Feed the birds

By Lucy Bowyer

Senior Communities and Wildlife Officer, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

When the clocks go back in autumn, we often start to think about our garden wildlife. Some of the wildlife, such as flowers and insects, will disappear as they die off or find hidey holes to overwinter. Some birds may migrate south to warmer climes. Other birds, however, will start to come to our gardens to find foods such as seeds and berries.

We can help these birds and indeed increase the numbers coming into our gardens, by providing extra food for them during the colder months. This benefits us as well as the birds, as we get the joy of watching the birds feeding in our gardens and we can also have great fun making the feeders.

This needn’t be difficult, or expensive. A simple mix of bird seed, fat (such as suet or lard), dried fruit and grated cheese can be squished together and smeared on a pine cone to hang from a branch. A less messy make is an apple feeder studded with sunflower seeds – children (and adults) can enjoy making different patterns by pushing the seeds into the apples and then adding a perching stick. Alternatively, save some of your waste from the recycling bin and make these easy seed feeders from old cartons or plastic bottles. Click the links for instructions, and there are many more activity sheets on our Wildlife Watch pages here. 

Top tips for feeding birds:

• Remember to clean feeders and feeding stations regularly to avoid spreading diseases amongst the bird population
• Always provide clean fresh drinking water
• Keep feeding stations away from predators
• Only put out what gets eaten, to keep away unwanted pests