A gardening expert has suggested that birds will flock to your garden this month if you hang certain things from trees. The winter months are a tough time for animals as they huddle down for the winter and try to survive when the mercury plummets.
However, there are things people can do to support local wildlife that visit their gardens. Posting on the GrowVeg YouTube channel, presenter Benedict said there were a couple of ways to entice more birds, like robins, into one’s garden. Among the tips he suggested included hanging a coconut from a tree and putting inside it some special ingredients.
Benedict explained: “During the colder months our birds really need our help and they especially like high fatty foods, really energy foods to keep them warm. Something like these suet fat balls with these seeds in is a really great option. Do choose the ones without nets though because they could get their feet caught in those and these can go in feeders, on the ground or on bird tables. I’ve also got this little coconut half here filled with suet and that’s really pretty to watch the birds from the window. If you can also provide fresh ice free water for them to bathe in and drink from too.”
Suet balls are high-energy food for birds made from a mixture of rendered animal fat (suet), grains and sometimes other ingredients such as mealworms or berries.
The RSPB sells 50 suet balls for £11, meaning one would cost you 22p. According to charity Songbird Survival, robins can lose up to 10% of their body weight in just one cold winter night. They also recommend people provide food that is high to give birds the energy to stay warm when natural food sources run low.
Benedict isn’t the only one to make suggestions on how gardeners can help their birds this winter. Gardening expert at Fantastic Gardens Peter Ivanov, suggested that using leaves could help entice them as well.
Known as ‘leaf litter’ according to British lifestyle magazine and website Woman and Home, I doing so could create a compost heap to attract robins.
On how it could work Peter said: Leave leaf litter. “Leave leaf litter. Robins forage in leaf litter for worms and insects, so avoid clearing every corner of the garden.
“Start a compost heap. A compost pile provides warmth and attracts invertebrates, which is a natural robin food source. Stop using pesticides. Chemicals reduce insect numbers. If you avoid them, you’ll encourage more of the natural prey robins rely on.
As well as creating leaf litter, some experts have suggested watering the lawn to bring worms to the surface which robins can feed on.
Peter also listed other types of foods robins like to feed on which people could leave out to attract them. He explained: “Besides that, they’ll also eat soft foods, such as suet, sunflower hearts, raisins soaked to soften and fruit such as chopped apples or pears. Keep in mind that robins are natural ground feeders.
“Robins have a variety of foods they love, with mealworms being a particular favourite, and they enjoy these both live and dried.”
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