pastry I make extra strictly for the birds and form it into balls or cobblers as I call it. When cooled down I crumble them and broadcast it for the birds, it never lasts for very long. Stale bread is made into crumbs which I liberally dowse with oil and cook gently in a slow oven. When cooled that gets broadcast for the birds, sometimes with added dried fruit.

Yesterday I put out some past-their-best red grapes - they languish still on the lawns, not even to the rats' taste. But my neighbour 2 doors down says the blackbirds love grapes and apples. Hey ho.

[Gromit2]

Yes I feed the little birdies (and some big fat pigeons).

Mostly sunflower seeds and fat balls. I work in a bakery and we get bought in bread with pumpkin, pecan and grains, which I put on the ground not in a feeder.
More importantly, on hot days, I put out water.

The little birdies get brave and feed before I can properly I replenish. They queue up on the washing line waithking for me to refill.

[jourdain2]

OH feeds the birds conscientiously. We now have squadrons of hedge-sparrows, a few tits and our very own small murmuration of starlings. (Lovely to watch.) I have patiently removed droppings from plants and put up with my lettuce being attacked on the basis that the small birds would eat caterpillars etc..

I have been sadly disillusioned and I pulled-up and chucked-away the very last of my brassicas this week. NOW someone has told me that the flighty critturs are pernickerty about which caterpillars they eat! Someone please let me know what sort of bird I should try to attract in order to get rid of Cabbage-white caterpillars. Disillusioned, would-be organic gardener. :(

[Caran]

We ave a large bird table that OH made. We get a real assortment of birds on it. There is always something on there for them to eat, along with a dish with water in as they always like a drink.
All the stale bread goes on it, and when I cook pasta I always do too much as they love it. When I've done a pasta dish and we have left overs I always rinse the sauce from the pasta before putting it on the table.
It's great to see them with spaghetti as they look as if they are eating worms.