A gardening website has shared advice on what you can do to help birds in your garden this winter
Bird feeders should be cleaned weekly(Image: Getty)
Peanuts should be placed in gardens this winter for one specific reason.
This advice comes from the gardening website Love the Garden, which offers helpful guidance on all aspects of gardening, from lawn maintenance to pest control and removing unwanted creatures.
On the site’s Birds and Wildlife section, it provided essential details about bird survival during colder periods, and why it’s particularly important to assist them throughout these chillier months. The site explained: “Survival can be challenging at any time of year, but in particular during the cold winter months. Small birds especially struggle due to having a large surface area and comparably small volume.
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“This means they lose heat to their surroundings very quickly and must eat a lot of food to replace the energy lost.
Birds should be fed fresh peanuts (Image: Getty)
“Many of us want to help them out but aren’t sure what to feed birds in winter, which doesn’t need to be the case.”
Among their list of recommended foods, the specialists highlighted that peanuts make an excellent choice for feeding birds throughout winter.
They stated: “Peanuts are rich in fat and protein and are popular with tits, greenfinches, house sparrows, nuthatches, woodpeckers and siskins. When crushed or grated they will also attract robins, dunnocks and occasionally wrens.”
It’s crucial to make sure that the peanuts you leave out for birds are fresh and fit for human consumption, or bought “from a reputable feed shop, as some can contain high levels of a natural toxin that can be lethal to birds”.
Never leave salted or dry-roasted peanuts out for birds, as these can also harm them.
Birds should always have access to a fresh supply of water for drinking and bathing.
You don’t need a birdbath to provide water; a shallow dish filled with water and elevated off the ground will do.
Avoid freezing
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To keep the water from freezing in chilly weather, try placing a small plastic ball on the surface.
The ball’s movement in the wind will prevent the water from freezing over.
Make sure to clean feeders weekly and water containers daily to prevent disease transmission and keep birds safe.
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