Bird Care

A pain in the neck

I am sitting at the computer finding inspiration for this week’s article when there is a thud at the window. The kids are off school with the snow so we all go over and open the window. A wee bird is lying looking a bit dazed in the snow. One of the lads goes out and comes back in, hands cupped and a wee pair of eyes looks up. The bird is popped into a furry slipper and left there to recover. This isn’t the first time this has happened. A few wee chirps emanate from the wee thing. We leave him in peace and start chatting amongst ourselves, reminiscing about other bird rescues and wondering whether his wing has been damaged. After ten minutes or so a beak opens. Water is put in a dropper and the bird gulps the drops down and is left in peace again. Shortly there is a flutter of wings and the bird flies to the window where one of the boys catch him while the other opens the window. We watch as our temporary visitor flies to the top of the tree wondering what tales he will tell to his friends about the strange warm world he was in and then he swoops down, landing on the feeder to tuck into some nuts.

We always enjoy putting out food for the birds. It is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to see wildlife really close up. In winter, birds may have difficulty finding natural foods such as berries, insects, seeds, worms and fruit. Earlier in the season we noticed the holly absolutely laden with berries – a sure sign of a long cold winter or so the old wives’ used to tell me when I was a kid. Nature has signposts for us, if only we could read them. Mind you not all of us have forgotton (I heard  the Donegal Postie on Highland radio who seems to know how to read the signs).

Feeding the birds regularly over winter will help the birds survive until the spring and God knows they have no supermarkets and oil centrally heated nests.


What would they eat?

Most kitchen leftovers can be used to feed birds. Bread can be crumbled up and scattered - moisten very dry bread first as it could cause dehydration.

Biscuits provide a rich source of fat, and cooked rice, pasta and pastry are packed with starch. Potatoes can be boiled, baked, roasted or mashed, and cheese - crumbled or grated - will be very popular with robins and wrens.

Fat is a wonderful source of energy - cut bacon rinds, fat from chops or blocks of suet into cubes. Mealworms can also be very useful, you can get large tubs of them from the petshop, Lidl were selling them too last week.

Fruit, such as windfalls or bruised apples and pears, goes down a treat with blackbirds and thrushes. It may also attract winter visitors from Scandinavia such as fieldfares and redwings.

Beware: Grapes, sultanas, raisins and some artificial sweeteners can be very toxic to dogs and some other wild/domestic animals. These foods should be put on a raised bird table and never scattered on the ground.

Go nuts

Fresh coconut in the shell is a great favourite with tits. Drill two holes in one end and drain off the milk. Saw the coconut in half and hang outside. Never put out desiccated coconut as it swells up inside a bird's stomach.

Peanuts are rich in fat and attract nuthatches, siskins, great spotted woodpeckers, tits, greenfinches and house sparrows. Peanuts may be naturally contaminated with an invisible toxin so make sure you buy peanuts of guaranteed quality. Use a darning needle to thread nuts in their shells onto string or put shelled peanuts in wire mesh containers or spiral feeders. Robins and dunnocks will eat crushed or chopped nuts. Never use salted nuts.

Bird seed mixes with sunflower seeds attract greenfinches and chaffinches. Dunnocks and finches prefer smaller seeds such as millet or canary seed.


Reduce risks

Scatter food on the ground for thrushes, dunnocks and wrens. Cats pounce from bushes and trees so don't put food nearby. Don't put food out late in the day; it might attract rats and mice overnight.

To reduce the risk of spreading disease, clean bird tables and feeders weekly and water bowls daily.

Bird pudding

* Make a mould, a half coconut shell is ideal, and thread some string or wire through a small hole in the base.
* Mix some seeds, chopped nuts, sultanas, biscuit crumbs and rolled oats in a bowl.
* Melt the same volume of lard or suet in a pan.
* Add the fat to the dry mix and stir well.
* Pour the mixture into the mould and leave to cool.
* When the pudding is set, hang the mould upside down in the garden.

Thanks to the DSPCA for their advice