Is everyone putting food out for the birds?

[mysarahlee]

It's so cold, the ground birds can't dig.

Chuck some leftover Christmas nuts out, or some seeds. I put 10 fat balls out and filled the seeds at 5pm yesterday and it's empty this morning.

Feed your local bird pals if you can, it's so cold.

Love birds and have fed them for years. We have always had a cat who showed no interest whatsover. However, sadly she died and we have a new cat who is a massive hunter. So I've had to stop feeding them. She is out all the time on the prowl.
I feel so sad.
Is they any way around this?

Very blessed to have 7 female and 1 make pheasant visit us every day. Also various small birds and pigeons. It’s costing a fortune to seed them but well worth it.

How did you cat proof? Would love to do this. Next doors cat scares off all the birds and kills a lot too. Destroyed nests last year little shit.

Yes been putting stuff out. Front & back. We live on a street overrun with magpies though so they've been taking most, if not all of it

Yes. When I let the dog out this morning I had a group of cross robins waiting for me to top up the seeds. I have robins, a variety of tits, nuthatches and the occasional woodpecker. There's currently some sort if queue system operating in the buddleia bush. I didn't throw seed on the ground the nuthatch does it.

Just do NOT put out cooked oats! It glues their beaks together and causes them a very slow death

I'm obsessed with birds, squirrels and hedgehogs (warmer months) and I buy seed, suet chips, peanuts, calci worms and mealworms in bulk (12.5-25kg sacks). It's much cheaper than buying in local shops or garden centres and I even have a monthly bird budget. I feed about a 100+ birds and 3 squirrels daily and it's my way or trying to help nature. It brings me such joy. I dont discriminate and feed anyone who is hungry. Dont forget water :) I also have 2 cats but they all live in harmony.

That's amazing! I love pheasants.

😆I picked up three packs of dog food thinking it was cat food because I didn't have my glasses on.

I was planning on donating it to a dog rescue but the birds go mad for it.

Good idea! I should also put some food out for them. It's so cold, I really hope they can find something to eat. Thanks for the reminder!

Yes we do put fat balls out every morning. The birds appear in a flock and clean us out. I think they hear about us on Bird Facebook

@festivemouse It's not so much begrudging the Squirrels food. It's more that if you encourage them into your garden, they'll start digging up any bulbs you've planted for the spring. Last year they dug up my Dahlia & Delphinium tubers, I was fuming!

fru the little birds love the dead sunflower heads. I've been doing it for years. I never cut the dead flowers and thick stems down (to "tidy up" 🙄), they stay standing until about march once the birds have pecked every single seed.

Supermarket seeds are obviously inferior to them.

same here, awful clattering noise of 5 on the neighbours roof - they are terrible birds, raid nests in spring, carry away fledglings to eat, if they dont eat the eggs first, same as jays, pretty but deadly
here we have red kites doves and rooks - we have not seen a small garden bird for years, although we hear a summer blackbird in the trees.

@VegTrug

I had heard this 😂 I think my mum said she planted a couple of hundred tulips last year and only a handful bloomed because of squirrels!

Luckily I've been so horrendously unplanned this year that I haven't put any new bulbs in - the little thing must be fuming 😂

Not on the ground, we get rats.

We have fat balls in a tree and get mostly parakeets who interestingly are back and seem to have scared off the magpies. We get robins and little black and white things and blue tits. I leave water out as well.

@fixingmylife try smaller fat nugget??? And mealworms are always good for the birds. The big fat balls are very hard for the birds to eat.

@amoreoamicizia Wow you sound ridiculous! I just love how you've decided that everyone who feeds birds, fits into all of your stereotypes! I most certainly do NOT have a paved over garden ffs and have been feeding birds probably longer than you've been alive. Anybody feeding birds, in any kind of property, is a good thing. That's all there is to it!

My favourite on my bird feeder are the long-tailed tits who arrive in a little flock of around 8 and love the hanging square suet thing.
The pied wagtail hangs around underneath waiting for leftovers.
Any cat here is chased away by our dog. Why any bird lover would have a cat I have no idea (but that’s another thread haha).

🤣 He'll be popping in & out to do a bulb check 👀
Yes I've got an entire boxful in the fridge, waiting to be planted. I've managed one planter and wrapped it in netting(!) but I'm incredibly hesitant to put any in the ground after last year's smorgasbord 🌷 🐿️ 🌷

No, because to feed the birds would also be feeding the local cat population!

Our birds love dried mealworms. We mix them in with seed and they've always gone by the next morning. We don't have squirrels in this area but I'm not sure I would mind them joining in. They've got to eat too. We have a number of feeders hanging from our tree. The pigeons are too fat to get at them so they eat the scraps from the ground when the little birds are in the tree. I love to watch them.

I feed my birds all year round (and defrost the pond so they have water). They haven't started the fatballs yet (they tend to go for those more when they are breeding), but the little buggers are fussy about the seed and kick the low-value stuff everywhere in order to eat the nice sunflower hearts etc. So I only fill the feeder every other day - if they're hungry they can eat all the leftovers!

We've got squirrels (I don't mind them) and had rats. I do mind rats and to get rid of them cost us £300.If we put food out again the rats will return, apparently. I miss seeing the birds on the bird table though.

I have a cat, but he grew up with ducks and chickens and doesn't go after the birds! He also chases other cats out of the garden.

He's a weird cat. He seems to know the birds need to be protected from other cats and any vermin. He sits on the table watching the birds eat.