Feeding Garden Birds Safely
Happy & Healthy Wild Birds
Our top tips to stop disease spreading to your garden's feathered firends
Feed little & often
Don't fill & forget! Bird food that's out for more than a couple of days can get contaminated. Put out small amounts of food and adjust feeding levels based on demand. Dispose of food that isn't consumed within a couple of days.
Clean between feeds, or weekly
Clean weekly at a minimum to help stop the spread of disease. Clean bird feeders with a mild disinfectant and rinse well. Remove old food and debris from bird tables with a dustpan and brush, scrub stubborn waste with a mild disinfectant and rinse thoroughly. Don't forget to sweep up and clean under feeders and tables too.
Keep bird food dry
Damp food allows disease to survive. Ensure bird feeders & tables are dry before adding feed and remove food that gets damp or wet.
Move feeders regularly
Move feeders and tables to a new spot each week to help prevent the build up of waste and debris underneath.
Avoid placing under roosting spots
It may seem natural to put feeders and tables near where you've seen birds roosting, but avoid placing them underneath roosting locations such as under trees or hanging feeders from bird tables. Bird food under roosting spots can get contimanted by droppings.
Spread out feeders
If you have more than one feeder or table then spread them out to avoid overcrowding and different bird species mixing.
Bird baths?
Change the water in bird baths and water dishes daily, using tap water.
Planting Tips
Help birds find their own food with a thriving garden full of bird-friendly plants like Ivy, teasel, Sunflowers, Honeysuckle, holly, Hawthorm, Rowan & cotoneaster.
Some more tips you might like
Top tips for putting up a nest box
Having a nest box in your garden can be very rewarding, but where and how you put it up is important for providing a safe and comfortable home for your feathered friends to nest in
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Helping birds in Spring
In early spring wild birds begin to build their nests and you can see robins, sparrows and other birds flying back and forth with twigs. Birds will begin to arrive back from their winter migrations and later on you'll see birds busy going back and forth to feed their young.
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Autumn Bird Care
Just as Autumn is a time of change for the plants in your garden it is also a time of change for wild birds. Some birds have already started their migrations and other species will soon be starting theirs too. Many will be leaving the UK for warmer climates, but there will also be others arriving from colder countries.
Autumn bird advice
