Mary Allen
Feeding wild birds does not necessarily mean species protection. Nevertheless, bird parents in particular are happy to have additional food and watering points in the warm season.
Wild birds enjoy feeding places – not only in winter but also in the warm season. Also because their food supply is becoming increasingly scarce: The use of pesticides, tidy parks, and gardens, but also intensive agriculture, are taking more and more insects away from their habitat. Feeding was controversial for a long time. Many ornithologists support them today – above all, it helps the parents of birds to raise their young. Bird species that depend on insects for their offspring benefit particularly from this. During the breeding season, they are out and about almost around the clock to find something to eat for their chicks. That steals energy. In order for the parent animals to maintain their strength, they need high-energy, i.e. high-fat food, such as tit dumplings. You can hang them in trees or on your balcony. Feed spirals or silos, in which the feed slides from top to bottom, are also suitable.
The Right Bird Food for Wild Birds
- All birds love oatmeal, black or peeled sunflower seeds, nuts are also nutritious for the feathered onlookers. A summer feed mix meets the taste of many birds. Nuts are nutritious to the feathered onlookers.
- During the young bird season, mainly live or dried insects – in small portions and scalded with hot water – should be offered.
- Blackbirds and robins also like to consume raisins and fruit. Filigree seeds such as millet, milo, lettuce and grass seeds, etc. provide important vitamins and fatty acids.
- Spicy foods such as bread, bacon, or cheese are taboo. They lead to inflammation in the intestines.
Always Keep the Bird Feeding Station Clean
The food spoils faster at high temperatures. Therefore, keep the feeding station clean and avoid mixtures that contain the seeds of the dangerous ragweed. This allergy-causing seed was brought in from Canada and is spreading rapidly in Germany.
Water is at least as important as food: in summer, puddles, ditches, and small pools dry up quickly. The birds will gladly accept a drink – not only for drinking but also for bathing.
Feeding and watering points should be cleaned daily with hot water. Feed silos and dispensers offer a great hygienic advantage since the birds do not sit in the feed and/or defecate in it. Several feeding and watering points reduce the germ pressure and alternating shut down for a few days can help to deprive germs of the possibility of infection and reproduction.
Provide a Natural Environment for the Birds in the Garden
Use a shallow bowl, such as a saucer for a flower pot, place a slightly larger stone in it and fill the vessel with five centimeters of water.
Important: clean the bird’s bathing facility with hot water every day! Infections with trichomonads, ornithology, or salmonella from contaminated feeding and watering places can be fatal. Food and water help the feathered guests all year round.
And in the long term? “Effective bird protection should address the causes, such as loss of habitat,” says Lars Lachmann, an ornithologist at the Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU). A garden that is close to nature and created with native plants is definitely helpful. If birds find fruit and insects there, we humans have the pleasure of observing our feathered friends up close.