to think that people are unaware how desperate things are for birds?

[PhaseolusLunatus]

The RSPB are saying that food and water we provide can be the difference between life and death for garden birds at the moment.

Advice here about what you may already have in the house that could help.

They also need water to drink, and, just as importantly, bathe and perform 'feather maintenance.'

There is also a thread about this in chat, but I don't imagine anyone minds a bit more bumping of this topic.

DH is brilliant with the birdlife here. We have two feeders and a half coconut hanger which he regularly buys lard for and melts/mixes wonderful concoctions for them.

We are in London but in our garden we have robins and bluetits daily, pigeons (of course), some kind of jays, blackbirds, sparrows etc. It really is magical. When it snowed I was washing up and there was a robin feeding not more than a metre away from the window.

BUT, we haven't thought about water at all, so thanks for the thread. We'll see to that in the morning.

It does take birds a while to realise you are a constant source of good food.

I like to think we are now a destination gastro garden

least someone does jajas coz the birds dont

im probably at work tomorrow,but will see if an empty/half eaten table is left when i get home

I can report that having smashed up the nuts they all went within the hour.

we have mixed seed, peanuts, bread crumbs, raisins and one of those fat filled coconut jobbies out. and only a few birds.... sorry, have not read the whole thread: does it take time for word to get around the the buffet is ready at Numberfour's?

tough

me too - i was peeping behind my curtians

gawd, im becoming a bird stalker

DH pooh-poohed me earlier - I was worrying about whether the snowman we built today might act as a scarecrow and scare them all off! Pleased to report that the lovely birds are made of sterner stuff and weren't at all bothered.

Monday morning birdie bump!

Tweet tweet?

When it's snowy and cold they need to be fed or they'll starve. There are also a lot of people on this thread and their dcs who have enjoyed feeding them and watching them. So I think yabu.

It's so easy to do though TSC - you just lob a couple of apples and some stale cake in the garden. Doesn't need to be a big deal. Although once you've started, you should really keep it up until spring.....

I suppose 'it's only pandas', 'it's only white rhinos', 'it's only dodos' too, eh?

You can do a lot with leftovers that would go in the bin-it doesn't have to cost.

Snowmen definitely don't work as scarecrows. The birds have eaten all the raisins that DS used for eyes/mouth/buttons right off his snowman.

I do appreciate what you're saying, secondcoming. But feeding the birds requires such little effort. Also it isn't just a case of a few birds being a bit hungry - if their populations are not reasonably healthy in the spring (or of course if they're all dead ) they won't be able to breed properly: the impact of this cold snap could last for years.

Basically throwing a few morsels their way helps safeguard entire populations and also ecological diversity - it's an easy win.

And of course you get to watch them, which is brill. You might be surprised at how many species come to your garden - and also by just how gorgeous they are. Who needs to keep tropical birds in a cage when you've got bluetits and bullfinches right outside your window?

I've just put out some scraps fo the birds and the neighbour's cat is sat there eating it

There's SNOW all over the food I put out.

Still only seen one bird visit, too.

why are my birds only interested in the rabbit food and not the nice bird seed i spent £££ on?!

Just went out and the snowy patch where the food lay yesterday had bird footprints on it. Poor little things could probably smell it but not find it under the snow! I've put more out now on a tray, seeds and raisin cake and a smashed up fat ball. Hope the little idiots find it this time!

Can some one tell me very simply what can I do for birds thats wont attract the sea gulls?

Is an old ice cream container any good to put out for birds to bathe in?

I thought one of the problems with feeding birds is that we're actually changing migration patterns by doing so - more birds are likely to stay (and then consequently suffer if we have a severe winter like now), are less likely to have a balanced diet and it can also encourage vermin and predators.

I think Robins etc stay here all winter anyway don't they? The RSPB website has quite a bit of info on loads of birds, and very few migrate here or away from here for the winter compaired to the amount which stay. I would think that it's only fairly large birds that can migrate and they probably aren't very interested in trying to eat from a seed feeder.

That's interesting, RubberDuck. To counterbalance that I'd say that as the natural habitats of many species have been encroached upon by us, and as such their food supplies, that we ought to feed them.

Also many of the birds we see here (including ones we think of as being native) are winter migrants to the UK from even cooler climes.