GARDEN BIRD
What you can do for wildlife this autumn & winter
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Garden Birds
Blackbird, by John
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154 BTO Garden Birds
and other wildlife
Blackbird
Turdus merula
Kate Risely and Clare Simm
One of our most familiar birds, the Blackbird is a species enviroment. Part of that has adapted this success stems particularly well to from the fact that habitat which our the garden the Blackbird is a gardens resemble bird of woodland in many of their key and areas of lawn. edges, a features – such as scattered trees and bushes, D
J
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Green-listed
Spotlight Size 24 cm; Wingspan
F
O
M
S
A A J
36 cm; Weight 100 g
Food: Invertebrates, especially earthworms. Fruit taken in autumn and winter.
M J
A garden success
Originally a woodlan d bird, from the 19th century Blackbirds shifted into gardens and farmland, with a large proportion population now found of their in urban and suburba BirdWatch data show n habitats. Garden that Blackbirds use gardens seasonally, a marked reductio with n in numbers in autumn due to secrecy during their moult, and then the search for autumn wider countryside. fruit and seeds in The rest of the year the their diet mainly consists of insects and earthwo rms but they have also been known newts and fish from to eat ponds.
Breeding behavio
Blackbird nest and
eggs, by Herbert &
Howells
ur
www.bto.org/gbw-join 01842 750050 QUOTE ‘BIRDWATCHING’
Breeds: March to July Clutch size: 3–4 eggs Incubation: 13–14 days Young fledge: 12–15 days Number of broods: 2–3 per year Population: 4.9 million pairs Max lifespan: 14 years, 9 months Typical lifespan : 3 years Garden reportin g rate: 98%
Blackbirds build their untidy cup nests most bushes but will also often in trees and use a variety of other situations includin ledges, log piles and g even open-fronted nest boxes. Nests are usually position ed within some cover to reduce the risk predation and the of impact of adverse weather. Birds nesting towns and villages in are more producti ve than those in woodlan and appear to begin d their breeding season somewhat earlier. thought that the increase It is d productivity in urban the lower rate of nest areas is due to predation in gardens (50%) compared woodland (80%). to They will have two to three broods a increase their overall year to breeding output. Both sexes are territoria l during the breeding usually defend their territory through display season. They occasionally short, and calls, but violent fights will occur. Birds from different pairs may be seen together in feeding areas outside breeding territories but even here there can be some degree of tension between individuals. In the gregarious, often feeding winter, however, Blackbirds are more together in small flocks with other thrush and associating species, such as Redwing and Fieldfare.
Stephen Iles/Alamy
WELCOME
O
NE OF THE GREAT compensations of the shorter days and bad weather of autumn and winter is that it gives us the chance to see more birds in our gardens, especially if we all do our bit to see them through a difficult time of year. Above all, of course, this means providing extra food for the birds to supplement the natural food they’ll find. If you saw our Spring Garden Guide, free with the June 2017 issue of Bird Watching, you’ll know that you can also help make that natural food available by planting the right species, planning your garden to include ‘wild’ areas, and by creating a pond, but autumn’s a vital time for ensuring the ongoing health of your garden – a bit of hard work now will pay huge dividends next spring and summer. So, read on for ideas on how to make your garden even more bird and wildlife-friendly, without costing the earth. And when you do start to get the sort of visitors you only previously dreamt of, remember that we want to hear about them – drop us a line at birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk
CONTENTS
P4-8 Autumn gardening essentials P10-14 20 survival tips for your garden birds
Matt Merritt, Editor
GARDEN BIRD
2017
is proudly sponsored by P17-18 How is bird food produced? P21 How to support all garden wildlife birdwatching.co.uk 3
AUTUMN GARDENING ESSENTIALS Whether you’ve already started creating a wildlife garden, or you’re starting absolutely from scratch, early autumn’s a great time to put in the hard yards that will reap rewards later.
4 Garden Bird Survival Guide 2017
T
HE BREEDING SEASON is well and truly out of the way, so you can go about your business without the risk of disturbing breeding birds. And, of course, the main growing season for most plants is over, too, so you can plant for next year, as well as getting all the essential maintenance work done that will keep your garden looking good and attracting more wildlife. So, if you already do your gardening with wildlife in mind (perhaps you were inspired by the guide in our June issue), here’s what you should be doing as the days grow shorter…
James Jackson/Alamy
garfotos/Alamy
BORDERS
Leave herbaceous borders intact, wherever you can. Decaying plants can act as shelter for small mammals and insects, and seedheads are doubly important – they provide natural oil-rich food for birds, as well as places for invertebrates to wait out the worst of the weather.
POTS
Got any unused earthenware plant pots? Leave a stack of them, upturned, in a quiet corner of the garden and they can provide shelter for bees and other insects.
Now’s the time to clean out your nestboxes thoroughly. Use boiling water (this will kill off any remaining parasites), but don’t use insecticides or sterilising fluid. Once this is done, let the box dry out thoroughly, then line it with a small amount of hay, wood shavings or tumble-dryer fluff, as birds may use it to roost in during the colder months. This is a job to do early in October – some species such as Blue Tits may start ‘prospecting’ for nest sites for next year as early as December.
blickwinkel/Alamy
BIRD BOXES
A ROOM WITH VIEWS/Alamy
If the trees and bushes in your garden have lost branches and twigs, don’t pile them onto the bonfire for 5 November. Instead, use them to make a brush pile in a quiet corner of the garden, where invertebrates and small mammals can shelter. You might even be lucky enough to get a Hedgehog using it to hibernate under, although a purpose-built ‘Hedgehog house’ covered in twigs is even better.
A. Astes/Alamy
TWIGS
LEAVES
Spread fallen leaves over your flowerbeds. As well as providing a rich mulch which will fertilise your plants, they create a superb foraging habitat for thrushes and Blackbirds in winter. Frogs and invertebrates also like to overwinter among damp leaves. birdwatching.co.uk 5
If you’ve got a pond, you’ll already know that it’s perhaps the single most important wildlife habitat you can create in any garden, and autumn is when you really need to make sure that it will continue to be so. Remove dead leaves as often as is necessary. Provide heaps of leaves nearby for amphibians to overwinter in – use wire mesh to stop them blowing into the pond. If you use a net over the whole pond to prevent leaves from blowing in, make sure there are ways out for amphibians and Hedgehogs. Log piles also make great winter homes for amphibians. Look out for late hatchings of newts – these are less than an inch long and can still be present in early autumn. Wait until spring before thinning out the main oxygenating plants, as they will be vital to any wildlife that remains over the winter. If your pond freezes over during the winter, remove any snow blanketing it, and try to break the ice (place a pan of boiling water on it), or toxic gases may build up and kill off wildlife such as frogs and newts lying Look out for the Smooth Newt dormant. A tennis ball (Triton vulgaris) in your pond at on the surface should this time of the year help prevent freezing over in the first place. 6 Garden Bird Survival Guide 2017
Thin out ponds carefully if you want Emperor Dragonflies beside it next summer
This is a good time to thin out some of the vegetation on the surface of your pond, because left to its own devices, a process known as natural progression will ensure that your pond eventually becomes a muddy puddle, and then just a patch of boggy ground. But do so slowly and carefully, taking great care that you are not also removing some of the creatures that have made your pond their home. For example, dragonfly and damselfly larvae spend years underwater before emerging as adults, and other larvae or insects could be on the vegetation you take out. So, open out all plants carefully, and shake them over the pond until you’re sure that any creatures are back in the water.
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SHEDS
Bob Gibbons/Alamy
If you start finding butterflies (plus other insects, and spiders) coming into the house in autumn, carefully transfer them to your shed or garage, where they’ll be safe from the worst of the weather but the temperature remains constant (central heating in the house can fool them into thinking spring has arrived).
Chris Rout/Alamy
PLANTING AND PRUNING
Digital-Fotofusion Gallery/Alamy
Now’s the time to create new hedges or replace some of your existing ornamental species with natives such as Hazel, Hawthorn, Buckthorn and Guelder Rose. Doing this now gives the plants time to establish roots, and means they should flourish next year. Don’t trim back shrubs such as buddleia now, though, as frost will get into the cut branches and could kill the plant off entirely.
CLIMBING PLANTS
These, and especially Ivy, can be vital to birds in the winter months, providing cover and a foraging habitat for insect-eating species, such as Blue and Great Tits. The berries are also used as food by a number of species. To help birds, wait until March before trimming back any Ivy growing on your walls and fences. 8 Garden Bird Survival Guide 2017
HEDGES
Avoid cutting these until the end of winter – leaving them intact now will enable birds to use the berries for food, and the hedges themselves for cover. Cutting will involve getting your timing right – leave it too late and birds will already have started nesting, so, late January or early February are the safest times.
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20
SURVIVAL TIPS FOR YOUR GARDEN BIRDS
Many species of garden and farmland bird take advantage of human help to get through the winter, but it’s not as simple as us just putting out a few feeders and hoping for the best
A
WIDE RANGE OF BIRDS pursue a wide range of survival strategies, as you’ll discover below, so follow these 20 tips to give the birds that visit your garden the best possible chance to make it through the colder months.
a great source of natural food, sitting in the midst of countryside that also provides natural food, putting out at least some feeders will make a difference to at least some birds. In a really cold snap, for example, large numbers of birds will be on the move from much further afield, and might strip the area of the seeds and berries that your resident birds were relying on, so your help could be vital. 10 Garden Bird Survival Guide 2017
Les Gibbon/Alamy
THEM! 1 FEED It might sound obvious, but even if your garden is
Doug Horrigan/Alamy
Nigel Cattlin/Alamy
REGULAR 2 BE Having started to feed the birds, you need to keep
going, because they will come to rely on what you put out for them. Keep your feeders topped up, every day if necessary, but you also need to make sure that you don’t put out too much food – if it starts to go bad it could make the birds ill.
DISTURBANCE 5 AVOID Make sure you place your feeders somewhere where the birds can eat in
safety, and without being disturbed on a regular basis. For the former, that means far enough away from trees and bushes so that predators such as cats and nuisances such as Grey Squirrels can’t get easy access to the feeders, but close enough to cover to allow small birds to take refuge from Sparrowhawks. For the latter, don’t place too close to the windows of your house, or near house or garage doors that will be opened regularly.
THINGS CLEAN 3 KEEP Cleaning your feeders regularly (at least once
WATER 6 PROVIDE Fresh water is just as important to birds in winter
as in summer, so keep it topped up. A bird bath is ideal (if you haven’t got a pond), but failing that even an upturned bin lid or Frisbee could do the trick. In cold weather, you’ll need to keep it ice-free, either by thawing any ice using a hot pan, or by placing something such as tennis ball in the water to prevent freezing. Keep it clean as you would feeders. Whitebox Media/Alamy
Tim G a
iney
/Al
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WINDFALLS 7 LEAVE LYING
a week) is vital, to prevent the spread of diseases such as trichomonosis, or parasites. Use hot water and a mild, very dilute detergent, or one of the products designed to be used with bird feeders, such as Johnsons Clean N Safe, or Ark-Klens (from arkwildlife.co.uk). Dry the feeders off thoroughly before refilling, to prevent food from clumping or going mouldy.
THE WEATHER 4 WATCH Keep a sharp eye on the weather forecast, and you’ll
y/ A
learn to predict when birds are more likely to need the food you put out. Colder temperatures Tim Ga will obviously increase ine demand, especially for foods such as suet balls and fat cakes, as will periods of rain, while northerly and east easterly winds may bring in influxes of birds from the Continent and also Scandinavia.
Superstock/Alamy
If you have fruit or berry trees, leave the fruit lying throughout the autumn – this will provide a valuable source of food for Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Mistle Thrushes, and even Redwings and Fieldfares, if you’re lucky. If you haven’t got fruit trees, put any out-of-date shop-bought fruit out instead.
BETTER 8 BUY SEED MIXTURES
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Those containing plenty of flaked maize, sunflower seeds and peanut granules are probably the best all-round mixes – avoid those with split peas, dried rice or lentils. And keep track of which mixes the birds in your garden prefer, then stick to them, although you could vary them to attract different species.
birdwatching.co.uk 11
Aleksandrs Samuilovs/Alamy Wim Lanclus/Alamy
SUNFLOWERS 13 USE FOR SPEED
Sunflower hearts, which have already had their husks removed, produce little or no mess and are also a great energy source for most garden birds – finches, tits, House Sparrows and even Blackbirds will happily take them. And because the birds don’t have to waste time de-husking them, they can get the vital nutrition quicker.
14 REMEMBER EARLY BIRDS
DON’T FORGET THE FAT
blickwinkel/Alamy
10 Fat balls and suet cakes are high-energy
foods, vital during short, cold, days. You can buy them, but you could also make your own – pour melted suet or lard onto a mixture of ingredients such as seeds, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal and cheese, using around one-third fat to two-thirds mixture. Stir well, then allow to set in a container. An empty coconut shell is very useful as the latter.
NUTS! 11 GO Peanuts are popular with many species,
MARIUSZ KALDON/Alamy
including Blue and Great Tits and House Sparrows, because they’re rich in fat, but don’t use salted or dry roasted nuts. Buy a reputable brand and remove any mesh bags before use (a purpose-made peanut feeder is far better), as birds can get their legs caught in these.
12 Garden Bird Survival Guide 2017
Birds are most in need of food first thing in the morning, so top your feeders up last thing at night, or before first light, so that they can get that all-important first meal of the day without too much trouble.
YOUR WASTE 15 WATCH Some kitchen waste and table scraps can be put out for the birds, but
avoid bread (low in nutrition), soft fat (which can get on feathers and destroy the weatherproofing) and processed foods containing high levels of salt. Fruit (as mentioned previously) is fine, as is cooked rice without salt, and hard cheese. Bacon rind? As long as it’s not soft, but there are better alternatives.
blickwinkel/Alamy
Following on from 8, bear in mind that some species require very particular food – for example, niger seeds are particularly favoured by the likes of Siskins, redpolls and Goldfinches. Similarly, ground feeders such as Dunnocks and Robins will need their own mixes, as well as some sort of low feeding table.
energy for the likes of Chaffinches and Greenfinches, as well as tits and House Sparrows. Try filling a feeder just with these, alongside a more general mixture, to increase the variety of birds you feed, and to act as a quick refuelling station in the worst weather.
MilsiArt/Alamy
willridge images/Alamy
9
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insects on the ground also need help. Mealworms can be great for Robins and thrushes of all sorts, as well as Blue Tits, but they need to be fresh for best results, so try not to be squeamish.
Judith Collins/Alamy
FORGET GROUND-FEEDERS 16 DON’T Remember that those species that feed predominantly on worms and
PROVIDE SHELTER 18 Nestboxes can be used by many species,
Serhiy Kuzmin/Alamy
David Chapman/Alamy
such as Wrens, for roosting in hard weather, and there are also small wicker roosting pods that can be hung from bushes, etc. Line them with hay, shavings or similar. If you suspect birds and/or butterflies are using your sheds or outhouses to take refuge in, make sure they have a way to get in or out (and delay your repairs until spring).
(such as Blackbirds) will readily take wet cat and dog food – it’s a quick and easy way of getting proteinrich food to them. Don’t overdo it, though, and make sure it’s not left lying around, as it will attract pests.
PLANTING 19 KEEP Natural cover is absolutely vital, so now’s the time to think about creating hedges and
dense borders – even if they don’t have an immediate effect, they’ll provide your garden birds with shelter in the years to come. Holly, Hawthorn and Ivy are all good choices, while Pyracantha and Cotoneaster are also popular – they provide berries as well as dense cover.
RECORDS... 20 KEEP Keep track of which species visit your garden
(and more specifically your feeders), as well as the times, dates and weather when they appeared. Over time, it will allow you to predict what will turn up and when, and to put more or less food out (and the right foods) accordingly.
... AND DO YOUR BIT!
Sending records of your garden bird sightings to the BTO, perhaps via BirdTrack (bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ birdtrack/about), can be vital to identifying population trends, and determining which species are in need of help, as well as those that have done well as a result of garden feeding. Good examples of the latter are Goldfinches, and Blackcaps, with continental Blackcaps now using UK feeders in winter. Even if you don’t send regular sightings reports anywhere, the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch (ww2.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch), in January, highlights population and behaviour changes.
14 Garden Bird Survival Guide 2017
Tom Bailey
RATIONS 17 EMERGENCY During periods of hard weather, some species
10% ďŹ rst order discount Quote BWS10 Valid until 01/04/18
FROM SEED TO FEED We’re all used to going out and buying food for the birds in our gardens – garden centres and major supermarkets now devote a lot of space to it. But where does it all come from? How is bird food produced?
As a general rule, avoid the very cheapest bird foods anyway, as they are more likely to include a high proportion of cheap and unsuitable ingredients, such as peas, lentils and even dry dog food, but you should also check to see where the various ingredients come from – the fewer air miles they do on the way to your feeders, the
Tim Gainey/Alamy
S
OME OF THE SEEDS and nuts that make up the various mixes of bird food can travel a very long way (from as far afield as Argentina), which means that the short-term gains for the birds in your garden can be more than offset by longer-term damage to the environment, but many manufacturers are seeking to make their products as environmentally-friendly as possible, starting with the way they’re produced.
é HELPING HAND A Robin feeds on mealworms, a great natural food for birds ê PRODUCERS James Parrish (left) with Nick Parrish of Ivel Valley
better for the environment in the long run. And many manufacturers are also playing their part in helping birds right the way through the production process. Ivel Valley, in Bedfordshire, grow their own grains and seeds such as sunflower seeds, maize, red millet, white millet, oats, linseed and wheat, alongside potatoes, onions, and shallots. Nick and James Parrish, who run the business, have teamed up with a local ornithologist, Mike Smith. They have put the emphasis on sustainability, such as by offering refill and storage containers, growing to the LEAF standard (Linking the Environment And Agriculture), and even using solar power for their production unit. James said: “Quality products are about proper nutritional ingredients. Typically, wheat seed is one of the cheapest ingredients and dried mealworms and dried fruit are the most expensive. Popular sunflower hearts and peanuts can be as much as six or seven times higher in cost, but it is worth paying for the more expensive ingredients as they have far better energy values and typically will attract a greater number of wild bird species.
Wheat seed tend to only attract larger birds such as pigeons and doves. Smaller seeds, such as millet, dari and niger seeds, are popular with finches
birdwatching.co.uk 17
clynt Garnham Agriculture/Alamy
BIRD BUFFET Maize – being harvested here – is a popular food with some of our feathered friends
The ability to buy this product direct or locally means that we can offer the very best quality, fresh wild bird food at fantastic value 18 Garden Bird Survival Guide 2017
They experimented with ingredients and tried mixes out on the birds visiting the farm, adding seeds, nuts, suet and blackcurrants. James added: “Britbits are our next evolution in proper, nutritious and sustainable wild garden bird foods. We are very proud to have developed something that is so versatile that it can be fed in a mesh feeder, on a table or on the ground and so attracting such a broad range of different birds which have different feeding styles. You would imagine that with these premium ingredients the cost will be high, but the ability to buy this product direct or locally means that we can offer the very best quality, fresh wild bird food at fantastic value.” For further details on Ivel Valley’s food, or to read more about some of the birds that visit, go to ivelvalleybirdfood.co.uk
ê FOOD LIFELINE Feeding birds that visit our gardens can help them survive through the winter months
David Tipling Photo Library/Alamy
“Wheat seeds tend to only attract larger birds such as pigeons and doves. Smaller seeds, such as millet, dari and niger seeds, are popular with finches. The higher quality mixes avoid wheat and have higher levels of sunflowers, peanuts, oats, suet and fruit or insects and mealworms. “It is tempting to buy products which can be a third of the price of the high-quality mixes, but they often have 50-85% wheat, which is wasted, or you find that your bird feeding station is taken over by larger birds.” He added: “To make sure we do the best for birds, we have a fully qualified ornithologist on our team: Mike Smith has an MSc in Ornithology from Birmingham University. We also have wildlife enthusiast, Dave Parsons, who spends most of his spare time watching and recording the wildlife that we have on the farm.” As well as some of the species that you might expect (Ivel Valley has worked with the RSPB on Corn Bunting conservation, for example), the farm has also recorded the likes of Oystercatcher, Greenshank and even Knot passing through. They’ve recently launched a new mix, Britbits, a blend of seeds, oats, nuts and locally grown Quinoa – they decided to add the latter after seeing birds feeding on the Quinoa they were growing for human consumption. The grain is known for its excellent nutrient value, particularly its high-grade protein, essential to birds’ growth and development.
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HELPING OUR WILDLIFE Top tips on how to support all wildlife that visits your garden during autumn and winter
I
Paul Thompson Images/Alamy
Put a shallow dish of water on the ground for animals to drink from – obviously, not everything can use a bird bath. If you’ve got a pond, so much the better. But make sure that it’s easy to access and that there’s any easy way out to prevent anything getting trapped.
3
Gary K Smith/Alamy Nic Hamilton Photographic/Alamy blickwinkel/Alamy
Delay hedge and shrub pruning, to ensure that small mammals as well as birds have berries and fruit to feed on.
5
Put up with slugs and snails for a few weeks – they’ll be vital food for Hedgehogs, plus frogs, at this time of year.
8
funkyfood London - Paul Williams/Alamy
Dave Bevan/Alamy
If you’ve got a compost heap, be careful when you turn it or disturb it any way. Because they give off heat, they can also attract Frogs, Toads and other animals, so be very careful before plunging a fork or spade into them.
2
Place a Hedgehog house in a quiet corner of the garden, ideally covered with twigs and leaves. Don’t put out milk for them, though – water, plus cat/dog food or a dedicated Hedgehog food will be much better for them in the long run.
7
Andrew Paterson/Alamy
Plant winterflowering plants, such as Snowdrops, Winter Aconites, Witch Hazel and Forsythia, as these will help any creatures that wake from hibernation (increasingly common in our relatively warm winters) and need a quick calorific boost.
4
If you haven’t already, put up some insect or bug hotels in a sheltered position. Ladybirds and lacewings will find these particularly useful. You can buy purpose-built models, designed for specific insects or insect families, but you can also make your own. Cut the end of a large plastic pop bottle, then stuff it with rolled-up corrugated cardboard, twigs and bamboo canes, before placing in a secure and sheltered spot. Or gather together a small log pile, then drill clusters of 2-3 inch deep holes in one end.
6
Put up a bat box – you may well have some visiting, if you’ve got an insect-rich garden, so this will give them somewhere to shelter.
9
you suspect you have a 10 IfHedgehog visiting (their oily black
poops are a dead giveaway), now’s the time to make sure they can get in and out of your garden easily. If they can’t get under fences, cut a small, semi-circular hole in the bottom of each fence. The more they can move from garden to garden, the better their chances of fattening up successfully ahead of hibernation. birdwatching.co.uk 21
blickwinkel/Alamy
Check bonfires before they are lit for sheltering and hibernating animals, such as Hedgehogs, Toads and Frogs – the best bet is to gather the material for any fire only just before you light them.
1
flowerphotos/Alamy
Les Stocker/Alamy
F YOU’VE CREATED a bird-friendly garden, then it will inevitably also be popular with all sorts of other wildlife. Having followed the advice in the rest of this guide, you’ll be well on the way to ensuring that it, too, survives the winter, but bear in mind these extra tips for even better results.
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