How and what to feed the birds

Autumn is over. Only faded, dry leaves, visible through the ice crust, remind of the recently noisy leaf fall. It seems that summer warmth, greenery and abundance are in the distant past.

But life does not stop during this dark and cold season, it just becomes much more difficult and costly to maintain it.

Why is feeding the birds important?

Birds have a hard time, winter does not spare them - snowfalls, winds, frosts, hunger ... Daylight hours are short, and you need to find so much food to provide yourself with the necessary energy and meet the next morning warm and lively.

But it is in our power to help the birds survive the long winter - it is enough to competently organize for them regular and varied feeding. So!

How to feed the birds properly

1 The more varied the range of foods that you offer, the more bird species may be interested in your feeder.

2 Once you start feeding, make it regular and consistent. Birds will quickly get used to the guaranteed resource and will count on it.

3 Regularly clean the trough of feed residues. Remember, rotten, dry, moldy food is a favorable environment for the development of fungi and bacteria, which can be a source of bird diseases!

4 Don't give your birds unhealthy and stale food! The principle “yes they eat everything in nature” is fundamentally wrong. Urban environments, where landfills are often the only available food source for birds, is far from the ideal animal habitat. Indeed, from hunger, birds can eat even those foods that they would normally refuse: pigeons fish out the remains of hot dogs with mayonnaise from garbage cans, sparrows peck at burnt pasta, etc. Such food allows birds to survive, but it brings no less harm than good - diseases of the digestive system, metabolic disorders and, as a result, a catastrophic decrease in life expectancy. But it's so easy to feed the birds with full and healthy food!

what can you feed the birds

1 Sunflower seeds- this is, without a doubt, one of the complete and energetically beneficial food for all granivorous and omnivorous birds! Sparrows, various species of tits (great tit, blue tit, chicks, etc.), greenfinches, oatmeal, goldfinches, siskins and even nuthatches will fly to sunflower seeds! Some birds (for example, bullfinches) may find it difficult to split tough sunflower seeds with their beak; they can be helped by adding peeled seeds to the feeder, or by crushing some of the seeds beforehand. The main thing, remember - all seeds must be unsalted and unroasted, otherwise your treat will do more harm than good to the birds.

2 Millet- it can be bought both in pure form and as part of food for canaries and small parrots. Millet will happily eat small granivorous birds - sparrows, goldfinches, siskins, oatmeal, tap dancers, etc. As a supplementary feed, together with millet, you can also give birds oats and millet.

3 Wild Grass Seeds- if you plan in advance for the winter feeding of birds, then in the fall you can prepare for them seeds of burdock, quinoa, nettle, thistle, hemp, etc.

4 Melon, pumpkin, watermelon seeds- harvested from summer, they will become a good treat for insectivorous and omnivorous birds, for example, tits. Previously, all seeds must be thoroughly cleaned of pulp, rinsed with running water to get rid of the sweet juice, and dried. It is best to store this food in a well-ventilated cloth bag so that the seeds do not grow moldy.

5 Rowan, hawthorn, viburnum, wild rose- all these juicy fruits can be harvested even during autumn walks in the forest and stored in dried or frozen form until winter. Bullfinches will happily eat the seeds of berries, and waxwings and blackbirds will fly in to feast on the juicy pulp. These feeds become especially relevant at the end of winter, when all the fruits on trees and shrubs have already been eaten a long time ago. Fresh apples cut into the troughs can also be a treat for birds.

6 Peanuts and nuts(almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts) - unroasted and unsalted, crushed and shelled, these feeds will attract tits, sparrows, tap dancers to your feeder,

siskins, etc.

7 Animal fats(bacon) is a good source of energy for insectivorous and omnivorous birds in the most severe frosts: nuthatches, tits and even woodpeckers will come to taste a high-calorie treat. Hang a piece of bacon on a branch next to the feeder to prevent seed husks from clogging it. And remember - lard should be fresh, without salt and spices.

8 White bread... Although many people prefer to feed the birds with this particular product, we remind you: bread is completely unsuitable for the role of the main and, moreover, a complete feed for birds. It can only be a supplement to the main feeding. At the same time, it is not recommended to feed the birds with fresh, soft white bread; it must be slightly dried, cut into pieces or crumbled.

9 Acorns, pine cones and spruce, "Lionfish" of ash and maple - all these additional treats can also be prepared for winter feeding in advance, from autumn. The seeds of cones will be eaten by woodpeckers, acorns will come to dine with jays, and ash and maple seeds will be eaten by bullfinches.

10 Mineral-calcium bird food purchased at a pet store will replenish the winter diet of birds with the necessary macro- and microelements.

11 Pearl barley, compound feed- good feeding for larger birds - pigeons or ducks, which stayed overwintering in the city on non-freezing water bodies.

12 If you are a happy resident of the forest zone, and visit the habitats wood grouse, hazel grouse and black grouse then you can help these birds survive the winter successfully. To digest harsh winter food (needles, birch buds, etc.), they need touring - small pebbles that help mechanically grind food in the stomach. But the fact is that snowfalls make the tour inaccessible to birds. You can help by scattering small river pebbles in the areas that the local huntsman advises you.

It is strictly forbidden to give to birds

1 Food from your table;

2 Fried, sweet, salty, smoked, processed with spices;

3 Stale food - expired commercial poultry feed, spoiled grains, moldy bread, rotten berries and fruits, etc.

4 Rye bread.

Feed the birds when they need it most and you will have many interesting sightings and amazing encounters!