Bird Care
Attract birds to your garden with these bird feeders, tables, and nesting boxes
Attract birds to your garden with these bird feeders, tables, and nesting boxes
Wild birds will tend to use your bird feeder more if it is placed closer to hedges and trees, they can be wary of feeders left out in the open. The same goes for bird tables and nesting boxes. If not enough birds or none at all are using your feeder after a few months try repositioning it around the garden. Also keep an eye on how high up it is and how easy it is for predators especially cats to reach. A good bird feeder should have a mesh design to keep squirrels out, a roof or lid to keep bird feed dry and a base that birds can land on. Bird feeders will attract many types of wild birds including blue tits, great tits, coal tits, sparrows, great-spotted woodpecker, nuthatch and many more. They can be placed or hung anywhere from tree branches, bird tables, garden structures, wall brackets or any handy location. Just remember to visit the trap every week and remove any mouldy nuts as they can poison wild birds. Window Feeders are designed to stick onto the outside of your window, so you can watch the birds feeding from inside. It can also be used normally by screwing it onto a wall, fence or tree. Garden birds may not make use of the window feeder immediately but given time many species will start to make use of it.
Bird tables provide the perfect safe and hygienic area for a wide range of wild birds to feed, rest and socialise on. They are ideal for watching wild birds with their guard down in your own garden. Try using a variety of bird feed types to attract different types of bird. Maintaining a bird table is very easy, clean away uneaten food every few days and clean with a sanitizer to protect against bacteria and disease. More birds may use the bird table if it situated close to hedges or trees, if it has not been used in about 6 months try repositioning. Our bird tables come with wall brackets included so that they can be fixed to a wall, post, tree or any suitable vertical surface around the home or garden. Full instructions on positioning and maintenance are included.
Bird Houses and Nesting Boxes are habitats for birds that offer a secure and dry nesting site for small wild birds. These boxes can be left on a ledge or fxed to any surface. They should be placed high up away from predators, approx 7 to 10 feet should be high enough and left to face East or NE/SE. Species to expect in your nest box include blue tits, great tits and coal tits and other cavity nesting small birds. There is no need to fill the box with nesting materials as birds will bring their own. If you are using multiple bird houses place them at least 10 metres away from each other, most of the birds that tend to use bird houses and nesters prefer their home to be placed in a shaded spot and won't settle in if it's placed in full sun. Robins are friendly birds and feed on insects, worms and seeds, they become tamer over time and will even eat from your hand once they are comfortable. They prefer open nesting sites like a rustic tea pot nester.
Alot of bird nesting boxes have a dual purpose, they can also be used as a bumble bee nester, place the nester low down or on the ground in a sheltered area if you want it to be used by bumble bees. A good bumble bee population is essential in any flower or vegetable garden as they are the perfect pollinators of plants, flowers and vegetables. Bumblebees are not aggressive and don't swarm or attack like wasps and bees. They will often nest anywhere they can from compost heaps, bird boxes and thick grass to random holes. Nests don't live very long and die naturally in a few months, so why not install a permanent structure that bumble bees can return to year after year. Bumble Bee species known to have taken over bird boxes include: Early bumble bee (Bombus pratorum), Garden bumble bee (Bombus hortorum), Brown-banded carder bee (Bombus pascuorum), Buff-tailed bumble bee (Bombus terrestris), and White-tailed bumble bee (Bombus lucorum). The size and shape of apples, pears, strawberries, beans, courgettes and much more is largely dependent on good pollination and the bumblebee is the most efficient pollinator out there, way more so than the honey bee.