Garden Birds – to feed or not to feed? That is the question.

Isn’t it confusing? We all love the garden birds and wish them no harm. But feeding them seems to be causing problems. So, what do we do to keep the garden birds safe?

Everyone loves garden birds. We stop and listen to their melodious songs, we watch their funny antics around the garden and we rejoice when they start nesting in our hedges, raising their chicks in our gardens, what a privilege. And so, it’s devastating to learn that we could be causing problems with our well-meaning feeding regimes.

It’s not just what we feed the birds that’s a problem, it’s how we feed the birds and what we can do to protect them. Understanding these basics, helps immensely in working out what to do for the best.

Here’s what’s going on in bird world

So, imagine there’s an outbreak of covid in our garden birds, there isn’t, but we all remember the social distancing and ‘bubbles’ and other rules in lock-down and that helps a bit to understand what’s happening in bird world.

There’s a few diseases that our garden birds are succumbing to, and the new ‘rules’ from the RSPB helps us to protect our wild birds from catching them.

For example, our greenfinches and chaffinches are being affected by a disease called Trichomonosis. Thanks to this horrific disease, the greenfinch population has taken a huge nose dive, the experts think by 65%. It also affects other finches and other garden birds. Finches are seed eating birds, that why we feed them sunflower seeds and other seeds in our feeders. But the problem is when these birds all gather at our feeders they are in close contact and this nasty disease is easily spread.

Cleaning our feeders, while important, does not completely reduce the risk. Trichomonosis is a protozoan parasite that is spread through contaminated food or water. It causes lesions in the bird’s throats and down into their gullets which makes it difficult for them to swallow. The birds may become lethargic and can show other signs of illness. Some will have lesions or swollen necks. It’s highly contagious and will also affect house sparrows, dunnocks, great tits and siskins. It’s highly infectious and it is fatal to most affected birds.

It is not, however, a danger to humans or other mammals.

How it’s spread

So, imagine an infected bird has tried to feed but can’t swallow the food properly. So, it goes to the bird bath for a drink and regurgitates food as it does so. This then contaminates the water in the bird bath, spreading the parasite to any other bird that visits. Partially eaten food falls to the ground or lingers on the feeder or on the bird table, spreading the infection to any birds that visit. So, our feeding stations and bird baths and surrounding areas become a breeding ground for this disease, spreading it far and wide within our garden bird populations. Keeping our feeders and bird baths clean is essential, look out for bird and wildlife disinfectants from a reputable source, but we also need to up our game and rethink our interaction with these precious creatures.

What we can do

The latest advice from the RSPB is to stop feeding garden birds seeds and peanuts from May to October And to retire our bird tables, it doesn’t matter how well you think you clean them, flat surfaces cause problems. Birds defecate when feeding and if they are feeding on a bird table this gets walked through the food. An infected bird can inadvertently spread this parasite to any birds that visit the table. Sick birds also regurgitate food into the food source, again infecting other birds. So, flat surface feeders are currently inadvisable. We also need to break the cycle and discourage communal feeding so that this parasite isn’t passed on.

In breeding season our garden birds need soft bodied creatures like caterpillars to feed to their babies, so topping up the seed feeders only really supports the adult birds (and right now that’s spreading disease), the fledglings and chicks need beaks full of worms, caterpillars and grubs. Natural food. We can mimic this by feeding small amounts of soaked mealworms, though care should be taken as mealworms can cause problems for hedgehogs and lead to brittle bones and death. So, little and often, feeding just enough for the birds to eat them in one sitting will keep the hedgehogs safe too.

The RSPB recommends stopping feeding seeds and peanuts until the end of October and instead feeding small amounts of suet and mealworms. But, actually upping the natural food in our gardens is possibly the very best way to support our garden birds.

Natural food

Our gardens are very rich in natural bird food and because this food is spread around the garden, it isn’t encouraging feeding frenzies or spreading disease. You might be surprised what food there is in your garden, but even (and especially) dandelions are a rich source of seed food for our seed eating finches. I love to watch the gold finches feeding on dandelion seed heads. Many of our garden plants go on to make copious seeds all of which are natural bird food. Finches are the worst affected by this horrible parasite and are all seed eating species, so by growing plants rich in seed like sunflowers, teasels, millet and more, we are providing natural food. Even plants like nettles produce copious seeds which are an essential part of the food chain.

The fruit we grow in our gardens is also food for the birds, the berries especially raspberries and currants are tasty, nutrient rich snacks for the birds. Shrubs that produce berries are equally important. By choosing a few plants that flower and feed pollinators (don’t forget the insect eating birds) that go on to produce berries and seeds to feed the birds, you are adding to the natural food buffet in your garden. Plants like mahonia that are dripping with berries, cotoneaster, pyracantha, hawthorn and even holly all have fruits that are vital for wildlife. And don’t forget the plants that attract the pollinators. It’s not just the nectar rich plants that are important. The baby food, the plants that feed the caterpillars are vital and the caterpillars are a rich source of protein for the chicks, fledglings and the garden birds. These creatures and their larvae are food for the birds too.

Finally

If this all seems a bit too much, then just stop feeding the birds until November and let them seek out natural food from your garden and from the local environment instead. All we are trying to do is to limit the contact between lots of birds to prevent the spread of disease. Think back to the ‘bubbles’ we were allowed to create during covid. We kept ourselves to ourselves to stop the spread and save lives. We must now do everything that we can to replicate this to save our precious garden birds.