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Most of us who love our gardens, do enjoy the wildlife they attract such as butterflies, bees and birds amongst others. By choosing the right plants, you can easily create a garden to support insect life. But when it comes to caring for our feathered friends, some extra help with food, water and shelter can help encourage a fantastic range of bird life into your garden.
Our guide offers helpful tips on what you can do all year round to care for the birds in your garden.
Should You Feed Garden Birds All Year Round?
According to bird care experts wild birds should be fed all year round.
This is so:
- They know where to go for food.
- They can find food easily during times of natural shortages, which aren’t always the times we think they are.
Birds have different feed and care needs depending on the season.
Join the RSPB Bird Watch
The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, the world’s largest garden wildlife survey, is an annual event which invites nature enthusiasts across the UK to spend one hour observing and recording the birds in their gardens, balconies, or local parks. By participating, you’ll contribute valuable data that helps monitor the health of bird populations and informs conservation efforts. To join, simply register at rspb.org.uk/birdwatch, where you’ll find resources to assist with bird identification and recording your sightings. Whether you’re an avid birdwatcher or a curious beginner, your involvement is crucial in supporting the RSPB’s mission to protect and preserve the UK’s birdlife.
Download the Hillier Bird Identification Guide to make spotting and recording your garden visitors even easier!
How to Take Care of Garden Birds in Spring
Spring is the key breeding season for birds. With many natural habitats in decline, birds are often in need of some friendly help. Migratory birds will be arriving back and having expended tens of thousands of calories will need feeds that are high in protein and essential oils to refuel their bodies after the long flight.
Spring Bird Care Checklist
- Give high protein bird food, like sunflower seeds.
- Put up a nest box in early spring if you haven’t done so already.
- Ensure clean water is available and doesn’t freeze in event of late frosts.
Discover our range of bird baths to include in your garden.
How to Take Care of Garden Birds in Summer
As the days get longer and the temperature rises the ground becomes harder, making it more difficult for birds to source worms. On hot days, birds need extra water just as we do. Caring for the birds by providing a drinking source will help them to stay hydrated and maintain a cool body temperature.
Summer Bird Care Checklist
- Continue to feed regularly with a high protein food, like sunflower seeds.
- Top up water frequently.
How to Take Care of Garden Birds in Autumn
Autumn is a season of transition for birds. Some will be seeking food to fuel their long migration. Others moult in preparation for winter. With days getting shorter, there is limited daylight for them to seek out the sustenance they need. This is the season for caring for birds with extra food and clean water in a safe environment.
Autumn Bird Care Checklist
- Provide bird food with high-fat content like suet to support migrating birds.
- Continue to feed regularly.
- Top up water frequently.
- It’s never too early to put up a nest box, from autumn onwards they provide winter shelter and a place to nest once spring arrives.
- If you already have a nest box, clean it between 1 September and 31 January, once any chicks have fledged.
How to Take Care of Garden Birds in Winter
The cold winter months, it is important to offer extra food and fresh water for your feathered friends.
Winter Bird Care Checklist
- Cheese feed that is specially formulated with high energy content. Look for mixes that contain high levels of sunflower hearts, which are dense in essential oils, and contain other ingredients such as suet pieces to increase the calorific content. Our Hillier blend has been formulated to provide birds with everything they need.
- Include Suet as part of your feeding routine. These high-energy fat balls will keep birds coming back time and time again. The high fat content means the balls are softer, so during cold spells birds waste less energy in getting to the calories they need.
- Put fresh water out daily and check on colder days it hasn’t frozen over.
- Put up a nest box for added winter shelter and to aid birds during the early breeding seasons.
Feeding Birds
If you love watching the birds in your garden, you will be happy to know that feeding them can make a big difference. Feeding wild birds helps them survive seasonal challenges including the winter food shortage and nesting season. It also supports declining bird populations by supplementing their natural diet.
How to Feed Wild Birds
There are a few things to consider when feeding birds which include picking the right bird feeder, where to site your feeder and keeping up with a cleaning routine.
- Choosing your bird feeder
- There are many different bird feeders out there which cater for different types of food whether it be seed mixes, fat balls, straights or other suet treats.
- Choose a feeder depending on how long you want it to last. Prefilled feeders are convenient and easy to use however robust, stainless steel options guarantee longer lasting use and will withstand harsh weather conditions.
- Where to site your feeder
- Positioning a bird feeder in a quiet, safe spot away from predators and disturbances will make it much more appealing to birds. Birds only feed where they feel secure, so choosing the right location is key to encouraging their visits.
- Avoid exposed spots where feeders might swing in strong winds.
- Keep feeding stations clean
- Clean bird feeders weekly to stop germs spreading.
- Rinse and refill bird baths with fresh water daily.
- Sweep up any leftover food to keep your garden tidy and pest free.
Birds appreciate a wide range of foods. By putting out a selection of seed blends and suets you will be attracting and caring for a variety of species of birds. To ensure a constant supply of food, put out feed twice a day in the morning and afternoon.
These are the favoured snacks of some of our most-loved species:
| Small seeds | Flaked maize | Peanuts | Sunflower seeds/hearts | Nyjer seeds | Suet cakes | Mealworms | ||
| Sparrows | X | X | ||||||
| Goldfinch | X | X | X | |||||
| Blackbird | X | X | X | |||||
| Dunnock | X | X | ||||||
| Greenfinch | X | X | X | X | ||||
| Blue Tit | X | X | ||||||
| Chaffinch | X | X | X | X | ||||
| Robin | X | X | X | X | ||||
| Siskin | X | X | X | |||||
| Nuthatches | X | |||||||
| Great spotted woodpecker | X | |||||||
| Wren | X |
What to Feed Wild Birds
Providing birds with high energy food is essential to keep them healthy and thriving all year round. A wide variety of options are available, from natural sources to packaged bird feeds, which can help attract a diverse range of species to your garden.
- Seeds
- Seeds are among the most nutritious food sources for wild birds, and different types of seeds attract different species. When choosing a bird seed mix, it’s important to check what’s included. For example, millet is a small seed that appeals to house sparrows, finches, and dunnocks. Kibbled maize is a favourite of tits, blackbirds, and greenfinches, while oatmeal is excellent for attracting a variety of bird species. Peckish Complete Seed Mix is a 12 seed blend proven to attract many birds, it is a great seed mix for all year round feeding.
- Suet
- Suet, a type of beef fat with a high energy content, is an excellent ingredient for bird food. It is often combined with peanuts, dried insects, and fruit to create a variety of bird treats. Suet is especially beneficial during the colder winter months when birds need extra energy. Peckish offers a range of suet treats that are ideal for winter feeding and the breeding season. Our selection includes small, soft suet treats designed for young birds, as well as a variety of suet cakes to suit different species.
- Insects
- Insects are a natural and favourite food source for birds! Dried mealworms are especially appealing and can be offered year-round, robins are particularly fond of them. Wild birds also enjoy other insects like earthworms, beetles, and caterpillars.
What Not to Feed Birds
A number of foods are unsuitable and even deadly for wild birds:
- Salted or dry roasted peanuts – High salt content can lead to dehydration and kidney failure in birds. Always offer plain, unsalted peanuts.
- Polyunsaturated margarines or vegetable oils – These are too soft and can stick to feathers, reducing their insulating properties and leading to health issues. Choose pure animal fat or lard instead.
- Dried dog and cat biscuits – These are a choking hazard as they are too hard for birds to break down. If offering them, always soak in water first.
- Milk – Birds lack the necessary enzymes to digest lactose, which can cause severe digestive upset and even be fatal.
- Dried coconut – Can expand inside a bird’s stomach, causing blockages that may lead to death. Fresh coconut (with the shell) is safe in moderation.
- Cooked porridge – Tends to harden around birds’ beaks, making it difficult for them to eat or preen. Offer uncooked oats instead.
- Mouldy or stale food – May contain harmful bacteria, fungi, or toxins that can cause illness or poisoning. Always provide fresh, clean food.
When to feed wild birds
Birds appreciate your help all year round, but their needs change with the seasons. During winter foods are scarce, so keep feeders topped up with energy-rich options like suet, peanuts and seeds.
During spring and early summer birds are busy raising chicks. Mealworms and soft food are perfect for little beaks. Avoid whole peanuts as they can be a choking hazard for chicks.
Summer is the perfect time for birds to find natural food, however it is still important to top up bird feeders when they are getting low and provide fresh water.
During autumn birds are preparing for winter, so energy packed foods like sunflower seeds and suet will help them build up their energy reserves.
Extra Tips for Happy Birds
- Fresh water – providing fresh, clean water for drinking and bathing is just as important as food.
- Planting up – growing wildflowers provides birds with a natural supply of food and a habitat for birds as well as planting up hedgerows for birds to nest in
Feeding wild birds is a great way to support local wildlife throughout the year. By providing the right foods in safe, well placed feeding locations you can help birds thrive during the challenging seasons. Remember to adjust your offerings to suit the time of year and keep bird feeding areas clean to maintain a healthy environment for your visitors.
Helpful Hints All Year Around
Dining Spots
Like humans, garden birds all have their preferred places to eat. Some love feeding on the ground, others in the trees, some happily in the open and others only under cover. To attract a wide range of birds to your garden be sure to provide a variety of feeding sites and types.
Keep it Clean
Every year birds die as a result of diseases caught from dirty water bowls and bird feeders. Caring for the birds will help to keep them healthy. Keep your feeders and water bowls clean. Rotate feeding areas around the garden to prevent bacteria from building up on the ground and clean feeding areas with a mild disinfectant.
Garden Birds FAQ
Bread should not be fed to birds as a stand alone food source as the nutrition within it is not high enough to keep birds healthy. Whilst a small quantity of bread isn’t harmful it should be mixed with a range of nutritionally valuable foods. If birds eat too much bread, it can cause vitamin deficiencies or lead to starvation.
Avoid placing any food on the ground for the birds as this becomes easy access to any rodents that may be around. Also, you should consistently clean up any food that may have dropped from any feeders.
By placing a catching item (like a tray) underneath your bird feeder you can prevent food dropping to the floor.
A hanging feeder works well as, although rats can climb, it makes it difficult for them to reach the food.
Ensure that any rubbish is away in bins to avoid attracting rodents.
Keep any food securely and neatly away in containers.
Eliminate the hiding spaces for rats within your garden. Rats don’t like being in open spaces so will not choose to spend their time in a garden where they don’t have places to go.
Place a bird feeder in the open areas of your garden. Birds like to be on the watch for predators whilst they eat and they cannot do this if the bird feeder is tucked away in a corner.
Avoid places where cats may be a problem. Do not secure your bird feeders to fences or trees where cats can easily reach the birds whilst they’re feeding.
Try to avoid places where the weather is more extreme. It should ideally have partial sun and partial shade. Don’t place it where it’s shady or fully sunny all the time.
Select a spot that is quiet. Birds don’t like to be disturbed. If they are, it could put them off coming back to feed in your garden.
Provide the birds with a lookout place. This allows them to see where their food is before they eat it and they can ensure it’s safe to visit.
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