Feeding Birds: Tips and advice for taking care of birds
Feeding Birds:
Tips and advice for taking care of birds as we approach winter.
By feeding wild birds’ appropriate times of the year, you can ensure your garden offers sufficient food sources to help them. Especially in winter, food is so hard to find, supplementing a birds natural food can be essential to their survival.
There are many ways to feed birds and remember that different birds like different food types, from chopped apple, seeds, cereal, biscuit crumbs or hardened fat.
Sunflower seeds:
Black oil sunflower seeds would be the best food to offer birds. They have thinner shells and a higher oil content. You can also offer your birds sunflower hearts to avoid build-up of discarded shells. Serve from seed feeder, ground feeder or bird table. A great food to attract a wide variety of garden birds including Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Woodpecker.
Peanuts:
They are high calorie, fat rich nuts that appeal to many backyard birds including Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Great Tit. Because nuts don’t freeze, they are perfect for winter feeding, weather you offer whole or shelled peanuts.
Insect Suet Treat:
A very tasty treat in winter also high in calories. It can contain ingredients like, mixed seed and insects and a nutritious blend of beef suet. Feed from a suet feeder or a bird table. Attractive to wide variety of garden birds including members of the Tit family, Robbins and Finches.
Fat Balls:
Energy boosting, contains a nutritious blend of suet and cereals to create a moist and tasty snack. Will attract garden birds including members of the Tit Family, Finches and Robins. Use in fat ball feeder or feed from a bird table. Preferably remove fat ball from netting to avoid birds getting entangled in it.
Super Seed Ball:
Contains mixed seed and ideal to hang anywhere in the garden. Great for all year round feeding. Attracts a variety of birds.
Classic Seed Mixes:
A nutritional seed mix for garden birds. Perfect for year round feeding. Attracts many seed eating birds including Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Green Finch and Sparrow.
Tips:
Fill the holes and cracks of a post or suspended log with fatty food, such as suet, for agile birds such as the Tit Family, Woodpeckers and even Wrens.
To attract different birds, hang or put feed on different levels e.g. hanging from a tree, bird table or ground.
Robins, Thrushes and Dunnocks prefer to feed on the ground. For these birds, scatter food on the lawn or use a ground feeding tray, clear of cover to avoid lurking cats. If you put food such as apples and bread on the ground, space it out in different places because this will reduce competition between the birds. If there is snow on the ground, open up an area to scatter the food.
We have a great range of bird feed and accessories at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion.
Monica Schmidt, Horticulturalist at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion
Sunflower seeds:
Black oil sunflower seeds would be the best food to offer birds. They have thinner shells and a higher oil content. You can also offer your birds sunflower hearts to avoid build-up of discarded shells. Serve from seed feeder, ground feeder or bird table. A great food to attract a wide variety of garden birds including Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Woodpecker.
Peanuts:
They are high calorie, fat rich nuts that appeal to many backyard birds including Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Great Tit. Because nuts don’t freeze, they are perfect for winter feeding, weather you offer whole or shelled peanuts.
Insect Suet Treat:
A very tasty treat in winter also high in calories. It can contain ingredients like, mixed seed and insects and a nutritious blend of beef suet. Feed from a suet feeder or a bird table. Attractive to wide variety of garden birds including members of the Tit family, Robbins and Finches.
Fat Balls:
Energy boosting, contains a nutritious blend of suet and cereals to create a moist and tasty snack. Will attract garden birds including members of the Tit Family, Finches and Robins. Use in fat ball feeder or feed from a bird table. Preferably remove fat ball from netting to avoid birds getting entangled in it.
Super Seed Ball:
Contains mixed seed and ideal to hang anywhere in the garden. Great for all year round feeding. Attracts a variety of birds.
Classic Seed Mixes:
A nutritional seed mix for garden birds. Perfect for year round feeding. Attracts many seed eating birds including Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Green Finch and Sparrow.
Tips:
Fill the holes and cracks of a post or suspended log with fatty food, such as suet, for agile birds such as the Tit Family, Woodpeckers and even Wrens.
To attract different birds, hang or put feed on different levels e.g. hanging from a tree, bird table or ground.
Robins, Thrushes and Dunnocks prefer to feed on the ground. For these birds, scatter food on the lawn or use a ground feeding tray, clear of cover to avoid lurking cats. If you put food such as apples and bread on the ground, space it out in different places because this will reduce competition between the birds. If there is snow on the ground, open up an area to scatter the food.
We have a great range of bird feed and accessories at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion.
Monica Schmidt, Horticulturalist at Powerscourt Garden Pavilion 
