With Valentine’s Day come the arrival of slightly warmer days and louder birdcall. In the run up to the breeding season it’s as important as ever to supply a little extra for our garden birds.
This week’s blog has been specially written by guest writer Living With Birds:
Wild birds that can be found in the countryside and in your garden spend their lifetimes searching for foods to help them survive and feed their young. It is essential that birds gather food that is full of the nutrients they need to give them energy, especially in the cooler months when food supply may become limited. There are many different foods that wild birds can eat to keep them fuller for longer and help them consume the nutrients they need to survive the cold Winters and competition
with other birds. The four main sources of food that are essential to the wellbeing of wild birds are:
Berries
A great source of energy and vitamins for your garden birds is berries! Berries are easy to find throughout the year as many a garden bush produces bright juicy berries for birds to consume. As some berries have a sticky consistency that can stick to a birds bill, they clean their bills on nearby grass and trees which spreads the seed of the plants, meaning that they are unknowingly sowing more berries for future consumption!
Bugs
Whilst pest control can be difficult and costly, garden birds are a natural way to control the amount of bugs that live in your garden. Garden birds enjoy berries in the colder months but when the weather becomes more humid and insects start to return to your garden, many garden birds enjoy eating certain insects as a source of food. Common bug eating birds are bluebirds and swallows, which both eat pesky beetles and grasshoppers.
Water
As we need water to refresh ourselves and keep ourselves hydrated, so do birds! Having a source of fresh water is essential for the health of your garden birds when the weather becomes too hot outside, or all nearby water freezes over in Winter preventing them to drink.
Seed
Whilst bugs, berries and water are all easy to source and great for your garden birds, there is nothing birds love more than some nutritious and delicious bird seed! Many bird seeds are naturally made to give birds a helping hand by being packed fulled of the vitamins, nutrients and protein that they require. With Spring on the horizon, it is essential that birds and their chicks are fully prepared with food supplies that will last and keep them fuller for longer. Bird seed with extra protein is perfect for the mating season, and doesn’t have to be stored in special storage containers to keep it fresh as it naturally lasts a long period of time.
Living with Birds are a supplier of garden bird food supplies and hanging bird feeders for wild birds and wildlife. For more information on bird nutrition, please read the articles on the Tweetapedia.
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Take care and remember, stay on the wild side!
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