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5 Tips to Tempt Birds into Your Garden

Lots of our customers are folks looking to take up a new hobby – astronomy, badger watching and, of course, bird watching. The UK is a superb place for wildlife spotting throughout the year. We’re really lucky in that respect!

So, let’s say you’ve got your first pair of bird watching binoculars on the way and are planning a trip to a local nature reserve or bird hide for their maiden spotting session.

Is there anything else you can do to make your world as abundant in bird life as possible?

Of course there is! Even if you live on the fourth floor of a city block of flats, there are ways to encourage bird life into your environment and hopefully make up for a little of the lost natural resources all birds need.

1. Water will attract birds
Birds need to drink regularly to stay hydrated. They like clean, fresh water. Something like a shallow bird bath with a few rocks in for them to stand on is a great way to provide a resource birds will revisit to use.

2. Food will attract birds
In the winter, many birds can struggle to find food. This past spring was awful for British birds, but it was great for garden bird watchers and their binoculars – birds flocked to UK gardens, window boxes and yards for food!

Keep feeders covered, off the ground and as far from the clutches of predators as possible. Use different types of food – some birds prefer fat, others prefer seeds – to attract different species.

3. Shelter will attract birds
Safe shelter is a hugely attractive resource for all birds. Putting up a few nesting boxes can mean having birds return year after year to breed. Keep nesting boxes quite far apart and try to site them so the openings are not facing each other. Avoid exposed areas and clean out the nest box when vacant (at least once a year).

4. Keep the area clean
Diseases can spread very quickly amongst wild birds visiting lots of gardens. There’s no need to be fastidiously clean, but regular cleaning is a great way to minimise the risk of disease transmission. E.g. Don’t let food go rotten or grow mouldy on a bird table, clean out nesting boxes seasonally or annually, etc.

5. Banish predators like domestic cats
Set up some night vision equipment and it’s easy to see why so many birds are easy pray for Britain’s domestic cats and strays! It can be tough to banish a beloved moggy from the garden 100%, but carefully placing bird feeders and shelters away from predators can cut down on the number of casualties.

Common predators include cats, magpies, crows, owls, foxes, squirrels, dogs and hawks. Some of these are natural predators and should not be discouraged – i.e. owls and hawks – but no domesticated animal needs to hunt wild birds. The presence of a cat will likely repel wild birds.

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