Bird Care

To attrack wild birds to your garden and take good care of them, it's important to provide good quality seeds. This ensures that the seeds can provide the required levels of energy for different bird species and that the seeds were grown sustainable. Try different sorts of feeders and seed mixes. For example, greenfinches adore sunflower feeders whilst goldfinches prefer niyer seeds. 

Avoid feeding bad foods to wild birds in your garden

Don’t just put out a few peanuts or buy multi-purpose pet food. The worst thing to do is to feed the birds bread in large quantities as it isn’t nutritious and is an empty filler. If you do, try to only put out breadcrumbs that are soaked and not stale.

Never put out desiccated coconut as it swells up inside a bird’s stomach. Also avoid providing sugary treats and cooked oats, which can dry and solidify around beaks. So, now you know what NOT to feed them, what is actually nutricious and helps your wild garden birds in the cold winter months and what else do birds need besides food?

Install a birdbath in your garden for the wild birds

Turn your garden into a one-stop shop for wild birds and their daily routine. Water is particularly important for seed-eating birds that have dry meals and need to be able to wash them down. So install a nice birdbath and keep an eye on your birdbath to ensure it doesn’t freeze over in winter!

Hang and change nestbox locations for birds in your garden

Choose different types of nextboxes and move those that prove unsuccessful. If you’re struggling to attract birds to a nest box, you might find that quite a small change in location or aspect can make a world of difference and turn a nestbox into a home for a bird family.

Clean your nestboxes

Check your nestboxes every winter. Remove old nests and clean the boxes with hot water and mild soap to kill parasites. Re-attach them securely, you don’t want the box to fall down when it’s in use.

Keep your bird feeders clean

Remove mouldy seed from feeders and clean them regularly to reduce the risk of spreading diseases. Clean them more frequently when there are many  birds in your garden!

Feed your garden birds twice daily in cold weather

If you can, adjust the quantity given to the demand, so you don’t attract unwanted rodents. Stick to your feeding routine once you’ve started as the birds will become accustomed to it and rely on you. By feeding birds year-round with the right birdfeed, you’ll give them a better chance of survival when they need to.

Position your bird feeders smartly

Ideally the feeder should be about 2 meters away from cover, to create a safe feeding station. Nearby hedging and shrubs can provide a lookout point for the birds and a place to dash to if disturbed. Keep your feeder away from overhanging branches, fences, and low-lying bushes that a for example a cat or other preditors can hide in.

Ensure the post supporting your feeder is smooth and straight as this will make it much more difficult for cats and squirrels to climb. Adding a sloped baffle to your feeder will keep squirrels off-balance.

Mount a feeding tray for birds in your garden

The tray should be no more than 10cm off the ground (to preserve the grass) or scatter food on the lawn to attract ground-feeders such as thrushes, blackbirds, chaffinches and sparrows. If possible use a cage to protect the birds from predators. These days there are also wonderful window feeders to stick to your window. This way the birds get to eat while you can observe them from behind the glass.

Everything you need to take care of the birds in your garden at Jones Garden Centre

At Jones we have all the knowledge under one roof, when it comes to taking care of the wild birds in your garden, patio or on your balcony. Not only do we have a wide range of high quality bird food, we've selected only the best nestboxes and feeders. Sustainable, safe and trendy. So you can take care of the birds and give your garden a great look. Pay us a visit in our garden centre in Donabate or have a look in our webshop here online!