I'm designing a bird and bug friendly garden for this spring, and it will have flowers, perches, water, and (now, after watching this) a supply of nesting materials!
Adding a feeder to our backyard has completely transformed our yard! In the last couple of weeks, I've learned to identify more than 15 species of birds, an our quiet backyard is now busy and full of life. We do have a bear and squirrel problem, but the local wild bird store gave us some tips to mitigate that.
Peanuts One of the most popular bird foods, and for good reason. They have a high calorie content (behind only sunflower hearts), are high in protein and they have no shell that birds need to wrestle off. Perfect if you want to avoid spillage and waste too. Be sure to hang them in an appropriate mesh feeder, and don’t use plastic netting bags. Take care to ensure no mouldy or shrivelled peanuts are in your feeders as these can produce aflatoxins which can kill birds. To avoid this, store them in a dry area and half-fill your peanut feeders at a time, allowing them to empty before refilling. Peanuts are popular with probably the largest range of species, including all of the tits and finches, house sparrows, and more! Sunflower seeds(seedling) (seedling) These are a good ‘standard’ food to provide if you want to cater for a variety of bird species. Sunflower seeds come in different forms - with striped shell, black shell or no shell (‘hearts’). Striped shelled sunflower seeds have a tough outer shell that’s difficult for birds to remove and they have a lower calorie content than the other varieties. Black sunflower seeds have higher oil and calorie content and a thinner shell too. Sunflower hearts are the best of the lot though as they have more oils and calories than the others, and no shell - so the birds waste no energy when eating them. They’re a bit more expensive as a result, but worth the money. Sunflower seeds should be provided in a hanging seed feeder or scattered on a flat surface. Mixed seeds(seedling) (seedling) There’s a lot of different mixed seed varieties on the market. Cheaper ones tend to include a high proportion of cereal grains that are popular with sparrows and pigeons but not much else. If you want to cater for these species (and they deserve food too!) then you’re ok, but if possible go for the mixes with better quality content as these are ultimately better value for money. There’s a great range of ‘high energy’ mixes available these days, including ones with high proportions of sunflower seeds and with added mealworms and suet pellets that are all good and will be eaten by a good variety of species. Nyger seed(seedling) (seedling) Nyjer/Nyger is a relatively new addition to the bird food market. The seeds are very fine, so are much loved by the finches that traditionally enjoy thistle seeds - most notably Goldfinches, but also Siskin and Redpoll. Nyjer requires a specialised bird feeder with smaller holes as it can be quite messy. It’s one of the more expensive foods on the market too, but is still very popular and maybe worth providing in smaller amounts than other foods (peanuts, sunflower hearts). Fat/Suet products(seedling) (seedling) There’s a big range of fat and suet products on the market, with different nutrients and ingredients added. Be wary of very cheap supermarket options that tend to be very poor in any sort of nutrients and can be quite tough for birds to eat. Don’t be afraid to make your own fatballs with beef dripping or suet, and add ingredients such as seeds, grated cheese, raisins and sultanas (see link below). Avoid hanging fatballs in the plastic netting that they sometimes come in - these are very dangerous for birds! Be sure to buy a special fatball/suet-block feeder or cage, and if your fatballs/suet-blocks don’t fit in this then break them up a bit! Don’t provide these types of food for the late spring and summer - save them for the colder months! Mealworms(seedling) (seedling) These are expensive, but high in protein and are loved by Robins, Dunnocks and other species that prefer to eat insects above all else. You can add them in with the seeds in your feeder if you want or scatter them on a bird table or on the ground. This is a good food to provide in the spring and summer in particular, when you should stop feeding fatballs and suet blocks.Fruit Thrush species, including Blackbird, will enjoy chopped apples, pears, figs, grapes, currents, raisins, sultanas etc. Blackcaps famously enjoy halved apples stuck onto a tree branch or other spike. Cut up any larger fruits into smaller pieces so that they can be eaten with ease. As with everything, never put out anything mouldy for the birds! Water(drink) (drink) Water is often forgotten, but it’s hugely important for birds to drink and wash themselves in. During cold weather, other water sources in the countryside might get frozen over, so providing water in your garden is extra important. Be sure to provide it in a shallow dish, or if it’s deep bowl put a rock in it that smaller birds can perch on - they want to stand in shallow water, not completely submerge themselves! Fruit(apple) (orange) (watermelon) (banana) (grapes) (strawberry) Thrush species, including Blackbird, will enjoy chopped apples, pears, figs, grapes, currents, raisins, sultanas etc. Blackcaps famously enjoy halved apples stuck onto a tree branch or other spike. Cut up any larger fruits into smaller pieces so that they can be eaten with ease. As with everything, never put out anything mouldy for the birds!
awesome video homie! love the shots of those redpolls! i did not know that about birds thinking salt is grit, pretty interesting, and sad for the birds. i am excited to watch this entire series!
Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Very surprised with the redpolls. They would come within a foot of me and not care, I snapped so many photos haha
I do help house sparrows 🤣. They eat the left over seed that my parakeets don’t eat them and the Mourning doves come every day to my garden to eat my parakeets left over seeds
House sparrows are invasive and will take over bluebird and other native bird's nests. They will even kill eggs and babies and make their own nest on top of them.
Can we put the Cotton put them somewhere I’m going to make basket and I’ll pick up everything from the ground whatever whatever you say that’s wonderful thank you
Great ideas but did you know that house sparrows are pests now and they take over bird houses so other birds cannot nest so this year I'm planning to evict them now by blocking the hole in the bird house in early March probably going to block all my bird houses for the year but i will still feed the birds differently less house sparrows tho i want more diversity with woodpeckers nuthatches chickadees finches and more last year house sparrows ate all our peas in our garden gonna hang shiny things like disks they don't like shiny things and they get scared gonna plan doing all of that this year
I hope you enjoyed this video! What things are you offering to your backyard birds?
I'm designing a bird and bug friendly garden for this spring, and it will have flowers, perches, water, and (now, after watching this) a supply of nesting materials!
@@BioBush That sounds amazing! You're offering a nice variety. I wish you luck and hopefully many insects and birds visit 🙂 Thank you!
I've been offering safflower seeds. Cardinals, finches and mourning doves eat the seeds but squirrels don't 😉
Adding a feeder to our backyard has completely transformed our yard! In the last couple of weeks, I've learned to identify more than 15 species of birds, an our quiet backyard is now busy and full of life. We do have a bear and squirrel problem, but the local wild bird store gave us some tips to mitigate that.
Peanuts
One of the most popular bird foods, and for good reason. They have a high calorie content (behind only sunflower hearts), are high in protein and they have no shell that birds need to wrestle off. Perfect if you want to avoid spillage and waste too. Be sure to hang them in an appropriate mesh feeder, and don’t use plastic netting bags. Take care to ensure no mouldy or shrivelled peanuts are in your feeders as these can produce aflatoxins which can kill birds. To avoid this, store them in a dry area and half-fill your peanut feeders at a time, allowing them to empty before refilling. Peanuts are popular with probably the largest range of species, including all of the tits and finches, house sparrows, and more! Sunflower seeds(seedling)
(seedling)
These are a good ‘standard’ food to provide if you want to cater for a variety of bird species. Sunflower seeds come in different forms - with striped shell, black shell or no shell (‘hearts’). Striped shelled sunflower seeds have a tough outer shell that’s difficult for birds to remove and they have a lower calorie content than the other varieties. Black sunflower seeds have higher oil and calorie content and a thinner shell too. Sunflower hearts are the best of the lot though as they have more oils and calories than the others, and no shell - so the birds waste no energy when eating them. They’re a bit more expensive as a result, but worth the money. Sunflower seeds should be provided in a hanging seed feeder or scattered on a flat surface. Mixed seeds(seedling)
(seedling)
There’s a lot of different mixed seed varieties on the market. Cheaper ones tend to include a high proportion of cereal grains that are popular with sparrows and pigeons but not much else. If you want to cater for these species (and they deserve food too!) then you’re ok, but if possible go for the mixes with better quality content as these are ultimately better value for money. There’s a great range of ‘high energy’ mixes available these days, including ones with high proportions of sunflower seeds and with added mealworms and suet pellets that are all good and will be eaten by a good variety of species. Nyger seed(seedling)
(seedling)
Nyjer/Nyger is a relatively new addition to the bird food market. The seeds are very fine, so are much loved by the finches that traditionally enjoy thistle seeds - most notably Goldfinches, but also Siskin and Redpoll. Nyjer requires a specialised bird feeder with smaller holes as it can be quite messy. It’s one of the more expensive foods on the market too, but is still very popular and maybe worth providing in smaller amounts than other foods (peanuts, sunflower hearts). Fat/Suet products(seedling)
(seedling)
There’s a big range of fat and suet products on the market, with different nutrients and ingredients added. Be wary of very cheap supermarket options that tend to be very poor in any sort of nutrients and can be quite tough for birds to eat. Don’t be afraid to make your own fatballs with beef dripping or suet, and add ingredients such as seeds, grated cheese, raisins and sultanas (see link below). Avoid hanging fatballs in the plastic netting that they sometimes come in - these are very dangerous for birds! Be sure to buy a special fatball/suet-block feeder or cage, and if your fatballs/suet-blocks don’t fit in this then break them up a bit! Don’t provide these types of food for the late spring and summer - save them for the colder months! Mealworms(seedling)
(seedling)
These are expensive, but high in protein and are loved by Robins, Dunnocks and other species that prefer to eat insects above all else. You can add them in with the seeds in your feeder if you want or scatter them on a bird table or on the ground. This is a good food to provide in the spring and summer in particular, when you should stop feeding fatballs and suet blocks.Fruit
Thrush species, including Blackbird, will enjoy chopped apples, pears, figs, grapes, currents, raisins, sultanas etc. Blackcaps famously enjoy halved apples stuck onto a tree branch or other spike. Cut up any larger fruits into smaller pieces so that they can be eaten with ease. As with everything, never put out anything mouldy for the birds!
Water(drink)
(drink)
Water is often forgotten, but it’s hugely important for birds to drink and wash themselves in. During cold weather, other water sources in the countryside might get frozen over, so providing water in your garden is extra important. Be sure to provide it in a shallow dish, or if it’s deep bowl put a rock in it that smaller birds can perch on - they want to stand in shallow water, not completely submerge themselves! Fruit(apple)
(orange)
(watermelon)
(banana)
(grapes)
(strawberry)
Thrush species, including Blackbird, will enjoy chopped apples, pears, figs, grapes, currents, raisins, sultanas etc. Blackcaps famously enjoy halved apples stuck onto a tree branch or other spike. Cut up any larger fruits into smaller pieces so that they can be eaten with ease. As with everything, never put out anything mouldy for the birds!
Great ideas! Thank you for sharing.
awesome video homie! love the shots of those redpolls! i did not know that about birds thinking salt is grit, pretty interesting, and sad for the birds. i am excited to watch this entire series!
Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Very surprised with the redpolls. They would come within a foot of me and not care, I snapped so many photos haha
rember mud for nesting aswell black brids and suchs need it. hamp seed are big here almost all the birds go for that feeder
I do help house sparrows 🤣. They eat the left over seed that my parakeets don’t eat them and the Mourning doves come every day to my garden to eat my parakeets left over seeds
Hahaha well at least that's a great way to not waste any seeds! I have had 8 mourning doves in my yard this year. Very pretty!
House sparrows are invasive and will take over bluebird and other native bird's nests. They will even kill eggs and babies and make their own nest on top of them.
Can we put the Cotton put them somewhere I’m going to make basket and I’ll pick up everything from the ground whatever whatever you say that’s wonderful thank you
Great tips..Thanks for sharing...)
Glad you enjoyed!
Great..
dry or live meal worm?. live a a bit more difficult to obtain in cold areas like VT
that's a very aesthetic suet cage. If you're not careful, you might end up hanging it inside and 'grammin it, you know?
Do blue jays come around this time of year? If so what do they like to eat?
Blue jays love peanuts!
are you in canada? i just started getting interested in birds from Toronto haha
Yup! I live in Montreal, but I work out west in the summer 🙂 Hope you're getting a lot of great birds!
Great ideas but did you know that house sparrows are pests now and they take over bird houses so other birds cannot nest so this year I'm planning to evict them now by blocking the hole in the bird house in early March probably going to block all my bird houses for the year but i will still feed the birds differently less house sparrows tho i want more diversity with woodpeckers nuthatches chickadees finches and more last year house sparrows ate all our peas in our garden gonna hang shiny things like disks they don't like shiny things and they get scared gonna plan doing all of that this year
As of now im feeding water dialy.. checkout my latest video.. btw very informative video..thanks for sharing..
Lets connect 🤝🔔