Ensuring garden birds have access to food and water is essential, but you don’t always need to rely on seeds and grains
18:03, 03 Dec 2025Updated 18:04, 03 Dec 2025
Birds play a key role in your garden, and it’s important to ensure they’re well fed(Image: schnuddel via Getty Images)
With the help of an everyday kitchen staple, you can encourage robins and other garden birds to keep coming back to your garden, even when the temperatures drop. Birds are a welcome presence in gardens, adding to the liveliness of the space, while welcoming a new day with their soothing birdsong.
They also serve an important role in the garden by helping protect flowers and plants from damage and disease, as they naturally prey on pests. But autumn and winter can be difficult seasons for them, with frozen ground making it hard to find their usual food sources, such as insects, worms, fallen seeds and berries.
It’s important to offer birds an extra bit of support by ensuring they have access to all the food and water they need, but it doesn’t always have to be seeds and grains.
Robin’s find it difficult to get food supplies in winter(Image: GettyImages)
According to the RSPCA, garden birds including robins, enjoy a surprising range of foods, including something you may not have thought out – cooked pasta.
Carbohydrates such as pasta offer a the winged critters a boost of energy, especially during the chilly and challenging winter conditions.
However, the charity emphasises that the pasta must be cooked only in plain water, with no salt, butter, spices, oil or other additives that could harm birds. It’s also best to chop larger pieces into smaller bits to make them easier for birds to eat.
A 0.5kg pack of pasta can cost as little as 41p at Aldi, making it an inexpensive way to add some variety to their diet by using up leftovers you haven’t cooked for yourself.
It’s not the only kind of “human food” the birds can stomach, the charity says. Birds also enjoy rice, boiled potatoes, cheese and even an uncooked, unsalted bacon rind. But, as with pasta, these should always be offered plain to avoid causing harm, the Express reports.
However just like us, birds need a balanced diet to stay healthy. Other things they can enjoy include fruit, (namely raisins, sultanas, apples, pears and soft fruits), and grains and seeds that are suitable for them, such as:
nyjermilletoatssunflower seeds
Birds can also be fed peanuts, but similar to pasta and the other food items, they must not be salted. The peanuts must also be fresh and no contain aflatoxin (a poison produced by certain moulds).
As well as putting carbs out for the birds you can also place heavy fruits out(Image: GettyImages)
They should also be placed only in feeders with a finer mesh, as whole pieces can pose a choking risk for young chicks.
According to the RSPCA, other food opinions include net-free fat or suet balls, as well as insects such as mealworms or wax worms.
It is important that dog owners are “careful with grapes, sultanas, raisins and some artificial sweeteners”, as these items are toxic to dogs.
Garden birds also need a good supply of fresh water, so if you don’t have a bird bath, it’s recommended to put out bowls of clean water regularly. Be sure to keep feeders and water bowls away from spots where predators might hide.
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