remember the birds folks...

[Shortie]

On CeeBeebies (I know, I know.... the product of having kids...) they keep advertising for young'ns to feed the birds. And to make it fun they're saying to use bread, spread it with peanut butter and stick bird seeds to the peanut butter...

Is that really okay for them? If so I know what my son would love to do this weekend..

[Nicos]

Yes...do it!

[Shortie]

Cool... cheers Nicos

[smallblueplanet]

On CeeBeebies (I know, I know.... the product of having kids...) they keep advertising for young'ns to feed the birds. And to make it fun they're saying to use bread, spread it with peanut butter and stick bird seeds to the peanut butter...

Is that really okay for them? If so I know what my son would love to do this weekend..

Not sure the salt in the peanut butter would be good for the birds, but no doubt in North London the rats might like them?

Why not make 'fat balls'? Be fun(?) for the kids and better for the birds.

[Nicos]

I know I should consider what is best for the birds, but it's probably a bit of this and that for variety, and then you are encouraging all sorts of birds???

[smallblueplanet]

What food is best for birds?

Different birds need different foods to sustain them. If you supply a variety of food you are more likely attract many species.

Household scraps such as pastry, cooked rice and breadcrumbs are enjoyed by many garden birds. Fruit, especially bruised apples and pears, will be popular with thrushes and blackbirds.

When you are buying bird food, try to get a good mix of peanuts, seeds and live food such as mealworms and waxworms. Then you should have something to offer all the birds. Good ready-made mixes should contain sunflower seeds, broken peanuts, flaked maize and smaller seeds such as millet.

What are the best foods to put out for birds during the cold winter weather?
During cold spells your supply of food can save the lives of birds. Make sure you put out food and water on a regular basis. In severe weather, feed twice daily if possible, in the morning and in the early afternoon.

Bird cake and food bars are very good because of their high-fat content, as are peanuts. Bird seed mixtures are also high in oils. You can also feed kitchen scraps, such as fat and suet, mild grated cheese, cooked potatoes, pastry and dried fruit.

Can I put out salted peanuts for the birds?
No - most garden birds cannot process salt and will die if they are given too much. It’s best to avoid offering garden birds any foods that contain lots of salt including salted peanuts, salty bacon, chips and crisps.

The RSPB: Advice: Frequently asked questions

[nick the grief]

We've got a new 20kg sack of seed in the hall now. £7.49 I think. A couple do us the winter. We also use peanuts and I buy lard in the winter.

Lucky you ... I get through 6kg of sunflower hearts every week + Niger + seed mix + fat ball type stuff + robin mix comes to about £12 per week !

[Flummery]

Ours is Johnston and Jeff - decent make. It's from a Pets Suppliers who don't have a shop as such, it's a sort of industrial unit and you go in and choose your stuff from vast heaps still with the pallet underneath! I think the price reflects the lack of middle man. We fill 2 seed and 2 peanut feeders - seeds every day but they get through the nuts more slowly. We also have a bird table just outside the backdoor which gets the lard, the budgie's left-overs, bread and pastry scraps, cooked rice etc. However, as I have distant Irish ancestry there's NEVER any left over potato!

PS - our birds get through the seed slower than my in-laws' birds. I think this is because they are in the town and we are surrounded by fields. There's a lot of free pickings in the hedgerows and the grassland. Most of the villagers feed the birds regularly too so they 'garden-hop' and you see quite a variety.

[smallblueplanet]

Ours is Johnston and Jeff - decent make....

That was the brand Flum - lots of places sell it (when you google) and its approved for wild birds I think.

[nick the grief]

Saw a male and female Bullfinch feeding on (not sure) honeysuckle/rudbeckia (I do know the difference, lol, but I couldn't quite see what they'd perched on!!!)? in the border this morning - very cold out today.

I would guess it would be Hoeysuckle SBP, they used to love ours when we had it as I never cut the berries off it.

[SueA]

On CeeBeebies (I know, I know.... the product of having kids...) they keep advertising for young'ns to feed the birds. And to make it fun they're saying to use bread, spread it with peanut butter and stick bird seeds to the peanut butter...

Is that really okay for them? If so I know what my son would love to do this weekend..

Saw Alice the gardener on Gardeners' World last night do something similar to this, she spread some peanut butter on a pine cone & then rolled it in bird seed. She did stress though that the peanut butter should be additive free with no salt or sugar or palm oil, so I guess that cuts out lots of the popular brands & Tesco's own brands etc. As S.B.P. posted I think it's the salt that is very bad for them so you'd have to read the label on the jar carefully.

[scarey55]

Saw Alice the gardener do something similar to this.

What......., do you mean our Alice?

[momol]

I have been hanging out lots of fat balls, peanuts and mixed grains since end of october and it has invited lots of birds from the pigeon, robin... to the black birds. Love seeing them happy eating free meal and they keep coming back... will keep feeding them until the spring comes...
The water I provided seems to partially frozen but never mind, my neighbour has a pond providing them fresh water.

Momol

[momol]

Saw Alice the gardener on Gardeners' World last night do something similar to this, she spread some peanut butter on a pine cone & then rolled it in bird seed. She did stress though that the peanut butter should be additive free with no salt or sugar or palm oil, so I guess that cuts out lots of the popular brands & Tesco's own brands etc. As S.B.P. posted I think it's the salt that is very bad for them so you'd have to read the label on the jar carefully.

The peanut for animal feed are non salted, safe for the birds, just fill them up in a net sac,or use a peanut cage ( the one made of fine wire is very good).

Momol

[Flummery]

What......., do you mean our Alice?

Nah, not so experienced or wise I suspect! Chit of a girl who's Monty Don's right hand woman.