Take care of the birds in your garden this winter

Winter is on its way and if you feel cold, think of our garden birds. Attracting birds to your yard by providing them with food and water offers a constant source of delight and is a wonderful way to introduce children to wildlife.

And during the colder months, their food supply can save their lives.

This time of year we all need some incentive to venture outside and what could be better than knowing that we could be saving the lives of our tiny backyard friends?

In winter, birds find it difficult to find their natural food such as insects, worms, berries, and seeds.

They require high-energy and high-fat foods during cold weather to maintain their body stores to survive freezing nights.

Children can often be encouraged to help feed the birds as it is so easy to do and offers instant rewards – watch their faces when you look out the window and see a robin eating the food just left on the bird table.

In severe weather, feed twice a day if possible, in the morning and early afternoon.

When thinking about what to feed them, you can buy bird cake and peanuts, which are very good because of their high fat content, and birdseed mixes are also rich in oils. But you can also give them leftovers from the kitchen, such as fat and suet, and leftovers from the children’s snack, such as soft wholemeal bread, soft grated cheese, cooked potatoes, puff pastry and nuts, or better yet, let the children make their own bird. cake to your own special recipe.

Bird Pie Recipe

First make a mold out of something suitable, such as a coconut shell, an empty yogurt pot, or an ice cream carton. Thread some string through the bottom of the coconut so you can hang it from the bird table or a tree, and thread some wire through the flower pot or plastic container.

Ingredients:

500 g fat (tallow is best)

500g mixed birdseed plus up to 750g leftovers such as cake and cookie crumbs, grated cheese, chopped peanuts, sultanas, whole wheat bread, etc.

Method:

1. Carefully melt the fat in a large saucepan; do not overheat and ensure small children are always closely supervised.

2. Stir all the rest of the ingredients into the fat.

3. Pour the mixture into the mold and let cool and set.

4. When the cake is ready, hang the coconut mold upside down in the garden. The cake made in a yogurt pot can be carefully removed with a knife and hung on the wire or simply tipped over on the bird table.

Then just watch the birds enjoy your party! Birds that will love this pie include robins, nuthatches, sparrows, finches, great tits, and blue tits, and you might even be lucky enough to catch a larger spotted woodpecker that also drinks a peck. Remember that a constant supply of drinking water is just as important as food, so break the ice in the birdbath with a little warm water from the kettle.

Other ways to care for your birds this coming winter include placing nest boxes and creating a natural organic garden with native plants, shelter, and perching spots.

Birds love messy gardens, so leave the dead heads on the plants so the birds can collect the seeds, and leave some of the fall leaves for the birds to scratch, looking for bugs and insects.