Feed the Birds

Nuts, Seeds and Fat balls just the thing for the bird table

This coming Saturday, October 25th, is “Feed the Birds Day”, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. They have been publicising the event quite heavily, and one of the local radio stations I work at had been given a nice new bird feeder to try out so they could promote it to their listeners.

 

Feeding birds (or other forms of wildlife) can be very important, especially if they appear to be struggling for food or having a hard time for one reason or another. Many of you must do it too, because for the past few years the high- selling products in garden centres throughout the winter months have been things like fat balls, bird seed, peanuts, nesting boxes, feeders and the like.

I must admit that I found this surprising, as I expected the Christmas-themed goods would win hands down. However, when I thought about it, this was talking about sales for the winter months and most garden centres actually tend to have their Christmas stock in from late August, which is definitely not a winter month.

Our general interest in birds and wildlife generally is increasing year-on-year and I was musing about the reason. Many years ago, I spent a short time in the United States, where they were using the phrase ‘touch and tech’, to describe peoples’ desire to get back to nature. They noticed that the more working time was spent in an air-conditioned environment, sitting at a desk or in front of a computer, the more we wanted to be involved with nature in our leisure time. So it appears in the UK at the present time.

 

The only problem I have with bringing nature into the garden is that you can’t be selective. Feeding the birds is good, but the grey squirrels and rats must really love it – and are probably doing far better than the birds will ever do. Grey squirrels are natural acrobats and brilliant thieves; they can do everything a bird can apart from fly (and they’ll even try that if they are desperate).

Once squirrels have found a regular food supply, the birds will only get what the squirrels leave unless you have a squirrel-proof bird feeder. The trouble is, birds don’t really help themselves; they’re messy feeders and tend to flick food all over the place when they start feeding (especially when there is competition between species for the food available), so much of the food that starts out in the feeder or on the bird table finishes up on the floor. This is where the rats get can become a problem. They start with the crumbs and before long, will be climbing up onto the bird table to get their share before they birds can have any.

 

All of which leaves me wondering how much the birds actually get of the food we’re paying so much for? And after millions of years of evolution, how did the birds ever cope with life before we had garden centres to supply them and Bill Oddie to speak up for them?

Must go, the robin wants his breakfast.

 

See you next week.