On the run into the winter months, birds and wildlife will begin to struggle as their natural food sources disappear. Garden birds will particularly find the harsher winter conditions difficult to manage.
To find out more about what people can do to help the avian visitors to their gardens, Limerick Voice’s Mary Moloney met with Tom Tarpey.
An esteemed member of the BWI (BirdWatch Ireland) Limerick Branch, he operates as the Limerick County bird species recorder for the organisation.
What should I be feeding them?
While each bird requires different food, there are universal favourites, as Tom explains;
“Peanuts are a big favourite. A lot of species will use peanuts. So that’s probably the most common food to use in gardens.
Another favourite is sunflower seeds. Sometimes you can get sunflower seeds out of the shells. Another popular one is Niger seed. These are small thin black seeds, that appeal to some of the finch species. It’s a very small seed. Only birds with specialised bills feed on it, but it would attract things like goldfinches to your gardens, and smaller finches, like red polls.
Suet balls are popular too. You could actually make your own suet balls, but you could buy them in shops as well.”
Is mixed bird seed the best?
The answer is yes, but be mindful of what brand you purchase.
“Some of the cheaper brands, have a lot of very large, whole seeds in them that small birds can’t actually use. So you end up with quite a lot of waste, things like corn kernels and large grains left lying around. You don’t really want to have lying around your garden, because that may attract unwanted rodents. So, if you’re buying mixed birdseed, you need to focus on some of the finer mixes, so that the birds will use all of the food that you actually put out.”
In the dryer winter months, it is also important to provide clean water for the birds in your garden as they may struggle to find water in frozen and dry areas.
Some birds also require the feeder to be left in a specific location so that they have access to food without competition from other birds. “I recommend to keep them reasonably close to hedges, like one to two meters. Smaller birds are more confident when they’re close to shelter, rather than out in the middle of the open’
Experts recommend to have more than one point with a feeder
“Actually, it’s useful to have two different feeding points anyway. While you might find a lot of birds are congregating on one and fighting over the source, others can find it easier then to visit a quieter spot”
Keeping your feeders clean is also extremely important to prevent the spread of diseases which can be caused by healthy birds being in close contact with sick birds on feeders. It is vital to clean the feeders every two weeks.
“We’ve had issues with some species being affected by bacteria and other infections have been passed on through feeders. It’s affected some species more than others. Green finches in particular have suffered very badly from an infection this way. There’s recommendations there that you should clean and disinfect your feeders, maybe every, two weeks or so.
Particularly if you see signs of a sick bird at your feeder, you should stop feeding for a while and clean them all and then give a short period before you set them back up again.”
Birdwatch Ireland have created an online resource to help members of the public clean their bird feeders properly ensuring the risk of infection spreading is minimised.
Each year from early December through until January, BirdWatch Ireland run the ‘Irish Garden Bird Survey’ This citizen science project has been paramount to developing a database on garden bird activity in the winter months.
“Anybody can take part in it. There’s a form that you can download and record what you see. Basically, the idea of the form is that you record the maximum number of each species that you see.”
Tom credits this survey for collecting useful data for Birdwatch Ireland. They now know greenfinch numbers have dropped significantly over the past number of years, whereas goldfinch numbers have been on the rise.
Tom says the rise in goldfinch numbers is probably due to the introduction of niger seeds which are now widely available in shops across the country.
“You can submit the data weekly, or you can submit it at the end of the end of three months”
Finally, Tom said that he would like to “encourage people to keep doing it” as sees the impact everyday people’s gardens have on keeping the birds fed in the harsher months.
