Attracting birds to your garden

Sciencebase reader Michelle messaged to ask how she might attract more birds to her garden. There are plenty of things she can try to see more of our feathered friends on her patch. Some things will have an almost immediate effect others might take a little longer. The rewards are always worth the effort to see the variety and numbers of birds that can appear. I have an article about the birds you might see in an English country garden. Blue Tit What to do The most obvious thing to do is to ask what the birds need and then try to fulfill those needs: water, food, shelter/cover, somewhere to nest. So, you could put out a couple of shallow, but wide, bowls and fill them with water. One could be at ground level another on a stand. Of course, there are plenty of birdbaths of different kinds to be bought at garden centres or online. A more ambitious approach might be to dig a wildlife pond, stock it with a few native pond plants and let it thrive (avoid using a pump, don’t add fish). Birds need water to drink and to bathe and it’s always a treat to see them doing so. It’s a good idea to clean birdbaths and bowls and to refresh the water often. Birds are not particularly hygienic and will often leave poop in the water, which can spread disease to other birds. Brambling on a feeder Bird food is the next easy way to attract birds. There is a massive variety of feeders and food available for garden birds. I’ve found that it can take a week or more for birds to ...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Birds Source Type: blogs