How To Encourage Wild Birds In To Your Garden?

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is taking place this weekend (27^th – 29^th January) which encourages people to spend one hour across the weekend recording the bird wildlife they see in their garden, local park, nature reserve and so on. So we have some tips on how to encourage wild birds to enjoy your garden or outdoor area if you’re finding you don’t see that many feathered friends around!

Create A Feeding Zone

A little online research can highlight the different types of feed that different species of wild birds enjoy, the important thing to note is once you set up a place for birds to feed from you must keep up with it as birds will habitually check for food once they find a food source in your garden.

Whichever food you choose, whether it be fat balls, suet blocks, mealworms, bird seed etc make sure you have a secure place to offer this feed to the birds. This may be in the form of a bird feeding dish, bird feeder, or bird table. Different feeders suit different types of birds, for smaller types you may want to choose a covered bird table like our Bali Hanging Bird Table House as this offer protection for any seed and stops larger birds such as pigeons dominating the feeding station. Another choice that also prevents other wildlife from feeding on the bird seed is our Squirrel Proof feeder that contains a bird seed feeder encased in a cage that only smaller birds can fit through! Don’t worry we have plenty of squirrel friendly feeders made specifically for feeding squirrels too!

A dish style of feeder can be great for offering a mix of bird feeds and allows a few birds to safely land and enjoy a feed together, we recommend keeping all types of feeding station elevated from the ground to stop unwanted feeders such as mice or rats. By placing your bird feeders in trees or on feeding tables and station it also helps keep smaller birds safe from predators such as cats who can scale fences and prey on feeding birds. Our forge hook is ideal for hanging feeders from branches or trees.

Remember in warmer months especially birds will really appreciate fresh drinking water, our Oasis watering dish is ideal not just for birds but also for hedgehogs and insects too!

Offer Them A Place To Stay

You may want to add bird houses or nesters to your garden to given some birds a helping hand when it comes to breeding season. Our Open Faced Robin Nesters are lovely for robins as they much prefer a wider opening to their nests than the traditional bird house style. These brushwood style of nesters are also easily camouflaged in bushes and trees adding extra protection against predators.

Some smaller birds do enjoy the more traditional bird boxes with a small opening near the top of the box, these can be mounted on a sturdy tree or fence, again away from predators. It’s important not to be tempted to check or disturb nests or houses during breeding season as this cannot upset some birds. Once you’re sure any birds have left the best you can then inspect and see what they have been up to in there!

Plant Wildlife Friendly Flowers/Plants

One easy way to encourage more wildlife into your garden is of course by having more flowers. If you’re stuck for space, or simply don’t have the time or inclination to garden then wildlflower seeds can be a really easy and cost-effective way to create sections of garden specifically for wildlife. wildlfower mixes generally include lots of types of wildflowers, including thistles and sometimes even herbs, find a section of garden you want to plant them and simply shake the seeds over freshly turned soil, add a thin layer of soil over the top of them and you can pretty much leave them be! Wildflowers are loved by insects such as butterflies, bee, hedgehogs and of course birds.

 Get 10% off our Big Garden Birrdwatch collection until 29th January 2023.