If you’re fond of the flash of a robin’s crimson bib gracing your garden throughout the year there a few things you can do to keep the red-breasted friends returning again and again – starting now.
There are a few ways you can make your garden as tempting to robins as possible be this by planting berry or fruit bushes and trees, leaving seed heads for them to peck on, as well as having bird baths for drinking and bathing.
Approximately 30 species of bird are regular garden visitors, but Robins remains a firm favourite amongst Brits – and despite their festive connotations the birds are resident year round and can become part of the garden furniture. Here are five tips to keep robins surviving and thriving on your patch.
One tip to keep robins returning is to use your chosen food be it seed or mealworm, placed on wire mesh held just off the ground will entice ground-feeding birds such as robins, according to the RHS.
Another great way to entice robbins onto your lawn, is to place fat blocks in wire cages. If you do this ensure you remove any plastic nets around fat balls otherwise the feathered friends can become trapped in the mesh. You can create your own fat blocks by melting suet into moulds.
To help limit the spread of infections and diseases keep feeders clean, refill little and often. This means placing a maximum of about one to two days worth of food out at any given time. If possible, change their position in the garden to avoid rotting the ground underneath your feeders.
In terms of a robin’s favourite food mealworms take the biscuit. These are best scattered on the ground, placed in shallow large dishes or left on bird feeder tables.
Water is essential for bathing and drinking throughout the year. If you provide water in a shallow container, preferably with sloping sides and no more than 5 cm deep robins will flock to your garden to bathe and drink.
As with feeders, clean bird baths regularly to reduce the risk of disease spread in wild birds. During frosty weather, remove the ice so birds can continue to have access to water.
Although mealworms are a firm favourite – its important to use different foods to keep birds coming back. Although fat is important, particularly in winter, a grain mix or nuts also help to maintain a balanced diet.
No-mess seed mixes are more expensive but they often use de-husked sunflower hearts meaning there is less waste and debris under any feeders.Cheaper mixes are often padded out with lentils and wheat which are less attractive to birds.