A classic kitchen staple will have robins and other birds flocking to your garden, green-fingered Britons have been told. Spring is upon us, a time when pre-winter preparations around your plot will start to bear fruit – and when winged creatures start to enter their most active period of the year.
Birds play an important role in the garden, helping to keep plants and flowers free of pests that can cause damage and disease, while making outside spaces feel vibrant and alive. If we want your garden to be a welcoming space for them, it’s important to lay on food and water. But it doesn’t always have to be seeds and grains. According to the RSPCA, garden birds like robins can eat a wide variety of different kinds of food, including a go-to “human food” staple: cooked pasta.
Pasta is a great source of carbohydrates for the avian creatures, but it’s vital that you only cook the pasta in water, without salt, butter, spices, oil, or anything else that can harm them.
It’s also recommended you cut larger pieces up so it’s easier for them to eat. Using leftover pasta you don’t end up cooking means it doesn’t go to waste, and best of all, it’s an inexpensive option.
For example, Tesco’s Hearty Food Co. Penne Pasta, contains 500G, is currently just 41p online. There are other options are available across other supermarkets for well under £1.
It’s not the only surprising food garden birds like, the charity says. The winged creatures also like scraps like rice, boiled potatoes, cheese.
They’re even known to go for uncooked and unsalted bacon rind. However, in all cases, these shouldn’t be cooked with any other ingredients.
Like humans, the critters need a balanced diet, and can eat various other things. According to the RSPCA, this also includes fruit (namely, raisins, sultanas, apples, pears and soft fruits), and grains and seeds that are suitable for them, like nyjer, millet, oats, and sunflower seeds.
Birds can also eat peanuts, provided they’re not salted, are fresh, and don’t contain aflatoxin (a poison produced by certain moulds).
The charity also stresses that these should only be put in feeders with a smaller mesh, as whole peanuts are a choking hazard for young chicks.
Other alternative options include net-free fat or suet balls or insects like mealworms or waxworms. However, dog owners are urged to be careful with grapes, sultanas, raisins and some artificial sweeteners, as they’re toxic to pooches.
Birds also need a healthy supply of fresh water, so gardeners are advised to leave out bowls of it on a regular basis if they don’t have bird baths.
However, it’s important to avoid placing feeders and bowls near places where birds could be vulnerable to predators.
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